COST OF OWNING AND OPERATING AUTOMOBILES AND VANS
The cost of owning and operating a motor vehicle is of major significance, as Americans experience increasing demands on their incomes. It costs more than $9,000 to purchase a large-size American car. If it is driven 120,000 miles over a period of 12 years, the total cost to the owner will be $32,017. During that time it will cost about $8,604 (excluding taxes) for some 7,059 gallons of gasoline, about $6,232 for maintenance and repair work, $3,991 to insure the vehicle, $939 for parking and tolls, and $1,787 in taxes. This last item is used primarily for roads on which the vehicle is driven and accounts for only 5.6 percent of the total costs. This report updates The Cost of Owning and Operation Automobiles and Vans-1979. It traces selected vehicles in personal use and their costs through a 12-year lifetime of 120,000 miles using mid-1981 data. The user is cautioned against making direct cost comparisons between the costs in this and previous issues. Both methodology changes (detailed below) and improved data (especially insurance costs) will make such comparisons misleading. As with earlier reports, costs are based on operation of typical vehicles in the Baltimore, Maryland suburbs. Although a vehicle will usually pass through three or more owners during its life, the costs resulting from transfer of ownership are not included in this report. (Author)
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Corporate Authors:
Federal Highway Administration
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
Washington, DC United States 20590 - Publication Date: 1982
Media Info
- Features: Tables;
- Pagination: 20 p.
Subject/Index Terms
- TRT Terms: Automobile ownership; Gasoline; Insurance; Maintenance management; Operating costs; Parking; Service life; Taxation; Tolls; Vans
- Uncontrolled Terms: Maintenance costs
- Subject Areas: Design; Economics; Highways; Society; I10: Economics and Administration;
Filing Info
- Accession Number: 00377988
- Record Type: Publication
- Files: TRIS, USDOT
- Created Date: Dec 30 1983 12:00AM