How to track what your car really costs to keep running

Ask someone what their old car costs them and you'll usually hear "not much". Then add up a year of receipts: pads here, a battery there, a weekend of labour, two tyres, a sensor that turned out not to be the problem. Here's how to keep a running total without turning it into bookkeeping.

Keep one total per car

The number that matters is what this car has cost so far: everything you've spent on it since you bought it. A per-car total answers the questions you'll actually ask: is this one a money pit, should I fix it or sell it, what did that project really cost?

What to count

• Parts, at the price you actually paid, including VAT and shipping.
• Labour, if someone else did it. If you did it yourself, write down the hours anyway, even without a price: it shows what the car takes from you.
• Consumables that went into this car: oil, coolant, brake fluid.
• Tyres, inspection and registration fees, and towing, if you want the full picture.

Leave out fuel and insurance if you want a repair total. Those are running costs and swamp everything else. Pick one rule and stick to it so totals are comparable between cars.

Planned versus bought

Keep a short list of what the car still needs ("front shock absorbers, about 190 €") separately from what you've already paid. Then you can see both what the car has cost and what it is about to cost, which is exactly what you need before deciding to keep it.

A simple example

• Front brake pads: 70 €
• Labour, 2 hours: 120 €
• Spent so far: 190 €
• Still to buy: front shock absorbers, 189 €

Four lines, and you already know more than most owners do about their car.

Fix it or sell it?

There's no exact formula, but a common rule of thumb: be careful when a single repair costs more than about half of what the car is worth, or when the planned list keeps growing faster than you can clear it. A running total turns that from a gut feeling into a number you can look at.

If you buy and sell cars

Add the purchase price and the sale price, and the same records give you the profit per car: sale price minus purchase price minus everything you spent on it. Counting every receipt is what separates "I made 800 € on that one" from what actually happened.