Our Car Maintenance Costs Over Time
I was reviewing the repair records for cars, and was interested to find how similar they were.
My car is a 1997 Nissan Maxima SE with a little under 150K miles. I bought it in September 2000. Since then, I’ve spent $7,275.29 on maintenance, including all repairs and oil changes.
That works out to $520/year, or $43/month. I’ve only kept track of my gas mileage and cost since 2008. It has varied quite a bit with the cost of gas over those years, but the average annual cost has been $939, or $78.25/month.
My wife’s car is a 2004 Honda Odyssey with around 120K miles. We bought it in May 2007 and have spent $3,945.69 on repairs and oil changes. I haven’t kept track of the gas mileage, but maintenance has cost us $563/year, or $47/month over the course of the 7 years we’ve owned it.
What surprised me most was how similar the monthly costs have been between the two cars. I’m curious to hear what other real world vehicles have cost over the long run. It’s helpful for budgeting to know we should set aside $50/month for each vehicle.
I’m pleasantly surprised you still have that car and I’m impressed at your record keeping skills. I still remember our pursuit of cargo nets, which, coincidentally, Josh just discovered the importance of. He called me a little while back just to remark, 14 years later, that he now understands. :)
Hah, I’d forgotten all about getting those cargo nets together. The ol’ Maxima is still humming along. I wonder if Kevin still has his…