What does it really cost to go out and buy a new car? We recently did a comparison between keeping your current BMW 3 series or going out and buying a new one. The results were surprising!
First we’ll calculate maintenance and repairs on your current car. This is a 2006-2010 BMW 328i that you’ve owned for at least 5 years and has about 75,000 miles. So what is it going to take to maintain it for the next 5 years and another 75,000 miles? We went a little overboard quoting our maintenance and repairs to overestimate rather than under estimate. We included everything your car could possibly need between 75k and 150k (even some repairs that should have been taken care of before that).
Here’s the summary with details below that –
Total cost to maintain your current car for the next 5 years or 75K miles based on a 2010 328i –
Total – $16916.21
Per Year – $3,383.24
Per Month – $281.94
Per Mile – $.023
Total cost to buy and maintain a new BMW 328i for 5 years and 75,000 miles –
*We remove the fuel price from the Edmunds TCI breakdown because we do not calculate fuel usage in the 2010 comparison.*
Total – $89,716
Per Year – $17943.20
Per Month – $1495.27
Per Mile – $1.20
But what about the value of the cars – Is that calculated into that?
Let’s say you sell the 2010 and put that money into buying the new one –
The 2010 328i with 75k miles is now worth about $15,000. Minus this from the total cost to own the new car and we’re left with a total of $74,716 to own the new car for 5 years. Now let’s say you sell the new car and you’re either off to buy another car or decide just to ride the bus instead. The 5 year old 2016 BMW 328i is now worth $20,983. Minus that from our total after selling the 2010 and we’re left with $53,733. In this scenario you’re left with no car and paid $53,733 over the last 5 years to borrow a shiny new BMW.
The Details –
Keeping your old car – Like I said we over calculated everything here, Our $17,000 estimate to maintain your current car includes all maintenance, tires, and common repairs (which might not be needed anyways). That total includes all necessary oil services, transmission service, power steering fluid service, cooling system fluid exchange services, brake fluid service, fuel system service, Intake walnut shell blast (on turbocharged BMW’s), differential service, transfer case service (on AWD xi models), drive belts and tensioners, Engine air filter, Charcoal cabin air filter, Front and rear shocks and struts, New tires with top of the line Michelins, Alignments, spark plugs, front and rear brakes. We also included all of these repairs that typically need to be done during this mileage and would all be under a lifetime warranty – Valve cover gasket, oil filter housing gasket, oil pan gasket, control arm bushings, ignition coils, electric water pump, thermostat, and all cooling system hoses.
Buying a new car as calculated by http://www.edmunds.com/tco.html
Total cash sale price of a 2016 BMW 328i is $43,812 PLUS the total cost to own of $55,829 breaks down as follows –
$22,829 – Depreciation over 5 years
$4,457 – Taxes and Fees over 5 years
$3,492 – Financing
$9,925 – Fuel – We do not calculate this into the total but it is listed on edmunds.com
$7,019 – Insurance
$5,100 – Maintenance
$3,007 – Repairs
So all of this minus the gas comes to a total of $45904 plus the cash sale price you pay for the new car for a total of $89,716 to own that new car for the first 5 years.
So after all of this what do you think? What would you do if you kept your current car and had over $50,000 in the bank in 5 years? $50k is a lot of money that you could use to help buy a house, build a pool, pay for college for yourself or a child, or keep it all for yourself and take a kick-ass vacation.
Don’t get me wrong I would love to drive a new car and I understand there is nothing like owning a car that no one has ever owned, But a 2010 3 series is still a reletively new car and worth holding onto for at least another 5 years. These cars can be fantastically reliable even up to 200k miles but they MUST be maintained preventively to avoid costly repairs.
I’m happy to put together a custom report just for you. Give us a call or send me an email and I’ll work with you to compare your options. Also check out our pre-warranty inspection – Let us inspect your car before you get out of warranty to get any potential issues taken care of by the dealer before your warranty expires.