Cost of Ownership

[faqvideo]

I posted previously here, but again - I have had some arguments with my friend who prefer leasing over buying. His main argument is that for the same price he drives new (0 to 4 years old) car, while I keep dragging the old one for much longer while paying the same monthly.

First of all - the PT Cruiser has unfortunately been discontinued. One can't possibly lease it right now. So the only option you have for driving a nice looking car as opposed to the steel box on four wheels is the ownership of the PT Cruiser. Correct me if I am wrong.

Secondly - I took on logging the cost of my ownership of the PT Cruiser in Ottawa, ON, Canada. I have excluded the cost of gas and insurance as they vary from place to place and irrelevant to the comparison vs. leasing. I have included though the initial cost of purchasing and the cost of all the maintenance and repairs.

By the end of last year, after 5 years and 100,000 km of joy it cost me about $500 a month. Tell me if you consider it good or bad.

I am hoping to drive this car into the ground (eventually). So here we go with the latest update:

Two More Winter Tires for the Chrysler PT Cruiser

[faqvideo]

27 CAD cents per kilometer (42 CAD cents per mile)
CAD$433.52 per month
Read in details: Calculated Cost of Ownership by the End of the 2013 | carlog.ca

[Busted_PT]

With the lease vehicle. Does the maintenance come included or do you have to pay to keep it up as you do the PT?

[faqvideo]

Thanks for asking.

It is not the same cost of ownership calculation as you can see on many other sites. For the sake of simplicity I left gas and insurance out of equation as they differ so much from place to place and from one owner to the other.

What is included:

• the initial cost of my 2007 Cruiser - bought it used, less than one year old
• all the maintenance and repairs - done by mechanics
• spare parts: tires, rims, wipers, etc. that I often do myself.

You can see detailed list here:
PT Cruiser Cost Log | carlog.ca

All the prices are in Canadian dollars, pretty close to US$ for practical use. Some kilometer reading are converted into miles. But basically it is roughly 1 km= 2/3 mi, or 1.6 km = 1 mi.

[Busted_PT]

Originally Posted by faqvideo

Thanks for asking.

It is not the same cost of ownership calculation as you can see on many other sites. For the sake of simplicity I left gas and insurance out of equation as they differ so much from place to place and from one owner to the other.

What is included:

• the initial cost of my 2007 Cruiser - bought it used, less than one year old
• all the maintenance and repairs - done by mechanics
• spare parts: tires, rims, wipers, etc. that I often do myself.

You can see detailed list here:
PT Cruiser Cost Log | carlog.ca

All the prices are in Canadian dollars, pretty close to US$ for practical use. Some kilometer reading are converted into miles. But basically it is roughly 1 km= 2/3 mi, or 1.6 km = 1 mi.

What I meant was are these maintenance items included in a lease vehicle? Or do you have to pay for them in addition too the lease.?

[coyoteduster]

Maintenance expenditures are not included in a lease contract.

[Busted_PT]

Originally Posted by coyoteduster

Maintenance expenditures are not included in a lease contract.

Thank's for that info coyoteduster.
Then that should not be included in this comparison either.

[faqvideo]

Oh - I see. As far as I know, very few people who lease their cars, do proper maintenance. Many of them barely change oil every 10,000 km (6,600 mi) at the cheapest rate, that is twice a year on average, and return the vehicle after 4 years. Any major repairs would normally be included into warranty and therefore would fall out of calculation anyway.

I realize it is somewhat an abuse, and I don't do that to my personal PT Cruiser, so it makes it hard to compare. Anyway, few conversations made me start logging the expenses, and I figured some Cruiser owners, or people considering of being the ones, may be interested - so why not?

I have also mentioned somewhere else that I drove my Dodge Neon pretty much into the ground - traded it in for $300 after hard negotiations. It was still a nice ride only if the gas tank had not fallen off. So it was amusing to start logging my PT Cruiser cost and share with the passionate owners.

[faqvideo]

Originally Posted by Busted_PT

Thank's for that info coyoteduster.
Then that should not be included in this comparison either.

I have just posted separately on almost the same point. Lease contract does not make the owner to take proper maintenance, so many people stick to changing oil twice a year, if so, and return the vehicle after the lease is up.

This may add $50 or $100 a year for a leased car.

[coyoteduster]

Originally Posted by Busted_PT

Thank's for that info coyoteduster.
Then that should not be included in this comparison either.

Originally Posted by coyoteduster

Maintenance expenditures are not included in a lease contract.

In order to calculate true cost of ownership, all expenditures should be included.