New Car Savings

Depreciation, or loss of resale value, and not fuel or maintenance, is the single largest cost of driving a new car. Kelly Blue Book, one of the automotive industry's most respoected authorities on such issues, claims that the average vehicle retains only 34% of its value after five years. Put in dollars and cents, a $45,000 vehicle loses $29,700 of its value in five years, or $16.27 per day.

Will A New Car That Gets Better Mileage Save Me Money?
If you’re considered buying a new car to save money on fuel, experts say you might reconsider. Consider the following scenario:

     Current Car = 18 mpg;
     15,000 miles per year = 833 gallons of gas per year.
     If gas costs $4 per gallon that’s $3,332 per year for fuel costs.

     New Car = 25 mpg;
     15,000 miles per year = 600 gallons of gas per year.
     If gas costs $4 per gallon that’s $2,400 per year for fuel costs.

So you save $3,332 - $2,400 = $932 per year. (Also see Window Stickers)

But what did it cost for you to save this $932?

First year depreciation (20%) on a $25,000 car	$5,000
6% Sales tax	$1,500
First year interest (6.5%) on a $20,000 car loan	$1,300
Plus higher insurance	TBD

That’s a whopping $7,800 (plus insurance) you would spend to save $932 just the first year (these are conservative figures). It could take 5+ years of fuel savings to recoup the first year costs.

Using this example, each year you drive the car you own you save $7,800 compared to the costs of a new one. Even with the additional fuel and maintenance costs for an older car ($2,000-3,000 annually) you’ll have $5000 left to use anywhere else you choose.

Keep Driving Costs Down - Drive The Car You Own.

The imports we work on have a service life of well over 150,000 miles. That means if you trade yours at 80,000 miles, someone else is going to drive it comfortably another 5+ years and get the savings and value available from these high quality cars. Each year you put off trading saves you $5000 or more.

With our 36+ years of experience specializing in luxury imports we can evaluate your present car to determine if it’s safe and practical to drive another year, or longer. We can show you what you can expect to spend during that time and perform whatever service is needed. If you would like to know more or would like to discuss your particular vehicle and situation, please feel free to contact us.