Why is maintaing a car so expensive?

Question

I have never owned a car, but really, what are some of the main reasons why maintaing and owning a car is really expensive? I want to consider all the facts and what not before buying a car. Thanks for all your help!

Answer 1

The main reason is consumer ignorance.  

Cars really require almost no maintenance. The tires wear out, and the brakes wear out, and the oil and filters must be changed.  These items will cost you about $100 a year (I'm not kidding).    Other than that, there's nothing that'll wear out any time soon.  You wouldn't need to actually repair anything in a typical year on a typical car.  Most quality cars will run to about 200,000 miles (call it 15 years) with the items mentioned above plus 3 or 4 other repairs.

But most people pay far more than that.  Here's why: there is literally no limit to the amount that you can be ripped off.  If you take your car in to have the oil changed, and they sabotage it, what will you do?  I'll tell you what - you'll pay whatever they ask for.

How likely is this? What percentage of repair shops are crooked?  Unscientific studies by the media have always shown that the  majority are crooks.  The explosion of single-mom-ism in the USA has created a whole class of victims that are easy to swindle.  It's so easy they can't resist it.

So, despite the high cost of ignorance, it's still popular.

Answer 2

If it was cheap, everyone would have a car and gas would be really expensive!!

Answer 3

insurance....lawsuits cost money.service....mechanics and support staff cost money and they pass the savings onto you. fuel...gas prices are well above what they should be and are expected to stay there.before you enter the actual cost of the car you have to consider these then other things like winter tires, washing it, satelite radio,parking fees, taxes,it is a major chunk some of us have more than one car.....

Answer 4

Maintaining a car needs to be only as expensive as gas, oil changes, filter changes, tires,regular maintenance(if you can do it yourself(bonus) and insurance.   If you just drive the car when necessary(to work) and keep it parked the rest of the time. ...cost is minimal.  If you wanna spend money for tricking it out and personalizing it then the bucks pour out of your pocket.   Really up to you.

Answer 5

It depends on what car you buy, if you buy bad quality then its going to break down more frequently and you will have to pay extra for fixing it.  Just get a reliable car and all you have to worry about is regular checkups and oil changes, gas, and insurance.  Go for honda, acura, nissan, toyota, lexus, or infiniti and you won't have any problems for years.  We had a toyota and it went 7 years and didn't have any problems, all we had to do was regular transmission inspections and occasional oil changes, but that's something you need to do for every car anyways.

Answer 6

The first 2 main cost factors are (1) monthly payments (2) insurance payment.

I'm 45 and I figure even at my age my car cost me $5k (per year) just to own and insure.

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Then there is the cost of repair, gas, etc.  The repair can be cheaper if you do much of it on your own.  There are 4 most important maintenance items in your engine

(1) engine oil (3k - 5K miles)

(2) tranny oil (30K miles)

(3) coolant (3 years)

(4) timing belt (60K miles)

Just keep those maintenance and your engine and tranny will be mostly problem free.  Other things will break but they can be fixed AS they are needed.

I have a 94 Civic with 187K miles and the engine + tranny + suspension runs like new.  I get 41 MPG (doing 72 MPH).  I can get even better MPG doing 55.

Good maintenance pays off.

Good Luck...

Answer 7

well u might want to start taking the subway so u dont have to worry about maintain g a  car.