tl;dr: Purchased a used 2002 Saturn L200 with 140k miles and drove it for ~7 years and 127,190 miles. TCO was $0.2089/mile.
There have been a few of these total cost of ownership posts in the past and now that my 2002 Saturn L200 has finally reached the end of its life, I wanted to share my experience. Although it is not one of the makes that is frequently recommended on the sub, I think it ended up working out very well. It was very reliable, only leaving me stranded twice. Once when the fuel pump went out (no warning) and then again right before we got rid of it. It would have likely required an engine replacement to keep driving, so we decided to cut it loose at that point.
Purchase Cost: $5,500 (20.7%)
I purchased the vehicle used with my dad for $5,500. At the time of the purchase it had 140,000 miles and it was about 10 years old. We paid cash so there were no interest or financing charges.
Gas: $10,532.63 (39.6%)
The car was driven 127,190 miles during the time I owned it. I averaged an overall 29.5 MPG, which I feel was pretty good for a mid-sized sedan.
Maintenance and Repairs: $8,341.86 (31.4%)
Most of the maintenance and repairs were done at a small independent shop. My dad and I may have changed the oil on our own once or twice, but most of the time it was done by the shop. I also did the redid brakes myself, as it was fairly easy and it probably saved $600 vs what the shop wanted to charge. For the most part though, this cost should be fairly accurate for the average person.
I’ll list a few of the largest contributors to the maintenance and repair expenses. Someone who cared less about doing a lot of maintenance would have likely skipped over some of these, but I think all of them contributed to the car running for so long. The car was also well maintained by the previous owner as the first major repair (water pump) didn't occur until over 2 years after we purchased the vehicle.
- Tires (3 Sets) ($1,493.38)
- Water Pump (Twice) ($1,072.00)
- Fuel Pump ($650.00)
- Differential Output Seals ($1,010.63)
- Timing Cover Gasket/Tensioner ($806.68)
Registration: $403.50 (1.5%)
Insurance: $1,942.87 (7.3%)
The insurance total is the one caveat with my expenses. The car was initially in my father's name and he paid for insurance during the first 2.5 years of ownership. I don't know what he was paying, so I can't include it, but it was state minimum liability only. The amount listed here represent the last 5 years of ownership with minimum liability only insurance. Average cost was about $31 per month.
Sale: $150
Sale price was slightly above scrap value as the car was not in running condition when we got rid of it.
Total Cost: $26,570.86
Miles Driven: 127,190
TCO: $0.2089/mile or ~$340/month
This is significantly lower than the IRS milage rate, and it is also lower than most of the other TCO posts I've found on reddit. The only person who had a lower rate was doing all of their own maintenance, so they saved quite a bit of money that way. I was extremely happy with the Saturn and was sad when it was finally time to get rid of it. It was extremely reliable and very cheap to operate.
We purchased a 2005 Lexus ES 330 to replace the Saturn, so in a few years I will probably do a comparison between the two to see if we made a good choice or not. I hope the operational cost will be close, but I'm pretty it won't beat the Saturn. I've included links here to some of the TCO posts if you would like to compare my results with what other people have reported.
2006 Korean Economy Car - $0.51/mile
2003 Honda Civic - $0.28/mile
2002 Subaru Legacy - $0.406/mile
2005 Toyota Corolla - $0.123/mile (Parts at cost/no labor for maintenance)
2013 Nissan Altima - $0.39/mile
2016 Chevy Cruze - $0.2407/mile
Submitted April 23, 2020 at 07:54PM by lone_eagle54 https://ift.tt/352NLKo
