FocusCanada Forums

i looked through my spreadsheet today and calculated my costs to keep the vehicles on the road.. thought you guys might find this interesting

on my wrx (excludes insurance): $0.32 per mile

on my ex500 (excludes insurance and gear): $0.31 per mile

both of these vehicles have been extremely reliable. the only unscheduled maintenance on the wrx was clutch job and axle boots, and on the EX500 starter switch.. so its really just fuel and routine maintenance..

EDIT: both are 100% stock also, so there is no modding cost involved

now.. here is the surprising thing.. i really thought my bike would be a lot cheaper to run, because it gets about double the fuel economy..
the WRX has averaged around 22mpg (min of 7mpg, max of 28mpg)
the EX500 averaged around 50mpg (min of 31mpg, max of 60mpg)

i suspect the lower fuel cost of the bike is offset by the fact MC oil is like 3x the price of the rotella T i use for the WRX, and the bike has some storage costs in the winter

what do you guys think? how does your cost / mile compare with mine?

as an aside.. my super cheapo integra cost like $0.20 per mile to run because i did nothing to it other than keep pouring oil and fuel into it :lol:

I dont keep tracks of what I spend on the cars. But i think its a great idea to do so. So do you have a spreadsheet or anything?

mo_focus,Dec 4 2007, 08:52 PM Wrote:I dont keep tracks of what I spend on the cars.  But i think its a great idea to do so. So do you have a spreadsheet or anything?
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yea. its nothing fancy. just an excel spreadsheet with 4 columns.. date, vehicle mileage, category, price, comment

for example, if i got gas i would put in 12/2/2007, 74,145, Fuel, $43.11, 24mpg mixed driving

or if i changed the oil i would put in 12/2/2007, 74,145, service, $20, changed oil with OE filter and 4qt shell rotella T 3550 mi change interval

there's really nothing more to it other than remembering to enter it in when you spend the money.

i keep track of every penny i spent, down to registration cost.

i did this with the focus and the integra (my other subaru and vw i didn't keep long enough to spend money on) and i found that the integra was much cheaper per mile than everything else, and the focus was similar in cost to the wrx (on a per mile basis) mostly because i was a moron and spent a bit of money trying to modify it

i plan to keep the wrx for around 2 more yr. when all is said and done i'm going to take that cost and compare it to leasing a 3 series for a comparable amount of time (3 series has free maintenance)... if the all in cost of keeping the wrx was the same as having a new 3 series, i'm running straight to the nearest bmw dealer..

EDIT: otherwise.. time for a lightly used STi

naz,Dec 4 2007, 09:08 PM Wrote:

mo_focus,Dec 4 2007, 08:52 PM Wrote:I dont keep tracks of what I spend on the cars.  But i think its a great idea to do so. So do you have a spreadsheet or anything?
[right][snapback]253967[/snapback][/right]

yea. its nothing fancy. just an excel spreadsheet with 4 columns.. date, vehicle mileage, category, price, comment

for example, if i got gas i would put in 12/2/2007, 74,145, Fuel, $43.11, 24mpg mixed driving

or if i changed the oil i would put in 12/2/2007, 74,145, service, $20, changed oil with OE filter and 4qt shell rotella T 3550 mi change interval

there's really nothing more to it other than remembering to enter it in when you spend the money.

i keep track of every penny i spent, down to registration cost.

i did this with the focus and the integra (my other subaru and vw i didn't keep long enough to spend money on) and i found that the integra was much cheaper per mile than everything else, and the focus was similar in cost to the wrx (on a per mile basis) mostly because i was a moron and spent a bit of money trying to modify it

i plan to keep the wrx for around 2 more yr. when all is said and done i'm going to take that cost and compare it to leasing a 3 series for a comparable amount of time (3 series has free maintenance)... if the all in cost of keeping the wrx was the same as having a new 3 series, i'm running straight to the nearest bmw dealer..

EDIT: otherwise.. time for a lightly used STi
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got it, great. thanks :)

Yeah, 2006-07 STi FTMFW.

Was out again last night in my buddy's Cobb Stage 2 STi... what a hoot! :lol:

NOS2Go4Me,Dec 4 2007, 10:35 PM Wrote:Yeah, 2006-07 STi FTMFW.

Was out again last night in my buddy's Cobb Stage 2 STi... what a hoot! :lol:
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yea i agree STi/EVO are awesome. i'm waiting to see how this new STi hatch looks in person and how it drives before i make any decisions.

i thought STi/EVO were a lock for my next car then i spent time with a chipped 335i. 360whp just from a chip (conservatively tuned too). wow. plus it has a decent interior and all that too