Running Costs?

sjt269

sjt269

sjt269

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Joined
11 Dec 2004
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1,979
Hey all

I'm 21 and have never owned a car, so I was wondering if you guys could give me a quick run down on what costs are actually involved. My understanding is that it's insurance, road tax, MOT, petrol, and put aside a bit of cash for the inevitable repairs. Other than the initial cost of the car, is there anything I'm missing?

I'm trying to figure out if I can afford to run a car when I start my PhD later this year; I strongly suspect the answer is no, but without a clear idea of the costs involved, I can't be certain. Cheapest insurance I can find so far is around £600 third party for a 1.2l Corsa (hardly my dream car), and maybe an £800-1200 outlay for a car of some kind. I can handle these costs. Obviously it's difficult to quantify running costs, but can anyone give me a ballpark figure on the kind of money I should have spare before I can realistically run a car?

Thanks
Steven
 
What's your PhD stipend? £13.5k or £16k? Where are you going to live (i.e. what are your living costs going to be like). Do you have money for the initial cost of the car itself?

It is possible to afford to run a car whilst doing a stipended PhD, I know several people who do.

I myself don't, but I am saving quite a bit during my PhD as a result.
 
I do a PhD on graduate school funding (same money as EPSRC funding) and find myself with £100s spare each month, but then my car barely needs repairs (2000 Micra) and I am a warden so get a free flat.
 
Lets assume you are going to cover 10,000 miles a year and you are going to purchase a Ford Fiesta 1.25 for £1000.

MOT £30
Road Tax £130
Tyres (Lets assume you need a set every 3 years @ £240 for the sake of argument) £80
Insurance £600
Repairs Fund £300 (It will probably be less but you dont want to be caught short. You can always use left over money for your next car)
Servicing (inc brakes) £150
Fuel for 10,000 miles @ 40mpg @ £1.45 a litre (The only way is up - lets assume over the next 12 months regular unleaded averages £1.45): £1645

So, annual running costs of just under £3k. Fuel accounts for half of this cost - so if you only do 5k miles you'll only be spending just over £2k a year.
 
Living costs are slightly uncertain, but I'm figuring I'll have £300 per month, give or take, leftover after basic survival costs. Could be more, could be less, I don't know how bills etc are going to pan out. I don't need a car for work purposes, it's just for weekends and the occasional longer trip home, so mileage (and hopefully fuel costs) will be pretty low.

:edit:

Whoa, lots of posts. Thanks for that breakdown Fox, that's fantastic. I won't be using it for commuting, so definitely less than 10k miles, probably less than 5k miles, so that takes care of a lot of the fuel costs.
 
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Well he's considering whether or not to get one, so that implies that he doesn't really need one to commute. If he did need one to commute- so otherwise he'd be using public transport, then the difference in price should be factored in.

Plus I don't know many PhD students who drive to work... except this one guy who drives 2/3 of the way to work... which, I kid you lot, is about 400 yards.
 
OpenToSuggestions said:
I do a PhD on graduate school funding (same money as EPSRC funding) and find myself with £100s spare each month, but then my car barely needs repairs (2000 Micra) and I am a warden so get a free flat.
Click to expand...

I've been considering applying for a warden position, but they won't come up til May, and there's no saying there will be any vacancies. The housing situation here is a bit desperate, so I've had to bite the bullet and go for private accommodation for now, but the idea of free accommodation is certainly an attractive one.

I'll be staying about 10 mins from work, so unless there's a proper thunderstorm going on, I won't need to drive. Given the roundabout route the road takes, I'd be almost as fast walking anyway.
 
sjt269 said:
I've been considering applying for a warden position, but they won't come up til May, and there's no saying there will be any vacancies. The housing situation here is a bit desperate, so I've had to bite the bullet and go for private accommodation for now, but the idea of free accommodation is certainly an attractive one.

I'll be staying about 10 mins from work, so unless there's a proper thunderstorm going on, I won't need to drive. Given the roundabout route the road takes, I'd be almost as fast walking anyway.
Click to expand...

I couldn't apply for warden positions until May either so don't let it put you off :p. I was told (by a warden from another hall here) that if I was British then I would probably get a sub warden position - Not from a 'we want Brits' point of view but more this is a voluntary postion and most internationals would be incapable of dealing with 5 absolutely ratted undergraduate freshers at 4am when one of them has thrown a fire extinguisher through a window for 'banter'. When I was applying to my position there were plenty of people who showed up to the introduction meal a few days before the application hand in, where the applicants met other sub wardens and met the actual warden for that hall too. I would say 60% of the people there were useless international postgraduates and 20% were useless British postgraduates.

I walk to work and it takes me 15 mins to get there. I have a 1.0 2000 Micra and have had it since I was 17 and I do a tiny 5000 miles per year. I don't 'need' a car but I find that without one I feel my freedom has been taken away from me. I would try to spend a little bit more on a car and get one that is newer if you plan to keep it a few years. I highly recommend the Micra as a hassle-free car and the only reason I still have mine is that for 5 of the 7 years I have had it I have spent £0 on repairs.

Which University you doing your PhD at?
 
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Sounds like you're in a pretty good position. I think that were I to end up as a warden at a later date, I'd almost certainly have the cash for a car, but for the first 9 months or so I'll be in private accom. Of course, I could always save for those 9 months and maybe end up with a warden position later, with 9 months works of spare change to go towards a car, but there's no certainty of that. I'm not entirely sure I want the hassle of a warden position either, not in the first year where I'll still have a lot of taught courses to take.
 
I am saving £500 per month with extreme ease. I could £200 more without any issue.
I am saving the money that I would be spending on rent/bills/internet/weekdayfood towards a new car and a house deposit. I really must stress the bit on the house deposit as this is an opportunity not to be missed imo!
 
You're certainly making it sound tempting. I'm still planning on keeping an eye out for vacancies, so I'll see what happens there.

I missed your question in your last post, I'm at the University of St Andrews. It's a small town, so no real need for a car, but I've been here for the past 3 1/2 years already doing my undergrad, so I'd like to have a bit more freedom to travel at weekends. I could accomplish this task on public transport, but I've wanted a car for years, and this is the first time I'll actually have an income, so naturally I'm keen to see if I can make it work.

Based on Fox's breakdown of the costs, I think I could probably do it. It may take a few months to save up a cash reserve for repairs and the like (plus one off costs for kitting out my flat), but by the time I'm in a few months in, I might be able to make it work. Much will depend on exactly what my living costs end up being, but I was expecting to be told that I had no chance in hell of affording a car, so I'm pleasantly surprised.
 
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