If you learn how to calculate car operating costs, you will be able to determine what percentage of your salary goes to driving and maintaining your car. Calculate the costs of fuel, maintenance and insurance to get a basic idea of the expenses.
Steps
Method 1 of 3: Calculate Fuel Costs
Step 1. Calculate fuel costs by noting the odometer indication when the tank is almost empty
Step 2. Fill up with fuel when the tank is almost empty
Do not overfill the tank.
Step 3. Fill up again when the tank has emptied again, and note the number of liters spilled
Do not overfill the tank.
Step 4. When you refuel again, check the odometer number again, and subtract the one noted earlier, to determine how many kilometers you have traveled
Write the difference between the two numbers. If the first record (when you filled up the first time) was 48,280 km, while now it is 48,763 km, then, with a full tank, you have covered 483 km.
Step 5. Divide the number of kilometers traveled by the liters poured to fill up
For example, if you drove 482.8km, pouring 56.78 liters of gasoline, your car would drive about 8.5km on one liter.
Step 6. Divide the kilometers traveled in a month by the kilometers traveled in a liter
(if your car is 48,280km and 40 months old, then your monthly mileage is approximately 1,207km). In our hypothetical example, to get the number of liters of gasoline consumed in a month, divide 1,207 km by 8.5 km per liter; this results in 142 liters.
Step 7. Multiply the total gallons of gasoline consumed in a month by its cost
If gasoline cost € 1.80 per liter, you would spend around € 255 on fuel per month, or around 21 euro cents per kilometer.
Method 2 of 3: Maintenance and Insurance
Step 1. Add up the annual costs for changing the oil, for tires, for other maintenance, repairs and insurance costs
Divide this total by 12 to get the monthly cost. For example, if the total were € 1,890 per year, then the monthly cost for maintenance, repairs and insurance would be € 157.50.
Step 2. Add the annual stamp and inspection costs and divide by 12
Assuming a total cost of € 100 per year, the monthly cost would be € 8.33.
Method 3 of 3: Operating Cost
Step 1. Add up the fuel costs (in our example 255 €), the maintenance, repair and insurance costs (in our example 157, 50 € per month), and the stamp and overhaul costs (8.33 €), for get the total monthly cost of maintaining your car
In the hypothetical scenario of our example, the total monthly cost of driving our imaginary car would be 420.83 €.
Step 2. Divide the monthly maintenance cost of our hypothetical car (420.8 €), by the distance you drive in a month (in our example, 1,207 km), to calculate the cost per kilometer
The cost to our hypothetical driver would be around 35 cents per kilometer.
Step 3. Note that this calculation does not take into account any financing costs for the purchase of the car, travel time, car depreciation, any accidents, parking and toll costs, etc
An American website has calculated, including all possible factors, the average cost of driving a car per kilometer, obtaining an average value equivalent to about 60 euro cents per kilometer.
