What to do after having a car for 11 years or more: buy a new one or keep the current one?

I remember writing about vehicle inspection systems in Japan and other countries in my mail magazine. To make sure that each vehicle in each country is complying with their own safety standards, it should be done regularly and every car needs to pass one to be on the road.

It is easy to understand the framework of the inspection but how much does it cost? In Japan, it is expensive. I think the compulsory insurance we have to pay at every inspection (Shaken) is necessary but the cost for the weight tax charged by the weight of a vehicle is too much.

You know, 80% of the money goes to specific revenue sources for road construction projects. Thinking that local politicians create unnecessary road works to drop money to their electorate, I cannot accept that… Oops! It is a bit off my subject.

So, how much do you think it is going to cost you if you keep a car for 11 years in Japan? I tried to estimate the cost for a petrol car and a hybrid car. The engine size of them is 1.5L. Say if they have to go through Shaken 4 times and get rid of it without getting the 5th one. The cost of deregistration and profit from resale are not included because it depends on the condition of the cars.

Other conditions include: annual mileage as 5,000km, cost of fuel, considering a bit of usage incurred by things such as air-conditioners, as 14km/L for a petrol car and 25km/L for a hybrid car, cost of petrol at US$12.50/L, cost of car parks as US$100/month, cost of compulsory insurance as $450/year for a petrol car and $500/year for a hybrid car, thre changes every 30,000km, oil change every 10,000km and US$100.

If the cost of a new petrol car is US$16,520 and US$22,190 for a hybrid car, the total cost of maintenance is estimated as US$38,419 for a petrol car and US$36,762 for a hybrid car. The average annual maintenance cost is US$3,492 for a petrol car and US$3,342 for a hybrid car. A hybrid car is only slightly cheaper but at the annual mileage of 5,000km, there will not be much benefit in the fuel costs.

As a conclusion, whatever car you have, it costs more than 5 million yen to keep a car for 11 years and it costs twice as much for maintenance than the cost of purchase. Because the budget for car maintenance is limited, to reduce family spending, getting rid of a car seems the best way.

However, if you buy a car cheap through JPC, you can keep the cost of purchase low. So, please think about using our service.


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(Editor)
JPC TRADE CO.,LTD.
3B YS-Building, 1-2-2 Botan, Koto-ku, Tokyo, Japan
Japan Used Motor Vehicle Exporters Association (JUMVEA)
TEL : +81-3-5245-7731
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