How much does it cost to run a car?
Before you actually get a car of your own, it can be difficult to imagine just how expensive driving can be. When you imagine the kind of things you will have to pay for, costs such as fuel, parking tickets and possibly cheap car insurance spring to mind. However, whilst these cost enough in themselves, you will no doubt discover there are many other things which you have to spend money on too.
These can be largely split into running costs and standing costs. Running costs are those which are connected with the day-to-day use of the car, such as fuel, tyres, servicing, repairs and parking. Standing costs, on the other hand, are the expenses which you would have to pay just to be able to run the vehicle on the roads legally. These include motor insurance, road tax and the inevitable depreciation which comes with owning a car.
For many years the AA Motoring Trust has been putting together a table of the average costs of owning and running a car. Whilst the exact figures depend largely on whether a car is fuelled by petrol or diesel, the number of miles travelled per year and the cost of the car when new, the general areas of expense can be seen in this table.
Running costs
The biggest running cost of a car is paying for fuel and, with petrol and diesel prices on the up, this is getting more expensive by the year. On average, those who drive petrol-fuelled cars will have to shell out more on fuel because petrol is less efficient than diesel, meaning that you get fewer miles per gallon.
Surprisingly, service labour fees are the next largest running cost of running a car. Of course, the amount that you will spend on this over a year will depend on the state of your car and whether anything serious goes wrong with your car which takes a long time to fix. On a related note, the cost of replacement parts and fluids should also be taken into consideration when looking at how much garage work costs.
Another maintenance cost which you may not have thought about is that of tyres. While on average a tyre will last for 20,000 miles, their lifetime can come to an early end if you get a bad puncture, and it can be quite expensive to buy a new set. Also, tyre prices do vary depending on your supplier so it is difficult to put a figure on the exact amount you will have to spend on them.
Standing charges
Depreciation is by far the biggest motoring cost you will experience, although it is easy to overlook it because you don't see the money leaving your bank account. It is only when you come to sell your car that you can see it is worth a lot less than what you initially paid for it. If you have bought a new car, the first few years will see a dramatic loss of value, with thousands often dropping off the price.
A more obvious cost is that of motor insurance. The amount you pay for this will depend largely on your driving history, whether you get comprehensive or third party insurance and whether you can find a cheap car insurance deal. A plethora of companies offering motor insurance services and the rise of selling insurance over the web means that cheap car insurance is easier to come by than ever.
Road tax is another standing charge which you have to bear to drive on the roads legally. The amount you pay for it will depend on the vehicle you drive. Cars made after 1st March 2001 are judged by their CO2 emissions and fuel type, whilst road tax for those made before that date depends on engine size. Road tax also costs less if you buy it for a year rather than two sets of six months.
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