This is really a sibling or expansion to the furinkan/CarFuelConsumption page. This is long term thinking, about how much ownership will cost you over a few years.
Assumptions
- Five year calculation
- Driving 10,000km per year
- Getting car serviced every 12 months
- A full set of tyres, plus a spare-replacement every 45,000km (going by RACQ working), equating to one set in this 5yr period
- You need to pay for 4.5yrs of rego (assume you buy it with a bit left)
- You need to pay for 4.5yrs of CTP (assume you buy it with a bit left)
Comparison
Merc C200K |
Swift Sport |
CLK500 |
Comments |
|
Purchase |
10,000 |
19,000 |
19,000 |
- |
Rego transfer etc |
332 |
602 |
602 |
3% stamp duty of purchase value, $32 for paperwork |
Depreciation |
3,000 |
9,000 |
9,000 |
The C200 value is real, wild guessing the others |
Fuel |
7,850 |
5,300 |
9,980 |
I did 11L/100km in the C200, higher than spec. Other values based on claimed consumption, then scaled. 867.77 x claimed consumption (1.22x scaling, $1.42/L, 50000km) |
Tyres |
750 |
1,025 |
982 |
Prices taken from Jax Tyres |
Servicing |
7,500 |
2,225 |
7,500 |
Guesswork here based on costs for a new Merc C200 and Audi A4. Swift is bare-minimum assuming you were to get their fixed-price servicing |
Insurance |
5,940 |
4,905 |
7,850 |
GIO thinks the Swift should only be worth $19,000, values the CLK at $26,740 |
CTP |
3,308 |
2,637 |
3,375 |
NRMA quotes becuase GIO site not working. A Mazda3 Maxx Sport would be same price as Swift Sport |
Rego |
1,584 |
1,345 |
2,268 |
three different weight classes |
Total cost of ownership over 5yrs |
40,264 |
46,777 |
59,819 |
- |
Ownership cost per week over 5yrs |
155 |
180 |
230 |
Divided over 260 weeks (5x52) |
Notes on C200
The values above are for my first C200, more of a post-mortem of the projected running costs. What it really shows, to my mind, is that the purchase price was outstanding value. I could get another one today for $16-17,000 and end up on an even footing with the Swift Sport.
I had a quick chat with Adan at Maag & Stucki and he advises that the updated C200 (W204 model, which started in 2007) would be a solid buy as well, basically wouldn't go wrong with a late W203 or early W204.
"Make sure that it hasn't been modified since it rolled out of the factory. You do not want it Habib'd in any way whatsoever."
I asked about expected servicing costs and he advised putting away about $3000-3500 a year for the C200 (from memory this is what he'd said previously). I still think this sounded a bit high, I was a bit too rushed to get clarification on whether those are running costs, or purely servicing costs. He did mention that it'd be inclusive of tyres and servicing, but not whether it'd include include rego and insurance, which are killers to my mind. If it includes those, then 3000-3500 sounds plausible (to my uneducated mind).
I asked how the CLK compares, he said add another $1000/yr to that figure.
Notes on servicing
You don't need to stick to a strict A and B regimen if your shop services what's necessary, rather than ticking boxes (which MB Sydney had apparently been doing, thank you very much).
This thread mentions rough expected A and B costs from an indie mechanic in Melbourne, for what that's worth: http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/archive/1991306 (notes are a few years old now)
They're talking about a C200K, which should be an average example. Up to $460 and $830 for A and B respectively. That sounds fair enough to me. Even $1000/yr would be "okay" for servicing.