It's Cool To Be Carfree

Cars cost money - lots of money

According to a report by the RAC in 2003, 30% of motorists have no idea how much their car costs to run. If this is true, the other 70% must be in denial. The answer to the question: how much does it cost to run a car is "a lot." RAC Motoring Services have compiled a guide to illustrative vehicle running costs. These figures are a guide to the cost of running, from new, a privately owned car for a period of three years with an annual mileage of 12,000 miles. The numbers include depreciation, financing charges, fuel costs (at 81p a litre!!), servicing and maintenance, tyres and replacement parts, insurance premiums and, you guessed, RAC membership. These are the figures: 

engine size

cost per year

cost per week

up to 1000cc

£3,617

£69.55

up to 1500cc

£5,118

£98.42

up to 2000cc

£7,510

£144.42

up to 2500cc

£9,715

£186.82

over 2500cc

£11,134

£214.11

Every week, this is what your car costs.

Or take a look at the figures from the AA.

If you don't trust averages, and want to find out exactly how much your own car is costing, thisismoney.co.uk has a calculator        

Save more

Not having a car means saving the amounts listed above. It also means not having to pay for parking, congestion charges (coming soon to a town near you) and road pricing (ditto). You can give up the costly gym membership as you get fitter. And if you have a car parking space you might even be able to rent it out and make some money.

How do you get around without owning a car? Look at those weekly figures above: that's a lot of taxis, hire cars, trains and buses every week. The sooner you give up your car, the sooner you will start saving money.

                              © GiveUpYourCar.com - all rights reserved.