Auto expert named the best time to replace an old car
The Russian car fleet is rapidly aging: today the average age of passenger cars has exceeded 15 years. On the roads, it is increasingly possible to find cars that have served their time for a long time. Ruslan Nikulin, Director of the logistics Department at Forsage Lubricants, told Izvestia on September 8 when it would be better to change the car.
According to him, many drivers deliberately drive "to the last" — new cars remain too expensive (an average of 3.12 million rubles), even used ones cost at least 1.44 million rubles.
"At first glance, it seems that the longer you operate a car, the cheaper it is to own it. But in reality, it's not that simple. With age, fuel, repair and maintenance costs increase, and the car itself loses in value every year. At some point, the costs begin to outweigh the benefits, and "driving for a long time" ceases to be economically justified," the expert said.
The first cost item is fuel. The passport expense for the model does not change over time, but in reality the situation is different. With age, the engine and fuel system wear out, the efficiency of the sensors and injectors decreases, and deposits appear in the cylinders and exhaust system. All this leads to the fact that the actual consumption of a ten-year—old car is usually 5-10% higher than the passport one, and for a 15-year-old car it is already 10-20%.
If we take the average value of 15 thousand kilometers and the price of gasoline at 63.8 rubles per liter, then in three years the difference can be tens of thousands of rubles. Fuel costs may rise from 200 to 250 thousand rubles in three years. In addition, a five—year-old car costs the owner an average of 20 thousand rubles for maintenance per year, a ten-year-old car costs 40 thousand rubles, and a 15-year-old car may require about 70 thousand rubles annually. It is the service that becomes the main source of costs for those who keep the car "until old age".
Another factor that is often overlooked is the falling market value of the car. Even if the car doesn't drive much and is parked in the garage, its price is still reduced.
For relatively fresh cars, the losses are particularly noticeable: a five-year-old car loses about 8% per year on average. With an average price of about 1.84 million rubles, this is a minus of about 443 thousand over three years. For a ten—year-old car, depreciation is higher - about 10% per year, but the base itself is already smaller: at a price of about 1.08 million rubles, the reduction will be about 325,000.
If you add up all the expenses — fuel, insurance and taxes, service and depreciation — you get the following picture for three years of ownership: a five—year-old car — about 739 thousand rubles, a 10-year-old - about 710 thousand, and a 15-year—old - about 727 thousand.
"The calculations show that it is most often beneficial to switch from a 15-year-old car to a 10—year-old one - savings on repairs and gasoline cover the difference in cost. But it is rational to change a 10-year to a five—year one only in two cases: if maximum reliability and modern security systems are important, or if the owner is willing to put up with high depreciation," Nikulin emphasized.
The most rational point, according to him, is approximately at the age of 10. Newer cars are too expensive due to the loss of value, and older ones require more and more investments in repairs. It is around the age of 10 that car ownership proves to be the optimal balance between cost, reliability and safety.
Earlier, on August 20, auto expert Roman Sokuev said that engine oil, which is sold for bottling from a barrel, is not inferior in quality to oil from a canister. Nevertheless, buyers of such oil risk facing a lack of guarantees of product authenticity and compliance with storage standards in non-certified services.
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