Cheap costs for Cheap Cars

This has been an expensive last few months for me.

Back in January, I made the call to purchase a cheap car for about 1600  dollars, a 2000 Mazda 626 sedan. It had pretty high mileage, and a possible motor mount issue resulting in a vibration at idle.

I didn't really need to do much to get the car in good condition, as it was running when I purchased the vehicle.

I paid for an oil change at a local superstore, and had the techs take a look for any unusual mechanical issues. That cost about 50 dollars for a multi-point inspection.

I also paid for a complete brake overhaul, so I had new front brake pads installed, my rotors resurfaced, and rear brake drums replaced for a grand total of 450 dollars. That was back in March.

This June I've decided to spring for a new set of tires, which were pretty reasonable at 50 dollars per tire. I bought four tires, and with installation, taxes and fees I spent 250 dollars overall.

At this point, I've spent 1600+50+450+250 on my cheap car in terms of parts and service, for a total of 2350 dollars on the car. I also paid 180 dollars for 6 months of insurance, and 200 dollars in licensing and registration fees. If I want to include the costs of gasoline, that is an extra 100 dollars monthly, for 500 dollars in gasoline. So far this year, therefore, that would be 2350+180+200+500 for 3230 dollars in transportation costs. Over six months, that works out to be 538 dollars per month, which is pretty hefty! I hope that my car will be a bit cheaper going forward, and my costs more closely approximate the costs of gasoline and insurance as opposed to brakes, tires and registration.

At the same time, I realize that the same costs that I faced on my cheap car come up on more expensive vehicles. 450 dollars of brake work on my car would easily be 1000 dollars of brake work for a luxury German vehicle, and 250 dollars would be the cost of a single tire on a luxury sedan, not a set of four on my Mazda. My insurance works out to be about 30 dollars per month, which would be unheard of if I was driving a luxury vehicle, and I'm comfortable carrying liability only coverage since I could walk away from the vehicle if necessary.

All in all, it could be much worse, and I'm still comfortably able to afford the 626, even if the costs have been higher than anticipated so far this year. I've still got 6 months left to go in the year, and if I only have to pay gas, insurance and possibly an additional oil change my average transportation expenditure should approach 150 dollars monthly.