How much does it cost to run/maintain a car?

[NeedToShareEek]

I'm thinking of learning to drive at the ripe old age of 40 😂

But DP and I are planning/saving for early retirement, so I'm trying to get a picture of the financial implications of getting a car.

I know it's a piece-of-string question but how much does it roughly cost to run and maintain a car?

Let's say a medium sized car (Honda Jazz kind of size) used as a run-around so a few hundred miles a year.

I know the cost of buying a car and lessons, I'm just struggling to get a handle on running it year to year.

Sorry if it's really vague. Thank you!!

Honestly there’s no way of knowing.

Your insurance could be £100+ a month as a new driver.

Your MOT could be £100 or £1000.

Road Tax monthly could be £15+.

Service £150+

If you buy a brand new car then your bills would probably be low for a few years, if you buy a 10 year old car then you could have £1000 worth of repairs to pay after only a few months.

I wonder if you'd be kind enough to give me an idea of what your costs are, please? I know I'll likely get a huge range of answers!

For reference our run around car which is older now, 8 year old, has cost us £3200 since last Feb just various different repairs, not incl MOT & Service.

Our main family car is now 2 year old and has this year cost me £240 last month for 2 new tyres due to nails, MOT & service, and a £300 cost for a repair.

My dad’s car had an oil leak, only 4 year old, cost of fixing that is nearly £4000!

Tax is roughly £200 a year

Insurance like £350

MOT is £60 plus whatever needs doing

I just had a service and belt replaced which cost £700

The above is all on my new (to me, it’s 16 years old) car

I had a new car on finance previous to this and the POS cost me £4000 in repairs last year, on top of all the above, so I sold it because I was tired of it being such a money pit and got an old car again, which has been great.

We bought a 10 year old Kia Picanto a year ago, we've paid a few £100 for new tyres, another £200 on a new battery, then £200 or so on service/MOT. Tax is free on it but you can look up the cost on whatever car you plan to get. Insurance can be really expensive as a new driver though I don't know if it's less expensive being an older new driver not a teenager. Check the insurance group of any car you look at as it can make a huge difference.

If you get a new car or approved used from a main dealer eg 2 years old, you often get included servicing and warranty for a period of time. If you get an older (and cheaper) car there's a higher chance of something going wrong and needing to pay for repairs (could be anything from a few hundred to several thousand). Sometimes you have to decide whether it's worth spending to repair an old car, or just replace it.

Tyres cost around £100 each and will always need replacing eventually on any car, or if you're unlucky enough to get a puncture.

A few hundred miles a year? Taxis would be cheaper.

Depends how easy they are to get in the op’s area. They’re like hens teeth in my town and our bus services are crap which means taxis are in high demand.

I have a Honda Jazz. Rather outing details to those who know me so have name changed.

Had it brand new in 2020, got it via car leasing which meant I only paid £199 per month for the car. Knew I was retiring in 2025, so took a 5-year plan.

I have now retired, the lease has ended and I have bought the car for a very small sum (leftover amount from the lease).

Haven't had a single problem with the car except 1 set of tyres in all those five years (last year) £380 for whole set.
Car road tax is £17+pence paid monthly.
Car insurance £48 monthly.
Breakdown cover £10 monthly.
Every time I fill up with petrol around £38, gives me around 450 miles. When I was working that used to be every week but now twice a month as I'm retired (small part time volunteering job).
Servicing once a year - so far it's been £298 at the village garage that includes new brake pads every couple of years, MOT £54 once the car was over 3 years old.
That's about it. I wash the car myself so don't spend masses on car washes. Every so often buy stuff for the windscreen wash, get that at Tesco in my regular shop.

I actually thought I wouldn't be able to afford a car once retired as I only have state pension (plus a bit extra every so often from volunteering jobs) but so far I can manage financially. Online sites say the car is worth around £9000 (I suspect that's an inflated price) and I guess I'll keep it a couple of years more, but I should get some money back once I sell it.

My car is ancient and very small. Based on doing around 4k miles a year, costs are:

Tax - £20 per year
Insurance/breakdown cover £200 per year
Petrol - £35 per month

I also save £100 per month to cover MOT/service plus any unexpected repairs.

Are you sure you would only do a few hundred miles a year? No point in having a car I would say.

In the last year I have spent £130 on a new tyre and had a service for over £300. Of course petrol and tax on top.

I have an XC90 and a V90. Across the two cars (c. 14K miles a year), total costs are about £5K excluding fuel but including Service/Mot, Insurance, Tax.

But those are big cars. A full tank of petrol costs about £70 each car. I get about 400 miles out of that (we do a lot of long, steady, driving) but when in towns etc. it's closer to 320.

My car is 10 years old, but in the last few months, I needed a new gear box - £1,000, and 4 new tyres - £400.
After the mortgage, it’s my biggest cost

I spent £8.50 on a basic car wash yesterday.

My car is 9 years old, I use a really reliable and good local mechanic. I always have a service with MoT, this year it cost me just under £500 with two new tyres. Over the years I’ve learnt this is key to car ownership - someone you can trust so you know what could be coming up for you (within reason). My insurance was £520 recently (London), £0 tax for my little car, and a rescue service like RAC is good for peace of mind (some insurers offer this too). I have to pay for permit parking.
When you buy a car make sure parts are easily available - may sound obvious but mine is a little unusual and the cost of a new exhaust was high (that’s when we managed to source one!) And it really is worth looking into fuel economy.

I'm in my 40s and just past my test, so a new driver. I'm Awaiting to hear from the garage when I can pick up my new but used car. Its a little 1.0, so pretty much the cheapest possible. The insurance is still almost £600. However if you put your husband on yours, I think that would make it lower.

My insurance is cheap, well under £300 even with basic breakdown insurance but this varies by postcode, occupation and how many years you had your licence plus no claims years. Petrol use per mile depends on type of car and traffic where you live, number of stop starts on a journey etc - I’m semi rural and pay about £50 a month for fuel and my dh pays a bit more for his car as bigger engine.

mot and servicing is £200 a year ish, then tyres and brakes need doing periodically, that’s before anything actually going wrong.

my DD’s insurance is 3x mine to show the difference

Toyota Auris 2015
£16ish road tax monthly
insurance £40 monthly (not a new driver)
Yearly service is £300 when a full service, less when interim
MOT £40 then anything that needs fixing which has been anywhere between nothing and £1000 in previous years.
Odd tyre goes now and then, £70 or so for a decent one.
AA membership £30 for both cars and extras. (They were amazing the one time I did break down, rac were dreadful.)
Something to keep in mind is bits can go on them at anytime, always have a grand saved if possible for this. My cat went last year which wasn’t cheap.

Then petrol based on mileage.

I have a Hyundai i10 (2015).

Tax - £30 a year.
Insurance - £60 a month (fairly new driver).
Service - approx £300.
MOT - £55 (plus whatever work needs doing).

In the last year I’ve had to pay for two new tyres, a new door hinge after it got damaged in storms, wiper blades, a new tyre pressure sensor and a couple of other minor bits.

Also, don’t forget things like screen wash, getting it cleaned if needed etc.

I don’t think mine is overly expensive given how often I use and how reliable it is. Mechanically it has never once let me down and I drive it every day for work.

This is so useful, thank you.

Perhaps a few hundred miles a year is a low estimate but I mean I wouldn't be travelling miles on motorways.

I do think taxis/Ubers are probably cheaper but they can be really hard to get when I am, particularly for certain trips. I'm also thinking about the future when my mum's in poorer health and I'm having to travel back and forth to hers. Plus, there's the freedom of just jumping in your own car and zipping off somewhere.

I don't know. I'd really like to learn to drive and get a car. But if you add up the lifetime costs, it probably equals an additional year or two of work. I need to decide whether that's worth it.

DH doesn't drive either.

It's definitely worth it. Once you've experienced being able to jump in your car and go wherever you want, it's not an easy thing to consider giving up.

It's one of those things that can surprise you with sudden costs, so it's really difficult to say. Mine isn't used for commuting. Just general getting around. It costs me about £50 - £70 a month for fuel. £20ish tax. About the same for breakdown. About £80 in insurance (mine is pretty expensive although I pay it all in one go so it's not a monthly cost). Then there's the random things, like tyres, pads and discs, odd little things that need doing on the MOT. I randomly get bills of £50 to £1000 out of the blue.

You'd have to get those car keys from my cold, dead hands though!

Volvo.
I keep it because I’m really rural and use a wheelchair and the wheelchair taxi in my town stops work at 4pm

tax 400 quid (big polluting diesel)
petrol 100 quid a month or so. This is for driving to Tesco, choir rehearsals etc. if I drive to see my mum cross country (4 hours) it’s about 100 quid a trip.
insurance 400 quid (been driving 30 years no accidents)

be aware insurance for newly passed teens is horrifically expensive. Not sure how much it would be for newly passed adult - maybe put it into go compare and see?

mot varies from nothing to 1000 quid.
tyres are 400 for full replacement (last one two years ago) but mine is big and has big tyres.

mine is 13 years old and has done 150,000 miles. I have owned it since new.

The average driver in the UK does 7000 miles a year. Obviously if you did a long commute to work you would do a lot more. I was ill last year and hardly used the car, only going to the shops and back and did 2000. Just out of interest for you when you are calculating costs.

I calculated all the costs of running a car and worked out it would be cheaper to get taxis everywhere but I do have a taxi rank at the end of my road! I decided to keep the car anyway for convenience.

You need to factor in so many other things as well though - deciding whether to drive on the basis of running costs is way too simplistic.

Driving and owning a car opens up so many doors, both in terms of your career and your life in general. You can travel more, have more freedom and flexibility and it saves you hours of time.

Cars are way too expensive to buy and run. I'm amazed at how car drivers don't rebel against it.