1987 Honda Accord DX from North America - Comments

My Honda is now 14 years old and I am thinking about putting it out to pasture. Since I am a financial guy, I always wanted to tally the total cost of car ownership. Supposedly, Hondas have good maintenance records...

Over the past 14 years and 126,000 miles, I managed to save every repair and maintenance receipt. With this, along with some reasonably accurate estimate work, I have been able to track the total cost of ownership for this automobile. I have compiled the results of this 14 year long study below.

Total Cost of Car Ownership

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$ 10,600 Original purchase price

$ 16,000 Car insurance

$ 17,000 Maintenance: all repairs, oil, breaks, mufflers, clutch, etc...

$ 6,000 Gas

$ 1,000 Sales tax, excise tax, annual registration

$ 2,263 Interest on bank loan

$ 1,300 Parking tickets, towing

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$ 54,163 Total (.42 cents a mile)

Wow. My first conclusion is that this car is a L-e-m-m-o-n. $17k in repairs over 126k miles seems about right for a Yugo. But who knows, maybe this is actually below average (as consumer reports would lead you to believe).

I am surprised how expensive it has been to own this automobile. My situation is a little unusual since my mileage averaged 9,000 miles per year -- about half of the US average. In any case, whats most intriguing to me is the fact that the purchase price is only 1/5th of the total cost.

Of course, with anything, a car will cost money. Especially after 14 years of ownership. Anything that you put on the road will cost you money over the long haul. Maybe the numbers are kind of off, but do that with every single car out there, and you'll find that you're not that bad off.

I have to add I don't think it is fair to add in the tickets and towing as I for one have been driving oh lets just say longer than 14 years and have never had a car ticketed or towed for parking. I don't think you can blame Honda or the car being a lemon for those cost... Just my opinion.