Reader question:
How much does it cost to take care of a car? I’m about to get my first one.
Eliot
It depends on what kind of car you get.
Obviously, if you get a piece of junk car you are just going to be funneling money into a black hole via vehicle maintenance costs, but to be honest, whatever car you get, new or old, you will be spending a sizeable amount of money just on those very vehicle maintenance costs. Even for a car that isn’t broken down or breaking down, you have the standard vehicle maintenance costs like tune ups and oil changes, and if you have a car that needs steering wheel fluid, that as well.
So how much will it cost? First of all, your insurance. You’re young, and your name indicates that you’re probably male, so you’re going to be looking at auto insurance rates of about $2500. That’s about $200 a month, so consider that as being part of your car note, because you absolutely have to have car insurance. It’s mandated by law.
Now the gas. Gas costs a lot. I’ve seen a full tank on my car go up a whole ten dollars over the past few months. I know what you’re thinking. Ten dollars isn’t a lot, but it really will be once you actually start driving. If you’re using your car to get to school and back as well as for hanging out with friends and for work, if you have a job, then you’ll probably be paying about three hundred dollars a month, just on gas.
You’re going to have to get new tires about once a year. Let’s say that a new tire costs about $160. So, with four tires, that’s $640 every year. Then you might have to get your wheels aligned, and that will cost you extra. Plus you’ll have to get oil changed every five months, so about twice a year. That only costs about ten to twenty dollars per, so no big deal. But you should also budget in the fact that you’ll probably have to repair something at least every year. When you think about your car not, factor in all of that to know the true cost of buying a new car.
Cheers,
Fashun Guadarrama.