Inside of a car
A travelling car
A beautiful car

Having a car is almost a necessity nowadays. It is very convenient having a personal car for your everyday travels and if anyone has the means, he or she must have a car. But what most people don’t know is that owning a car comes with its own cost. That is the reason why many people have unused cars on their yards. That is also why there are many car breakdowns.

Why Owning A Car Is Costly

Service

When one owns a car, he should make sure that the car has a regular service. This is important as there are certain parts that require changing after a certain period or after the car has traveled a certain number of mileages. Not doing this will result in the car breaking down from small and simple things that could have been avoided by servicing the car. When a car should be serviced depends on the type and use of the car, therefore you can check with garages or the car manual to know when to service it. If you know a lot about cars, you can do the simple servicing on your own but if you have doubts about your capabilities, send it to a garage. A full car service is complex and it can include up to 50 or things components.

  • An engine oil change and/or filter replacement
  • Checking lights, tyres, exhaust and operations of brakes and steering
  • Ensuring your engine is ‘tuned’ to run in its peak condition
  • Checking hydraulic fluid and coolant levels.For more information.
A car being repaired
A car being serviced

The cost of servicing a car might vary from place to place and because of the type of servicing that is to happen. But since it is for the sake of keeping your car in a good condition for a longer lifespan, it must not hurt that much to pay. And comparing o the cost you are likely to incur because of not servicing the car, it would be worth it.

Fuel

The cost of fuel per litter will depend on the area you live in.The amount of fuel you will need will be determined by the total number  of litters your tank can carry. Roads also determine the amount of fuel you will need.Bad roads with lots of potholes will require more fuel than good roads.The percentage of budget dedicated to fuel might vary from time to time depending on the number of journeys you are taking. Amount of fuel needed can is also determined by the number of litters per kilometer/ mile that your car uses.

A car refueling

Insurance

Not many love to pay insurances. But is it a must to pay car insurance when you have a car. The insurance charges vary from place to place and the charges of the  Insurance companies. In many countries,you are not allowed to drive in public roads when you do not have an insurance. Note that the insurance will expire after a certain period, therefore be sure to pay after the last one has expired if you want to be able to drive freely in public roads without fearing for patrolling police.

Storage/ Security

Cars parked
Parked cars

When you own a car, you have to make sure that there is good security to keep your car safe from theft.That will mean that you will need to have a guarded house, or you will need to have a well secured house maybe with an alarm system. If you do not have this,you might use car parks and will need to budget parking money for every night.The parking expense will differ from place to place or from one car park to another. This can be expensive but its all for the protection of your car. You can also put an alarm system on your car to reduce the risk of theft. This is usually expensive for low and middle income earners.You are also likely to incur the cost of child security when you have little children or later when you will have them.

Maintenance

Many car accidents are due to the lack of car maintenance by their owners. People tend to forget that there are things that need to be changed on the car from time to time. For example, tires.On the car manual, it is written when the tires must be changed or after how much traveling they must be changed but it is usually ignored and many are likely to change them only after it has burst.There are also things that will need to be changed from time to time like sit covers and others. When you do not have the time, you are supposed to pay others for the service of deep cleaning your car.

Registration, Taxes, Miscellaneous

When you buy your car, there are certain taxes and registration fees you must pay to the government. For example here in Zimbabwe, when you buy your car out of the country, you are supposed to pay duty fees on the border. After having the car, you must pay for the acquisition of the license plate number. But it does not end there because you have to pay parking fees when you park into the Central Business District. There is a fixed charge for a certain amount of time for parking  there. This charge changes with inflation or deflation.When you are entering a new town or  city you are supposed to pay a toll gate fee when you own a car. The total expense will depend on the number of toll gates you pass through on your journey. When you fail to follow and obey road rules, you are charged. The police is likely to send a ticket for failing to follow these rules.

Depreciation

Although you don’t make a monthly payment for depreciation, cars do lose value over time, which affects your total cost of ownership. In their first year, cars lose around 20% to 30% of their value. Over each of the next five years, depreciation is between 15% and 18%, according to Black Book, which tracks used-car pricing. See more