UKC

The silly amounts of money people spend on buying cars seems to be a bit of a reoccupation for me, but anyway I was pondering what percentage of my earnings I have spent on buying cars.

I have only owned a car for 10 years and in that time have bought three cars, so I have added up what I paid, minus what I sold previous cars for, minus an estimate of the current value of my car and divided that by my gross earnings over the same time period and concluded that I have spent 3.7% of my earnings on buying cars.

I am not interested what you earn or how much you spend on cars, just the relationship between the two.

Apologies for the geekdom, maybe someone will reply.

In reply to The New NickB:

It appears to be 0.014%. I'm sure I must have done a sum wrong.

In reply to The New NickB:

I've only had a car for six years (this time around, there was a 10 year break in driving because I lived in London and gave up on it, back then I bought newer cars because of the 'image' thing)
This time around, slightly more than 2%.

In reply to The New NickB:

I come out at about 9.8%, but this includes a very poor value purchase of a brand new Mazda RX 8 which plummeted in value (It was fun though!)

In reply to The New NickB:
Roughly 1.5%

In reply to The New NickB: I get the same figure as Tall Clare! 0.014%(1369 for anyone whose interested!)

Although I didn't deduct the current value of my car because the figure would end up being 0.006%, which is a bit low and in reality I'll probably run the car another few years till it's done. I suppose there'll be a scrap value so taking that off it gives 0.011%.

Out of interest, the amount of money I've spent on cars in the last 7 years as a proportion of the amount of money I've spent on petrol is 0.061%. If I factor in all the money I've spent on running a car over the last 7 years then (roughly) 0.03% of it has been on the actual cars themselves.

Having just quickly added up what I've spent over the last 7 years on insurance/tax/repair etc. I would strongly advise anyone not to do that as it came to a very, very grim figure! That's not even including the cost of actually learning to drive in the first place. I suppose I already know from a monthly basis that over a 1/4 of my wage goes on the car

In reply to The New NickB:

Very roughly 0.4%

In reply to The New NickB: Well, somewhere between 2.5% and 4.3% (lower limit includes insurance payouts as the first 2 cars were smashed, the upper limit is based on estimates of their resale value).

I remember when I first started working I decided never to buy a car worth more than 1/3 of my annual salary but in the end none of them were worth more than 1/4. Now I think even that's too high...

In reply to Fultonius: Sheeeaaattttttt!!!

Just worked out that if I include servicing/repairs, insurance and fuel it comes to ~17% of my salary.

Scary!

In reply to The New NickB: 1.8% of my income over the past five years I've owned cars, during this time I was a student nurse so my income was really low. If I was to continue to spend the same rate on cars with my present salary (which would make sense, I only by cheap second hand and run them into the ground) or if I had earned my current salary over those years it would have been: .87%

In reply to Sharp:

I get the same figure as Tall Clare! 0.014%

You and Clare, either earn an astronomic sum of money or have spent less than £50 on cars in the last ten years or so.
Alternatively, you've forgotten to multiply by 100 to get a percentage...

In reply to The New NickB: I've spent far to a high a percentage over the years, mostly on Alfas, but I've had a blast.

Currently being sensible with a van and an impreza but working on the 4 year maserati plan

In reply to The New NickB:

I don't know what my current spend is but I guesstimate my current vehicle (a small van) is around 1/5th of my annual earnings and I'll keep it for about four to five years.

My ambition is to get an ancient classic van that I can keep for ever and not get upset over depreciation.!!

In reply to The New NickB: Van for work,car for missus,car for daughter+ insurance,garage bills,fuel= ~100%
something wrong with my life here.............

In reply to The New NickB: I don't think I want to try and work it out - I know it will be too much

In reply to The New NickB:

I started to work it out but fuel came to 20% of my wages (and I drive a diesel golf conservatively!) so decided to not depress myself any more by adding purchasing, insurance, servicing and depreciation into that as well!

In reply to The New NickB:

I have just realised that I have got my sums wrong as well, it is actually 2.16%

In reply to MJ: They could be self employed and cooking the books ;0)

In reply to The New NickB:

The cost of running a car is a slightly different question, my old, cheap to run car cost me about 6% of my gross salary to run 10,000 miles a year. That includes depreciation, insurance, tax, maintenance and fuel.

In reply to The New NickB:

What do you understand "gross earnings" to mean? I have a feeling (and I might be wrong) that it would be more meaningful to divide by your "net" earnings. But you may be well ahead of me on this; if so, please explain why you are looking at a percentage of gross earnings. Ta!

Have had current car for three years, spent about 2% of three years income buying it, and another 4% on all other costs except fuel. Fuel probably accounts for another 4-5%. Scary. On the plus side, almost all of the miles are to national parks

In reply to Blue Straggler:

Net earnings are also a useful measure, but the maths is a bit more difficult. Gross earnings are a simpler figure and they tend to be fairly well used in all sorts of indicators, but to be fair, I have not given it too much thought, just pondering and wondering really.

In reply to The New NickB:

Not answered your question properly, gross earning are simply earnings before tax and other deductions, most people on PAYE we simply think of this as their wage or salary.

In reply to The New NickB:
2.5% of gross on purchasing, but I have just splashed out on (what is for me) a fancy car. This time last year it would have worked out at 0.5%. Fuel and everything else comes to 4.5%. An interesting exercise this, as it shows that buying a really cheap car doesn't save you that much, since the bulk of your car costs aren't in the purchase price.
I won't work out how much of my salary goes on train fares, that's just too depressing.

In reply to The New NickB:

Fair enough. I suppose it doesn't make that much difference if we are looking at a relative rather than absolute comparison

In reply to MJ:

I believe you might be right. Told you I thought my sums were wrong

In reply to The New NickB:

The two company cars I've got (one for me, one for Lady Blue) cost about 15-20% of my net monthly income but there are no running costs apart from petrol.

When I was working out whether to have a company car or not I did go into the calculations in detail, and having a compnay car worked out quite a bit cheaper than having my own cars, primarily as between us we do 50k miles a year.

With that kind of mileage you tend to get killed on depreciation, unless you get a very old car, in which case you've got the running costs, so swings and roundabouts.

In reply to Hooo:

I don't agree, although it does depend a little on how many miles you do.

In reply to The New NickB:

Agreed - and perhaps I've been fortunate (and shouldn't speak too soon) but relatively speaking my cars haven't cost me a lot. They weren't/aren't glamorous, mind. The first of my cars in this ten year period was an elderly diesel Fiesta that just kept on trundling and cost me next to nothing apart from a niggle with the brakes at one point. I had to spend £600 on my current car just after I got it, but then I saved £500 on list price when I bought it...

In reply to The New NickB: Cars are a bug bear of mine too.

I would love a nice car. But I can never get my head around the staggeringly poor value for money/investment they are. Trouble is, after years of buying low milage 5-7 yr old sensible cars for a few grand...i'm now starting to consider (causing much mind wrangling and justification) £30k on a disco 4. Before the eco nuts jump on me...save your breath. I do fck all milage (3-4k a year) have kids and a dog and we are a 1 car family so need a lump to haul us around on UK holidays.

One of the things that annoys me about this potential purchase is the fact that this will seem like a huge purchase to me, yet half the other cars I see on the road is of this ilk or better?

I thought there was a recession

In reply to The New NickB: Actually, I didn't factor in resale. My fisrt two cars I sold for pretty near what I paid so......... less than 1% of my salary in the last six years.

In reply to Game of Conkers:

Those nice shiny big cars you see - how many of them do you think are privately owned? I'm willing to bet that it's not many.

The magic of the company car... I was explaining to my partner's kids the other day why he drives round in a nice car whilst I drive an old jalopy. This is why.

In reply to Tall Clare:

Told you I thought my sums were wrong

That's the problem with you arty types, no sense of the real world. Being female, only accentuates that...

In reply to MJ:

<raspberries> In fairness, I did say I thought it looked wrong. I just followed Nick's sum! :-P

In reply to Tall Clare:

I can't remember my annual income for every year that I have owned a car, and it's further complicated by the fact that my first two cars were bought whilst in full time education and in receipt of a tax-free stipend (plus a monthly cash injection from Bank of Mum and Dad). Might just have to go back only as far as when I started a "proper" job (which is just over 10 years ago). And even then the sums get complicated as one car was a hand-me down in exchange for donating MY scrapper to my parents for the Government scrappage scheme. And are we meant to factor in any major repair work? If not, the calculations can be skewed by people who buy scrappers and then fix them up.

In reply to Blue Straggler:

Sorry, that was not just for Clare, but the whole thread, and now I see that the OP clearly outlines his calculations! Resale value, ha ha, most of mine got scrapped

In reply to Blue Straggler: Ha, I didn't include resale value of my current car. Make that less than 0.5% of my salary then.

In reply to The New NickB:

I can't be arsed to work out the percentage but I suspect it's higher than quite a few on here. My car is important to me - without it I can't get to my current job and jobs aren't so easy to come by that I can afford to job hop. I live on my own and know stuff all about the workings of a car so I have a new car every 3 years on a lease scheme and keep it maintained.

In reply to Wonko The Sane:
Oooops ignore me that was a fraction!
2.7%

I think claire possibly also forgot the *100 at the end!

In reply to Ava Adore: I have a car that apart form needing a new clutch, has never once broken down. It's comfortable, sporty, roomy and cost me a little over £3k to buy 3 years ago. You just cannot beat a BMW 3 series for reliability. I cane the thing and still get good mileage from it......... and 50 plus if I drive carefully.

In reply to The New NickB: Got a lease car; 5% of gross salary, or 8% of net. This includes all running costs except fuel.

In reply to The New NickB:

I don't know, but probably more than most on here.

I ran bangers for years and enjoy a decent car so I see is as partly what I work for. I have no kids or other expensive habits so it my treat to me.

Oh - and I claim most of the cost against tax


Chris

In reply to The New NickB:



3.78% of net income, excluding fuel, insurance, VED and maintenance. If you add these in, it comes to about 8.8%.

In reply to The New NickB:
I bought my car for about 4k 2 years ago. Since then I've done ~16k miles @40ppm, so my car has earned it's corn

In reply to Wonko The Sane:

They are pretty darned good cars. And pretty darned good to drive too.

In reply to The New NickB:

Less than 1% of gross salary (when I had one - I have now still have the car but no salary).

In reply to The New NickB:

For Lady Blue's car, I worked out that for us to buy and run a car for her including everything would cost £300 a month including petrol, averaged over 4 years.

The company lease car (Seat Leon Ecomotive) was £230 a month cost + £40 a month petrol, but for that she got a brand new car (4 miles on the clock), and zero car worries. Anything that went wrong we ring the lease company, say "your car's got a problem" and they deliver a courtesy car and take theirs away, and then bring it back when its fixed and take the courtesy car away.

If it has a puncture, they send someone out, swap the tyre where it's parked outside Lady Blue's work, and vanish into the night again.

The peace of mind is difficult to put a value on, but it certainly has a value, and given we're actually saving money on a monthly basis it appeared a no-brainer.

In reply to The New NickB: Nice thread...
2% and The Joy of Skoda (a specialist book catering for a niche market, that can be bought from licensed retailers only with proof of age).
b

In reply to Wonko The Sane:


Sigh. I've one word for you.

Statistics.

The VW Passat,Honda Insight, Skoda Octavia, Lexus IS, Toyota Prius, Mazda 6, and Skoda Superb all came out better than the BMW 3 series in the large car class in the Which? car reliability survey this year. In fact the 3 series convertible came out as the least reliable car in the whole survey, although Land Rover got the least reliable constructor’s crown.

In reply to Game of Conkers:


Fixed that for you.

In reply to Wonko The Sane:

But you haven't sold it... :-$

In reply to The New NickB:

Exactly 2% so far. Would be MUCH lower if I'd not bought the duffer VW Polo Saloon.

In reply to Blue Straggler:

And when you do sell it, presumably you'll have to buy another?

In reply to John_Hat:
That does sound like a good deal, especially if you're someone who pays a lot for insurance or does a lot of miles.
I don't pay anything like £300 a month for running a car though. I worked mine out at half that (if I was doing the same mileage as you).

In reply to Hooo:

I think it was something like (monthly):

£60 Insurance
£90 Depreciation
£25 MOT
£33 Servicing
£12 Tax
£10 Breakdown cover
£20 Repairs and wear and tear (tyres, brakes, oil) not covered by service.
£50 petrol

The figures being based on the prior three years spend on a Golf Tdi.

In reply to EddInaBox: Lol, are the newer models (2010) that bad? i know they had a reputation a while ago but thought they had vastly improved.

In reply to Game of Conkers:

In terms of usability and costs a large estate will have as much space as you need for a holiday with family and dogs and will hold value more and be less costly to to run.

You can add a top box or even small trailer if you need extra space.

4x4's are only if you want the offroad capability, high position
or you just like them.

In reply to shark: I'm attracted to the three child seats in a row on the back seat, plus the ability to sit 7 people when needed, plus the high seating position plus the 4 wheel drive.

the XC90 is a compelling choice as you can get amazing discounts on them new now as it's such an old model that is due to be replaced.

I agree that you pay a premium for all of the above these days and a Mondeo estate would be adequate in most circumstances.

In the list of car manufactures and the amount it cost to run them secondhand, (from 2 years old to 8), put out by the people who provide the warranty on used cars, Landrover were in the bottom 5 along with Audi and Mercedes.

VW are better with an exactly average score, Skoda slightly better than that, and Ford the only European manufacturer to break into the top ten.

Honda are the least expensive brand to run, a crown they have held for the last 10 years.

In reply to The New NickB:

I think its a strange thing to do but mine would be around 1.5% I'd prefer people to compare something more realistic: the total transport costs that indicate the huge heap of money we use to get around for work and play! This compared to net pay and including commuting/holiday transport costs if not by car (and not on expenses) and for the car include fuel, tax, service, MOT and repair costs, partly as cheap cars get bigger bills and driving the thing costs most of the money and reduce the cost if you have a partner and share use of the car or get tax deduction for the car. Mine with that new definition comes out somewhere over 20% annually and I am pretty well paid and my most recent two purchases are nearly new focus estates at low cost from car supermarkets.

In reply to John_Hat:
I'm not trying to start an argument, just curious...
OK, my insurance is much less than yours, but £700 a year for servicing and MOT + another £240 for tyres etc? I didn't spend anywhere near that on my previous car, and I do more miles than you. I've recently bought a Golf TDi, I hope I'm not in for a shock!

In reply to John_Hat:

£50 a month petrol??? I wish....

In reply to Ava Adore:
Sounds like a lot to spend on petrol, considering it's a diesel car

In reply to Hooo: Depends on miles, when Mrs the Dog and I lived in teh forest of dean but both worked in Gloucester in our deisel we spent roughly £60 per week (a tank) for about 400 miles per week. This included all driving around including commuting to facilities such as the climbing wall

In reply to The New NickB:

0%.

Never owned one.

In reply to Hooo:

*grins*

In reply to Hooo:

We spend about £500/month on petrol, but that's coz I do silly amounts of mileage...

50,000 miles a year for both of us, 55 mpg average, 900 gallons, 4,200 litres, £5,800, 480/month.

In reply to John_Hat: Are you a taxi driver by any chance?

In reply to Game of Conkers:

Nope, but I've got clients in Brum, Manchester and Leeds. Know every blade of grass on the M6, M1, M62, M42 and M6 Toll...

I do about 35k/year, Lady Blue does about 15k/year. She's got a 50 mile round trip commute every day.

In reply to John_Hat:

I thought you mostly worked from home, unless I've misread loads of your posts

In reply to Hooo:

Like I say, I think it was something like those figures, but without digging the spreadsheet out can't tell you. As I can't be @rsed you'll have to live in ignorance.

I do remember the wiper blades froze and burnt out the wiper motor twice, which cost quite a bit, and we had an expensive alarm fault, but can't remeber the rest. The petrol figure is wrong too, noticed that when doing the calculation for the last post.

In reply to Blue Straggler:

Varies wildly - was in Manchester on Monday and Leeds yesterday, for instance.

Some weeks it's 200-mile round trips every day, sometimes its not. I'd say two to three trips a week is about average, with the remainder of the mileage things like climbing outings and seeing parents and friends...

In reply to John_Hat:


Aha.

Then it is JUST possible that I might owe you an apology - maybe you have said that your OFFICE is at home and only implied (e.g. in your Midlife Crisis thread) that you actually work there for the majority of the time

In reply to Game of Conkers:

Yes, in the Which? reliability survey Land Rover came last for reliability for 0-3 year old cars with a score of 81% and 4-8 year old cars with a score of 63% even worse than Alfa Romeos. Honda Came first with 93% and 87%. The percentage scores are weighted for seriousness of each fault or breakdown reported.

In reply to The New NickB: cars up to being 20 years old I spent most of my wage on buying and running them.
For the last 20 years I have spent a big fat zero.
I use my work van and don't own a car.
Bikes on the other hand. I am on my 5th new one in 4 years but they are toys so don't really count.

In reply to The New NickB: i can't quite remember my gross salaries for the last 10 years.... but at best guess it's 2.6% and that doesn't include 2 years when i wasn't working/was at uni.

In reply to Blue Straggler:

Actually it's probably my terminology. There are my client's offices (where I work) ("Clients"), my company offices (where I try to work) ("The Office", however the Brum one is sometimes referred to as "My Office" as opposed to Leeds "My Old Office"), and my office (where I work) ("My Office" or, if talking about the house in terms of room, "The Office").

..It makes sense to me... honest...

In reply to The New NickB: Not convinced your formula tells us much. I think running costs are the killer for any car at the mo. Have a go at this .....

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/cars/article-1633412/Calculator-True-cos...

I often driving into work and wonder if all these people earn a load more than me, cos they all have 2 or 3 year old BMWs - they just lease them or have them on finance .....

In reply to dunc56: Just done this calculator test, and apparently my car costs me £1.59 per mile = £59.35 a day!!!!!!!!!

In reply to Goucho:

Look at the comments at the bottom - it's sh1te

0.007 which has a nice ring to it.
no fuel in there