RUNNING COSTS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXI, Issue 18891, 13 December 1924, Page 12 (Supplement)

RUNNING COSTS.

Very few motorists keep proper accounts showing what the running of their car costs them. They have a vaguo idea that they spend so many pounds a month on their hobby, and that is about as far as they get. Tho Motor has been studying the problem, and it arrives at the conclusion that counting only petrol, oil and tyres, you can run a 14 h.p. car for just over a penny a mile, and a 20 h.p. car for less than l£d. a mile. If tax and insurance are included, it calculates that a 14 h.p. car, doing 5000 miles a year will cost a mile to run, and a 20 h.p. car pist under 3id. a mile. One must remember, however, that in England the tax is £1 per h.p. per year, which is far heavier than oversea. Repairs are not included; but if one starts with a now car, ono should not have any for two years.

Depreciation is also not included in the estimates, though it is probably the largest item affecting cost. But depreciation varies very greatly according to the way the car is used, and also according to" its naruo and reputation. The Motor thinks that a £500 car would be worth £400 at the end of a year's running, nearly £300 at the end of th'-ea years, and £200 at the end of five ye rs. The estimates are probably for English cars, but even then they strike me as j being too high. I should say that c:i a £400 or £500 car depreciation is in the neighbourhood of £100 a year for the first three years. It is, however, very difficult to arrive at any estimate on depreciation, which can be generally applied. A man who buys a new car and resolves to make it last "for ever" reduces his depreciation very greatly. Perhaps the best way of judging depreciation is to study second-hand prices closely, adding something to the average figures, if your car has been particularly well cared for. . But, of course, the smart salesman can talk on running costs best of all. Ho will probably convince you in no time that if you don't keep a car you are actually losing money. And it is extraordinary how many people like to believe him nowadays.