| New 2000 Ford Focus sedan, extended warranty, all fees, and financing on a 5 yr loan (paid off in 3.5 years) | ~ $17,000 |
| Insurance, 8 years | ~ $6,489 |
| Registration | ~ $264 |
| Taxes | ~ $544 |
| Gas | ~ $12,760 |
| Oil Changes | ~ $814 |
| New engine | $2333 |
| NCSU Parking Pass (2 semesters) | $287 |
| Speeding tickets (3) | ~ $450 |
| A/C repairs | ~ $110 |
| Inspections/emissions | ~ $425 |
| Detailing | ~ $300 |
| Mirror repair | ~ $140 |
| Towing | ~ $250 |
| Front spring repair | ~ $150 |
| Parking tickets | ~ $80 |
| Mud flaps | ~ $50 |
| Random parking | ~ $160 |
| Bike rack | ~ $100 |
| Grand Total: | $42,706 |
(Disclaimer: This is a rough calculation. I haven’t kept records; this is just what we can remember. These numbers are our calculations of the cost of owning a 2000 Ford Focus sedan for 7.5 years. They do not include the cost of my 1990 Nissan Sentra, which I owned for a year or two before we married, or the old, faithful 1990 Ford Ranger pickup that Mark drove for three years before it was stolen.)
2 responses so far ↓
1 Tara // Dec 14, 2007 at 9:39 pm
Yuck! I SOO don’t want to see this! We just bought our new car - a 2007 - in April, so we are already over 50% into the “car debt” you identified! Not to mention the GAS!
2 rebecca // Dec 15, 2007 at 8:29 am
I was really shocked by how much we spent on gas, too. And it’s even scarier when you realize how much MORE that number will be if gas prices stay at or near current levels for the next few years.
(The first year we put gas into that car, it was about $1.20 per gallon.)
Leave a Comment