Recently I had to pay a huge amount of car maintenance service, which is AU$388. It’s a 2008 small car with a 1.5 L engine. After googling around, I concluded that the service fee is heavily influenced by the age of the car.
As I’ve always had extra cash, I had no problem paying this amount, but still, I wasn’t ready to see more than AU$250 for a car service. So I want to know if it’s worth it to own a car if I only use it for only two days per week. I prefer to use a car instead of public transport as I need it to bring a lot of equipment for my photography trip.
Owning a Car
Here are the details of owning a car, from purchasing price to regular fees involved per year, including registration, insurance, roadside assistance, car battery, maintenance service, and car tyres.
Please note that these fees are excluding fuel and parking because both will cost the same regardless of your position (of owning or renting a car).
Also, the expenses involved in owning a car are based on the assumption that the car is used only one the weekend.
| OWNING A CAR | |
| Description | Amount |
| Purchase Price of $7000 (used) – for the next 10 years | $700.00 |
| Registration | $834.80 |
| Insurance | $718.82 |
| Roadside Assistance | $102.60 |
| Car Battery every 3 years ($206/3) | $51.50 |
| Maintenance Service charges (per year) | $387.00 |
| Car Tyres @$105 assuming all 4 are replaced every 5 years | $84.00 |
| Running cost without fuel – per year | $2,878.72 |
| Running cost without fuel – per month | $239.89 |
Renting a Car
I use Kayak.com.au to see how much a small car costs, assuming I use it for two days per week.
As you can see on the screenshot above, a two-day rent costs $84 including all fees, which makes it $336 per month.
If you’re curious what the fees and charges are, head to this website, How to Rent a Car in Australia to see all the details about renting a car including the risks.
Which One Is Cheaper?
It can be easily seen that when compared to hiring a car, owning a car is more cost-effective. However, of course, cheaper alternatives are always there, like car-sharing for example.
While I haven’t fully investigated how much exactly car-sharing costs, brief research states that owning a car is still cheaper than car-sharing, even though it is argued that the purpose of car-sharing is to encourage us to drive less because:
“… the less we drive, the better value car sharing becomes.”
Source: Choice.com.au
Conclusion
Do not get tricked by the large amount you have to pay for car service. Assuming you only use it once or twice a week, sometimes even though the maintenance service seems expensive, when we calculate the total and compare, the result is often surprising.
As calculated above, after taking purchase price, registration, insurance, roadside assistance, car battery, maintenance service, and car tyres, owning a car, when driven only two days per week costs $239.89 per month while renting a car with the same assumption costs $336 per month.
Public transport is not an option at this stage as drivers like me, who have to carry a lot of equipment, will need a car.
Car-sharing may be a better option but if we can only get a better value by driving less while it’s not possible to drive less, then owning a car is a better, more cost-effective option.
