My intention here is NOT to mock you Max, first off ;-)
As a few in the group undoubtedly know, I am the not-so-proud owner of a
1977 AMC Gremlin, draped in a lovely band-aid tan shade of paint. I've had it for almost exactly a year now, and whilst my receipts are not quite as in depth as Max's, I have tracked all of my mileage for work, and my memory serves me quite well for the remaining investments. I thought it would be fun to calculate the costs of a vehicle from the other end of the spectrum...as you'll see it could be quite profitable.About the car:
I bought in last October (the 12th actually) so I set that date as my cutoff to begin the analysis. The only receipts i had were for parts i bought, oil i bought, and my mileage paperwork from my job. I read the mileage on the title when i bought it, subtracted from the current mileage...so technically this includes mileage I've driven from the 12th of this year on, but if anything I'm erroring on the side of loss, so I've actually technically had more profit!
I bought the car for 500 bucks with a serious stalling problem that the guy "couldn't" fix...i noticed immediately that the only reason it was stalling was that the butterfly on the carb was broken off, so that was an easy fix. Then I had to replace the water pump, accessory belt, and tires. That all added up to $423.19...I added 60 bucks for oil that I bought...I changed the oil 5 times this year myself, assuming a cost of 12 bucks w/ tax for the oil and filters.
My job pays me 32.5 cents per business mile driven, so that's calculated...
The insurance isn't exactly 400 bucks but it's bundled in with the rest of my families' cars on one insurance policy so i couldn't figure it out exactly...but it's close enough.
Anyway, here's what I came up with!
Cash Payment Basis
Costs Amount
----------------------------------- Payment (one time) $500.00 Fuel $1,533.24 Insurance (liability) $400.00 Service $423.19 Tax & License $~128.00 Other Costs $ ~60.00
----------------------------------- Total Cash Costs $3044.43 =================================== ===================================
Cost per mile and time period ----------------------------------- Total Miles Driven 20,212 Cash Cost per mile $0.1506 Daily Cost $8.34 Weekly Cost $58.55 Monthly Cost $253.70 Annual Cost $3044.43 =================================== ===================================
Adjusted Personal Cost
----------------------------------- Business Miles 13,200 Personal Miles 7,012 Mileage Reimbursements $4224.00 =================================== ===================================
Oops....wait a minute...I'm already up 1200 bucks! Damn time to buy a new computer!
Obviously this isn't a new mustang I'm driving. It has it's problems...the windshield wipers and heater don't work as of right now b/c of an electrical problem that I'm working out, it has an exhaust leak, and doesn't really go much faster than 80mph or so. It feels like your driving a big shoe, and people laugh at you on the highway as they pass.
But screw all them. I'm getting paid over a thousand bucks a year to drive it!
So now you have the solution to your problem Max, right? ;-)
- Nick