[V8] Cost of Ownership

[cobram at juno.com]

Doing my own mechanical work and counting outside body work, tail lights,
rear glass (it's parked on the street all year long),  the '87 Mercedes
300TDT works out to about $00.01 per mile, that disappears and goes into
the black if price appreciation is included.  

The wife's POS '01 Impala, works out to about $00.04 a mile, half that if
I take body work out of the calculation.  The Audi's..never mind, I'm
with you Dave,  it's not a calculation an enthusiast makes.  The only
comment I'll make is that of all the Audi's I own and have owned, the V8Q
is the cheapest to keep up to snuff.  

My fathers 2004 Grand Marquis (what else would an 87 year old drive?)
using the same parameters for calculating cost per mile, works out to
$00.007 (seven tenths of a cent per mile. )  Parts are incredibly cheap
because it shares the Panther platform with fleet vehicles, and there are
very cheap work arounds for expensive OEM only electronic components.

If a time comes when I can't or don't want to do the mechanical work
myself, the Mercedes is the only car in my fleet that would make any $$$
sense to keep.

BCNU,
Experience is the name everyone gives to their mistakes.

Dave Saad <dsaad at icehouse.net> writes:
> I don't have any records since I do all my own work, but estimating 
> high, I have spent about $6000 on my Explorer over about 130K miles. 
>  That works out to about $00.04/mile.
> My Ranger is closer to $00.01/mile.
> 
> I don't want to calculate the V8 because that might make me want to 
> get rid of it.
> 
> food for thought...
> 
> Dave