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Comment by vecinu | Hacker News Reader

I don't commute to work by car so for my occasional use of getting groceries, going out to eat, getting a haircut or doing the occasional shopping, I don't spend anywhere near that much.

- $40 for insurance

- $30 gas

- $5 (Maintenance)

$75/month on my end. If I were to UberPOOL everywhere, besides the fact that it would be inconvenient because it would take longer and I would have to share a ride, it would cost more.

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$5 in maintenance sounds low. $5 a month in maintenance is $600 over 10 years, a new set of tires would cost around $600 and you should replace your tires before 10 years no matter the tread depth(1). I believe you are probably doing more maintenance to your car than new tires every 10years.

You also can't just totally discount the initial cost of the vehicle like that as "free."

(1) https://www.edmunds.com/car-care/how-old-and-dangerous-are-y...

But at $40/month for insurance, you likely have liability insurance only and a gap in coverage if you hit a car > $50k or significant medical costs.

Most states have tax depreciation/deductions per mile that are considered by most to be much lower than accurate. In GA, it's $0.55/mile (real costs were estimated $1/mile at $4 gas); so, at $30/gas, you're being very "efficient" because it should be costing you at least $150/mo for that kind of mileage.

You'll have to calculate how much it costs to buy the car and the loss of value when you estimate to sell into that as well to get a fair comparision.

If you don't drive much the fixed costs of buying the car factor in much more negatively compared to the variable costs. Every trip you make costs much more than someone who drives a lot.

This is no easy function as it depends on your fixed costs vs. variable costs and trip lengh.

Especially for people going shot distances on rare occasions a rented car might be the better option.

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