TOTAL COST OF RUNNING A CAR!

With an average fuel consumption of 60mpg the diesel cost per mile is 10p making the total cost per mile 16p. That’s London and back (150 miles) for £24 which is a lot cheaper than taking the train, tube & taxi to go to salsa events in London let alone the convenience factor and the impossibility of using public transport for the return journey after midnight!
My car is a 14 year old Mitsubishi Carisma Elegance 1.8L so it’s amazing that it still does 60mpg – must have been a lucky one! For continental people 60 miles per gallon is 4.73 litres per 100 km.

See also holtsauto.com and compare those running costs with mine which are £3040 a year but this measure is totally useless and clearly you must divide by the number of miles to get the cost per mile which is a statistic you can actually compare:

1. Small old car in a city 5000 miles a year = £2141/5000 = 42p per mile
2. New sports car in a town 10,000 miles a year = £3580/10000 = 35p per mile
3. Large family car in the country 25,000 miles a year = £4,310/25000 = 17p per mile
4. My old 1.8L car travelling from town to cities 20,000 miles a year = £3040/20000 = 15p per mile

but clearly to be fully comparable you must include the yearly cost of buying the car. For this purpose I’m going to assume that a loan is used to pay for cars 2 & 3 over a 5 year period at 0% interest – if you’re lucky – and that the old cars 1 & 4 cost £1000 and last for 3 years!

1. Small old car in a city 5000 miles a year = £2141+333 = 2474/5000 = 49p per mile
2. New sports car in a town 10,000 miles a year = £3580+4000 = 7580/10000 = 75p per mile
3. Large family car in the country 25,000 miles a year = £4,310+2000 = 6310/25000 = 25p per mile
4. My old 1.8L car travelling from town to cities 20,000 miles a year = £3040+333 = 3373/20000 = 16p per mile.