Wow . Is that " see to it locomotive " brightness on again ? Did n’t you just have that look at ? Come to think of it , your car is approaching that years , is n’t it ? A bit more grumble in the engine , a touching more tilt in the interruption – you hate to admit it , but every time you take old fold into the workshop , the same opinion tickles the back of your brainiac : Is it clock time for a replacement ?
How much is too much to spend on mend ? It ’s a doubt we ’ve all had to ask at one point or another . Perhaps it would help to have a basic sense of what auto sustentation typically costs over time .
The average American home possess 1.9 vehicles and spends around 1.5 percent of its annual income on machine repair . In 2004 , the stock family building block garner $ 54,453 , which stand for they laid out around $ 817 annually on repairs , or $ 408 per fomite . That figure does not admit the 3.7 percent spent on gas and motor oil ( $ 1,007 per car ) , or the 2.2 pct ( $ 599 per railcar ) shelled out for insurance [ source : U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics ] .
Is that a lot ? It depends on how you appear at it . Like all complex machines , cars and their components have project in operation lifespans . Manufacturers anticipate that some components will go bad often and that you ’ll replace them as part of unremarkable maintenance , while others will last longer . The prospicient - life sentence factor will generally be more costly to substitute , but even those might not be so bad if you cerebrate of the cost spread over the lifetime of your car – spending $ 500 to $ 800 to substitute an alternator stings a little less if it ’s already kept you thrum along for 75,000 to 100,000 miles ( 120,701 to 160,934 klick ) .
If you own your railroad car long enough , you ’ll have to replace or rebuild an awful lot of it , but that does n’t think of it ’s needs a bad idea . After all , new gondola are expensive . They also depreciate an average of 45 percent over the first three years of ownership – between 48.3 and 79.3 percent over the first five years [ sources : WeisbaumandClarke ] .
In the next section , we ’ll look at why prophylactic sustenance saves you money in the long running game . We ’ll also explore why , if your machine is more broken - in than broken - down , it ’s probably cheaper to keep her around a small while longer .
Value of Preventative Auto Maintenance
Spending more than $ 400 per annum on alimony and repairs may voice like a lot , but it ’s nothing compared to the tally expense of buy a new motorcar , especially if your current car is pay off . In fact , by some estimate , every five year you drive your car after paying it off saves you the pecuniary equivalent of a new motorcar .
To interpret how , let ’s equate a new railcar to a paid - off car with standard maintenance . To make it interesting , countenance ’s stack the deck of cards in the fresh car ’s favor by saying that you repel 24,000 international mile ( 38,624 kilometers ) per year , which is threefold the national average . In five years , that adds up to 120,000 mile ( 193,121 kilometers ) under your wheels , which translate to 35 to 40 rock oil changes . At $ 40 each , you ’re calculate at $ 1,400 to $ 1,600 – countenance ’s call it $ 1,500 . Figure in another $ 2,200 for miscellaneous service monetary value ( filter , hoses , tire rotations and so on ) and another $ 1,500 for a few major item like a timing knock replacement , newfangled brake and shock absorber . Tally that up and you get $ 5,200 , or around $ 1,040 per year .
Now let ’s compare that to a new car . consort to the National Automobile Dealers Association ( NADA ) , the average monetary value of a novel car sell in the United States in 2009 was $ 28,966 , but we ’ll lowball it and say you found a good deal at $ 24,000 and financed $ 20,000 at 7 percent involvement for 48 months . That comes out to a monthly payment of just under $ 479 , which run to $ 5,747 per yr [ source : U.S. Federal Trade Commission ] .
In other words , for the cost of owning a novel car for one twelvemonth , you could own a paid - off car for five geezerhood , drive it into the ground , and still have money left over for toll .
According to Consumer Reports , the average life expectancy of a new vehicle is around eight years or 150,000 miles [ source : Weisbaum ] . A well - maintained motorcar also intend a safe trip for you and your loved 1 . And who can put a price on that ?
For more info about prophylactic auto maintenance and other related to topic , follow the connectedness on the next Thomas Nelson Page .
