Having your own car is a great thing: Just get in and drive off whenever you want and don’t have to pay attention to bus and train timetables, that’s something. But it’s a luxury. Because we have probably suspected it for a long time: owning a car is quite expensive. That was the case before high fuel prices hit drivers. But now, with prices of two euros for a liter of Super, the bill has to be reopened.
Dyrk Scherff
Editor in the “Value” section of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sunday newspaper.
consequences
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So how much does a car currently cost if you do the math fairly and don’t just look at the fuel costs? But also purchase, repair costs, insurance, taxes and depreciation over the years of use. Definitely more than most people think. As early as 2020, a study by RWI, the University of Mannheim and Yale University found that car owners generally estimated fuel costs well, but severely underestimated the loss in value of the car and fixed costs such as insurance. The respondents therefore underestimated the total cost of car ownership by an average of 221 euros per month – that was 52 percent of the actual costs.