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7 9° You KNOW what it cost
-* you to own and operate
Your car in the last year?

The accompanying chart pro-
7 “ides an average answer to
] this question. It is. based on
7 *number of surveys made in
Tcent years by automobile
%sociations and several mag-
} Wines,

These surveys covered all
} “Utomobiles from low-priced to
i high-priced. This. means that
7 our costs should be some-
} What lower than shown on the
7) “hart if you drive a low-pric-
7 “car and higher if you drive
a medium or high-priced car.
i | Ohe recent survey, for éx-
7 Mple, covering all cars one
_} ° Six years old showed that
} "dium-priced cars cost 21
7 recent more per year than
“7 © average low-priced car;
70 high-priced cars had an
7 erage annual cost about 44
} tcent higher than the aver-
7 “%e low-priced car.

N looking at this chart you
“Mould also remember that it
Se Not represent a picture
: What happens to the same
t or group of cars year after
Year,

‘The first column gives the
rages for all new cars re-
pacing on their first year’s
Peration. The second col-
N shows the average for all
y S reporting their second
“ar costs. So the chart is
Strictly comparable from
© Year to the next.

© chart indicates that it
erat far more to own and op-
dle € an auto than most peo-

8re willing to admit.

The average for the first
S Operation is $1,316 and
_ the second $1,182. The
Tage annual costs do not
® below $1,000 until after
Second year of use and it
€s the level of $800 only
4 1¢ time you reach the
year of use.

S€neral you cannot ef-
&hy major savings in run-
.€0sts. It is true that
Ng costs, particularly re-
&nd replacements, go up
Ws aes but as the chart

ne ; i
ply. Y dont go up very

“Osts

the fifth year, for ex-
» Tunning costs average
peor 10,000 miles of use,
the mately $97 more than
© second year of opera-
N sharp contrast to this,
Same period fixed costs
38 d from $905 down to
aie by $369.
in € you can reduce op-
Mon Costs a little, it doesn’t
er. toa great deal in the
‘gs all Picture. Some sav-
€n be made by using
* gas and by doing as
Sa your own servicing
, Pairs as you are able to

ble

the
Poppe

ie .
Major reason for the

decline in total costs over the
years is given on the bottom
part of the chart, that section
marked “Fixed Costs.”

Fixed costs, particularly de-
preciation, are the major costs
of running an automobile.
First year depreciation aver-
ages $794; the second year
$663, etc. Even by the sixth
year of use it is still $272, the
largest single item of expense.

Other fixed costs like in-
surance, taxes, and _ license
fees all are in general pro-
portion to the depreciation.
In the first year these total
fixed costs represent approxi-
mately four-fifth of total an-
nual car costs. Even by the
sixth year fixed costs repre-
sent half of total car costs.

Not shown on ‘the chart is
one important fixed cost which
would raise the total, that is,
financing costs.

For a new car, costing $2,000,
your financing cost in the first
year may approximate $220.
Even if you pay cash for this
car you give up the interest
you would otherwise receive
on the money you pay for it.
Even at three percent this
would come to $60 a year.

Since the biggest single cost
item is fixed charges, it is the
obvious piace where you can
effect the greatest savings. Es-
sentially, you can do this by
sticking to used cars three to
four years old.

From a strictly dollar and
cents viewpoint, it is best to
avoid buying a new car and
trading it in at regular. inter-
vals. It is obviously cheaper
to buy a two-year-old car and
trade it in two years later be-
fore a major overhaul _ be-
comes necessary.

Of course, if you place a
high value on owning a new
car, you should know at least
what you are paying for it.
The first and second years of
use cost you $634 more than
the third and fourth years of
use,

There are also’ mechanical
reasons why you should buy
a car with 20,000 miles of use
and run it up to about 40,000
miles.

With proper lubrication and
servicing and proper car care
and driving habits, you should
be able to drive up to 40,000
miles without undergoing ma-
jor overhaul of the motor. You
may have certain minor re-
pairs and replacements, but
you may be able to avoid a
major overhaul job which is
very expensive.

With proper care the orig-
inal tires should last about
30,000 miles. You may have
to replace some, but not all
the tires by the time you trade
in the car at about 40,000 miles.

The general idea should be
to drive from 20,000 up to. 40,-

+

| Can you cut
‘your car costs?

000. mites with as little out-
lay for repair and replace-
ment as possible. Let your
successor pay these impend-
ing expenses.

If you make these outlays
yourself, you will find that
when you come to trade in
the car, the dealer won’t give
you a nickel more trade-in
allowance for each dollar you
have sunk into repairs and re-
placements in your old car.

@

Like all other generalties,
this recommendation of 20,-
000 to 40,000 miles ag the
cheapest over-all years of car
usage shouldn’t be taken rig-
idly.

If you really know your
car, it is possible you can drive
it up to 50,000 or 60,000 miles

before it requireg a major
overhaul. It all depends on
the car itself, your driving

habits, the type of use you
give the car, and your care in
lubrication, servicing, etc.
The idea is to buy those
middle miles between the first
two years of high fixed costs
and the latter years of higher
repair and replacement costs.
On the other hand, if you
can do a major part, or all of
the repair and maintenance
work on a car, it will pay you
to do this and keep your car

you can buy a used medium-
priced car or even a used high-
priced car and operate it for

little more than most
people pay for running a low-
priced car.

The initial cost of used med-
ium and high-priced cars is
relatively low because repairs
and maintenance costs on such
cars are generally higher.
When you repair and maintain
such a car yourself, however,
you can overcome this disad-
vantage.

The owner of a four-year-
old car faces these choices: to
pay two or three hundred dol-
lars to overhaul his old’ car;
to trade it in ‘for a new car;
or, to trade it in for another
used car, preferably one with
no more than 20,000 miles on
it.

One study has compared the
first two alternatives for a
low-priced car needing $350
in repairs. To this we have
added a comparison of the
third alternative. The end re-
sult is as follows:

very

Total Annual Cost

Ifcaris Ifcaris
kept for kept for
2 years 4 years

Trade in pres-
ent car for new

low-priced car $1241 © $926
Overhaul pres-
Snp Scan sees 900 750
Trade in pres-
ent car for 2-
year-old used
CLS Hag OLS ada BS UE 764 732
The conclusion is that it

doesn’t pay to spend $350 to
overhaul your present car un-
less you intend to keep it for
another four year. Only if
you keep. it for four years
more do your annual costs
drop down to $750.

If you keep it only two years

car and have the use of that
new car for four years at an
annual cost of $926.

But it is even cheaper to
trade in for a two-year-old
used car and keep that for
only two years.

It is certainly wiser to spend
$764 a year for the use of a
two-year-old used car for an
additional two years than to
spend $900 a year to continue
using a four-year-old car for
another two years. It is
cheaper if you keep either car
for as much as another four
years.

But, all things considered,
it is probably wiser to keep
the used car only for two
years or so and ‘to trade it in
before it in turn needs major

overhaul.

There is still another way
to save an additional; $175 or
more each year. This is by
looking around for a used car
that has been driven 20,000
miles but is actually three
years old? It-is possible to
find such cars, which have
been driven an average of
7,000 miles a year for three
years.

If you can find such a car
you derive several advantages.

In the first place, your fix-
ed costs will be those for the
fourth year of use instead of
the third; $542 instead of $639
or about $100 less.

In the second place, you
pay third-year running costs
instead of four-year running
costs; $303 instead of $380, or
a Saving of $76 a year.

In the third place, you pay
several hundred dollars less
for the car. The interest or
financing charges: on this dif-
ference is quite significant.

going. In fact, if you are in| your ann&ul cost is $900 and Your total savings are thus
this do-it-yourself category, you could trade in for a new about $175 a year.
WHAT IT COSTS TO OWN AND OPERATE A CAR
ALL CARS ONE TO SIX YEARS OLD DRIVEN AN AVERAGE OF
10,000 MILES A YEAR
$1,316 $1,182 $942 $922 $910 $801
( Total 272
RUNNING ( Repairs, Hm 44
( Tires Ee 277
COSTS ( Gas, Oil, Lub. Jj 228 He 67
10,000 Miles ( ies
4 fe 210
( Total 1,044 | 303
( Mise, 98 | 380 374
( a a] a 7] ay
( 905 ligt Be 120 128 401
( Insurance ce 152 Rm 102 232 Ps] ES
( ae | ma ra Way 154
( ee] is ha aa kal Be
( = fa 140 i R260 Fi 248 Ba
FIXED ( ne pee 639 BG a WB 247
( el Be nid re] fet
COSTS ( ee ae 536 5)
( ES Ey fi 116 70 MM 95 kg
( . | ie Sy i |
( Depreciation Ga 794 ccs Gq 122 a 400
( Re ii RE | mq 104 Mm 30
( | i Pe] Rel Bz 98
( ka mad | oe | B Re
( Py Fa ia BM 350 HS 337
( BS eg es | a Wm 272
¢ a ES ic’ | im 5) |
( hal Ea | ea BY
( ER L Ba By 4 EL
ist 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th
Year Year Year Year Year Year

NOVEMBER 30, 1956 — PACIFIC TRIBUNE — PAGE 11