Cars - Am I winning?

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FirstaidKit

Registered User
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Hi Folks, here is an actual case study;

In 2008 I bought a new car for €47k ( to avoid brand prejudice / opinions I'm not naming the car's make), since then (18.5 years later ) I have spent €16k on maintenance. Excluding insurance, tax and fuel, this is broadly €63k spent owning this car ( i.e. 47+16) which would equates to an average cost of €3400 per year for those 18.5 years.

For comparison I also have a "modern" 2024 car that I paid €32k for new that is today (2026) worth €24k, although I've had very little maintenance costs so far, it has lost €9k or €4,500 per year in deprecation.

I don't intend ever selling the 18.5 year old car (and so ignore the "cost to change" / deprecation cost) , so in spite of its probable increasing maintenance costs am I winning over the new car or am I missing something? Thanks in advance.
 
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You haven't factored deprecation into your first set of figures. If you sold the the 2008 car and got €7K for it, your total cost would be €103K (47+16+40), using the logic you are applying to the 2024 car.
 
New cars depreciate rapidly at first; then more slowly, so a comparison between the car you have owned for more than 18 years old and the car you have owned for only two years is likely to be misleading; the 2024 car will not continue to depreciate at €4.5k/yr. Also, if you are going to compare the two cars in the way you do, you should be inflation -adjusting your figures; €47k in 2008 was a much bigger cost, in terms either of your earnings at the time or of what other things you could havge bought with it if you hadn't bought the car, than it is today. A fair comparison needs to reflect that.

In general changing cars costs money, since dealers require a margin, so your strategy of cars for as long as possible and changing them as infrequently as possible is a good one. Yes, maintenance costs do rise as a car gets older, but on balance driving the same car for as long as possible is still usually the cheaper option.

But, because new cars depreciate rapidly, when you do change your car you shouldn't buy a new car. You'll get best value by buying at two- or three-year old car, and then driving it for as long as possible.
 
FirstaidKit said:
Excluding insurance, tax and fuel, this is broadly €63k spent owning this car ( i.e. 47+16) which would equates to an average cost of €3400 per year for those 18.5 years.
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A 2008 car may have a high road tax cost. The annoyance of annual NCTs and resulting minor repairs is a frustration.
 
Is it wrong that I only look at how I can 'afford' something in terms of how much it costs me to to 'buy' it. If I was to get a new car now, insurance, tax and repairs are not even factors in the purchase, I just want to know how much the credit union repayments are.

Would also love to know how I afforded to run two BMW's at the same time (2.5L and 1.8L) on nearly €20k less of a salary!!!
Good times.
 
Sarah Ryan said:
Is it wrong that I only look at how I can 'afford' something in terms of how much it costs me to to 'buy' it. If I was to get a new car now, insurance, tax and repairs are not even factors in the purchase, I just want to know how much the credit union repayments are.
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Well, it's the difference between the purchase price and the TCO (Total Cost of Ownership).

Running Cost & TCO Calculator Ireland 2026 — Yearly Cost

Free 2026 Irish car running-cost calculator. Stacks fuel/electricity, motor tax, insurance, servicing, tyres, NCT, finance and depreciation into one all-in TCO figure with Irish-market 2026 benchmark prices.
www.odo.ie www.odo.ie
 
Sarah Ryan said:
I just want to know how much the credit union repayments are.
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I've never financed a car. Just look at the amount it costs, and assume it'll be worthless when I'm done with it. Anything I get for it is an unexpected bonus. Best one was getting €170 at auction for a car I'd repaired with beer cans, silicone and takeaway containers. Come to think of it, not having to pay for disposal was a relief.
 
You'd have to take inflation into account when comparing the cars over such different timescales, 47k in 2008 vs 32k in 2024 is probably close to being 3:1 ratio ,similar would apply to maintenance.
 
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