Used Chevrolet Malibu for sale in  USA

The estimated cost of ownership for the next 5 years.

The cost of ownership is a major factor while buying a car. It latently adds to the real price of the car over a period of time, which we take it to be 5 years. Thus, you should definitely take this aspect into account before you decide to splash your hard-earned money on the car of your choice.

At CARHP, we make a few assumptions while estimating the cost of ownership over a period of 5 years, which are

• You are not paying for the vehicle at one go and take a loan from the bank.
• You pay only 10% of the MSRP at the time of purchase.
• The tenure of the loan repayment is 60 months, which is the standard for car loans.
• You will drive your car for 15,000 miles per year.

Now that the assumptions are out of the way, let’s talk about the different criteria we take into consideration while estimating the Cost of Ownership (CoW).

Insurance

Insurance rates and premium amounts vary from state to state and company to company. Thus, we have taken the average rate of a major Insurance group across all the states of the US. The insurance premium amount depends on the manufacturer, model and year of the vehicle. Also, the premium amount depends on the age, tax credit, and marital status of the owner. Thus, there is every chance that the premium amount will vary from person to person, even if they own the same car from the same generation.

Maintenance

Every car needs regular maintenance to keep it in a drivable condition. While every manufacturer has specific maintenance scheduled after a specific interval of months or miles, you have to be open to the probability of making some unscheduled maintenance trips as well. Unscheduled maintenance mostly occurs due to mechanical failures or accidents.

Repairs

Most of the daily repairs are covered by the manufacturers’ warranty. However, in the US, most manufacturer warranties cover up to 12,000 miles per year. Since we have assumed that you drive your vehicle 15,000 miles per year, the repairs will not be covered under the provided warranty and you will have to pay it from your pocket.

Depreciation

The value of every car depreciates over time. While cars of some brands such as Honda and Toyota undergoes less depreciation, owing to their excellent reliability, we take an average degree of depreciation and assume that the car will be sold to a private buyer and there hasn’t been any major repair work done on the car at the time of re-selling.

Taxes and Fees

The amount of taxes and fees the owner has to pay directly depends on the MSRP of the vehicle. The most common taxes are sales tax, registration tax and also a gas guzzler tax should the vehicle match the criteria laid for the same. Taxes vary from state to state, and thus the amount of tax will differ with every state. It is also worth noting that the amount of taxes goes down as the vehicle gets older.

Fuel Cost

The fuel cost is calculated on the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) mileage ratings and not the ratings provided by the manufacturer. We also assume that the majority of driving (55%) is done in the city and the vehicle uses regular unleaded gasoline. However, the cost is bound to go up if you choose to use Premium gasoline.

Financing Interest

Assuming that you have paid a down payment of 10% of the MSRP of the vehicle at the time of purchase and the rest is paid through financing service, the amount of interest is calculated over the period of 60 months. Again, the interest will vary from state to state and person to person, depending on your credit score.