by "E90M3" (e90m3)
Published 12/21/2017 at 12:05
by "E90M3" (e90m3)
Published 12/21/2017 at 12:05
No Tags
STARS: 1
So as some of you may have seen on the FP the other day, I used an excel spread sheet to track all my car related costs. I use it to track everything, fuel economy, maintenance costs, and payments. I figured it was the best way to keep track of all my data. I would also know exactly how much it costs me to drive it, plus graphs.
As you can see, my fuel economy varies, which is to be expected. There are some variances due to external factors like pumps, but for the most part I’ve gotten between 25 and 28 MPGs per tank.
I do the math, I don’t believe what the car tells me, as I’ve found out before, it’s not accurate. In order to get this data, I get a recipt every time and write my mileage on the top. I reset my trip odometer every fill up; that’s pretty much a force of habit now as I’ve been doing it ever since I was 16.
On that note, you know how many pumps don’t give you a receipt? A lot. It’s really annoying and I have to go inside to get a receipt.
I use my spread sheet for more than just fuel.
All of this gives me what I really want to know, what it costs per mile to drive my car. However, do to this I save everything.
I have every fuel receipt, minus one because the clerk was extremely incompetent, after 2 reprints of the wrong receipt I gave up and took a picture of the pump’s screen and my trip odometer.
For those who now realize my name is James:
Now what does all this data tell me?
It costs me $0.36/mile to drive, minus insurance.
So, do you track your car costs and how? Do you nerd out like I do, or do you not track it?
"CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever" (carsoffortlangley)
12/21/2017 at 12:12, STARS: 0
I track all of my expenses via mint. It pulls from my banking data, so little effort is needed.
It isn’t as granular as yours, but lets me track the trends in spending
"benjrblant" (benjblant)
12/21/2017 at 12:13, STARS: 0
Yes, I keep a maintenance and parts log. Did a writeup about it a few months back and asked others if they did the same.
I don’t track fuel consumption or things like adding a half quart of oil because I don’t see a huge benefit in collecting this data on a 21 year old SUV. Anything else such as inspecting parts, gaskets, greasing things etc gets logged and I tag an associated expense with it.
"HammerheadFistpunch" (hammerheadfistpunch)
12/21/2017 at 12:15, STARS: 6
yeah, like Im going to keep a paper trail...
"Maxima Speed" (maximaspeed)
12/21/2017 at 12:16, STARS: 1
What is maintenance? My Camry Solara is so boring it doesn’t even need parts.
"functionoverfashion" (functionoverfashion)
12/21/2017 at 12:18, STARS: 2
I keep a spreadsheet with multiple tabs, for maintenance items only. A while back I added in a calculation for each car that lets me enter the car’s current value compared to its initial cost (cash price), then the insurance and registration costs, just so I can see a true “all in” cost for the car per month. I leave out tires and gas because all cars will use tires and gas, and anything that does what we need will be in the same ballpark for those items.
This lets me see whether I’m really crazy for keeping multiple high-mileage older cars running perfectly, versus having at least one new-ish car with a payment, knowing its maintenance will of course be less.
Not surprisingly, we come out well ahead having older cars and keeping up with maintenance.
"AkursedX" (akursedx)
12/21/2017 at 12:19, STARS: 0
I track my fuel mileage and cost on fuelly and keep receipts in folders for each of my cars, but that’s about it. I learned to never add everything up though after the one time I added up over 32k in receipts over the 10 year I built up my 3800-turbo Fiero.
"CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever" (carsoffortlangley)
12/21/2017 at 12:21, STARS: 2
Yeah, thank god my wife dosn’t cheque our spending.
"AfromanGTO" (afromangto)
12/21/2017 at 12:23, STARS: 2
I use excel, but my wife yells at me about the cars and their costs. So I don’t need to use excel anymore apparently. lol
"cmill189 - sans Volvo" (cmill189)
12/21/2017 at 12:24, STARS: 0
I keep receipts for all purchases; maintenance, mods, and service.
Tracking the fuel economy on the VR or VFR would only make me sad.
"PartyPooper2012" (PartyPooper2012)
12/21/2017 at 12:25, STARS: 1
turn on the radio and bop my head.... or keep spreadhseets of MPG, Costs of fuel and money I spend on a used piece of shit I am driving today....
Do you know how quickly the depression will set in if I did the latter?
"Nothing" (nothingatalluseful)
12/21/2017 at 12:29, STARS: 1
I don’t track fuel mileage/costs. I track everything else in a SS and also update my service history for the Taco on the Toyota website, now that I’m out of the ToyotaCare 2 yr free maintenance period. With my mileage, excluding fuel, I’m at almost $0.70/mile. That’s why I consider selling it on almost a daily basis, given how much I drive. The “good” news is, that’s mostly payments, as I’ve spent $86 in maintenance costs over almost 3 years. Cabin and air filters, oil change, wiper blades, windshield fluid.
"Urambo Tauro" (urambotauro)
12/21/2017 at 12:30, STARS: 0
I track my service history, with dates, part #s, and mileage but in a simple text document. A spreadsheet would be nicer...
"promoted by the color red" (whenindoubtflatout)
12/21/2017 at 12:31, STARS: 1
I collect pump receipts & reset after every fill up like you. There’s 70,000 miles worth of receipts in the Camry. Don’t really track the other stuff any more, but I have them written down should I need to reference it.
Back when I had the Integra I created a form in Google Docs which would record the relevant inputs after every fill up (amount, miles driven) and then output it to a spreadsheet. It saved me an extra step-or-two.
"E92M3" (E46M3)
12/21/2017 at 12:33, STARS: 1
I do the same thing. I don’t track the fuel mileage though. Just maintenance totals, and formulas for years owned, costs per year, and miles per year.
"E90M3" (e90m3)
12/21/2017 at 12:34, STARS: 1
Join me with the spread sheet.
"Dusty Ventures" (dustyventures)
12/21/2017 at 12:35, STARS: 1
There’s an app for that
It even keeps track of the miles I put on my sets of tires
And I can export it to my computer
"404 - User No Longer Available" (toni-cipriani)
12/21/2017 at 12:36, STARS: 1
I tracked the expenses last year to estimate how much of a fund I need to build in case of a repair, so I can take money out of the said fund and “finance” the repare back into the fund.
Just a simple spreadsheet vs my monthly budgets.
"hike" (hike15)
12/21/2017 at 12:36, STARS: 1
I’ve always used a fuel log app on my phone to track mileage and maintenance. It unfortunately doesn’t have the ability to track costs like payments and insurance though. It is very good for giving me average mileage and average fuel costs.
"E90M3" (e90m3)
12/21/2017 at 12:37, STARS: 0
The M3 gets like 14.
"E90M3" (e90m3)
12/21/2017 at 12:37, STARS: 0
Sounds like a good reason not to use excel.
"E90M3" (e90m3)
12/21/2017 at 12:38, STARS: 0
I’ve probably spent 65k on my M3, one reason I don’t track those costs.
"E90M3" (e90m3)
12/21/2017 at 12:39, STARS: 0
That is pretty cool.
"E90M3" (e90m3)
12/21/2017 at 12:40, STARS: 1
This really doesn’t take much effort.
"davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com" (davesaddiction)
12/21/2017 at 12:40, STARS: 0
I don’t really care about tracking fuel economy, although I do usually figure my mileage each fill-up. I keep all of my maintenance/repair receipts, and I really do need to go through them all and get it organized in a spreadsheet or something. Plan to do this soon.
"SPAMBot - Horse Doctor" (spambot2002)
12/21/2017 at 12:40, STARS: 0
I have every fuel receipt for every tank I’ve put in the Bug, since new. I write Total miles, trip miles, any additional gallons if I was lazy and added $10, and the calculated the MPG. I used to keep this all in a spreadsheet. I lost that hard drive and gave up on the sheet. I still have a box of receipts and still get one every time. I wish I kept all the maintenance and other costs, too.
I calculate the gas mileage in the Ferrari but I don’t keep receipts or anything. I should really make a sheet for total cost per mile to see how much my toy is really costing me. That might be depressing though! haha
"davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com" (davesaddiction)
12/21/2017 at 12:41, STARS: 0
Woof. I get 18-19 with my current commute.
"E90M3" (e90m3)
12/21/2017 at 12:41, STARS: 0
Didn’t know something like that existed.
"benjrblant" (benjblant)
12/21/2017 at 12:42, STARS: 0
Thanks! I haven’t really gotten around to a pivot table yet. Maybe someday.
"E90M3" (e90m3)
12/21/2017 at 12:42, STARS: 1
It’s also my toy so I kinda thrash it. On the highway, I usually only get 18-19.
"davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com" (davesaddiction)
12/21/2017 at 12:43, STARS: 1
Even $1000 per year vs. car payments + depreciation, you stay way ahead!
"E90M3" (e90m3)
12/21/2017 at 12:44, STARS: 0
I’m glad I didn’t start one for the M3, it’s a lot better to just drive it. Since I drive the 3 so much, I figured it was worth it to track costs.
"E90M3" (e90m3)
12/21/2017 at 12:44, STARS: 1
I might do something like this for the M3, as I do have every receipt besides fuel.
"E90M3" (e90m3)
12/21/2017 at 12:45, STARS: 1
I probably like pivot tables too much.
"Shift24" (the-nope)
12/21/2017 at 12:48, STARS: 0
Nope, kind of superstitious on that. (540i, though I’ve been this way with all of my cars). To me it’s if it needs fixed I’ll fix it. Gas is just a recurring expense. Mileage, any thing in the 20s I’m happy with.
"AestheticsInMotion" (aestheticsinmotion)
12/21/2017 at 12:54, STARS: 1
I would, but no working Odometer or speedometer or OBDII makes it difficult. So... I just track money spent on modifications and car parts for the now
"davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com" (davesaddiction)
12/21/2017 at 12:55, STARS: 1
Best I’ve seen for a long highway stretch is like 22.
"E90M3" (e90m3)
12/21/2017 at 12:57, STARS: 1
I’ve gotten above 20 MPG three tanks. I will say, I got 18 doing ~100 for ~100 miles in ~100F weather with the AC blasting. Gotta love the 130 toll road
"davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com" (davesaddiction)
12/21/2017 at 13:01, STARS: 1
Okay, this should be a thing. Fuel mileage at 100 mph at 100 degrees F with AC at 100%.
"DasWauto" (DasWauto)
12/21/2017 at 13:01, STARS: 1
Ignorance is bliss for me. I live somewhere where fuel and insurance is expensive, doubly so on the latter for my bro-mobile, so not summing up the costs is best to keep the rational part of my brain from convincing the rest that a WRX is not a sensible thing to drive for my 5km commute.
"BeaterGT" (beatergt)
12/21/2017 at 13:05, STARS: 0
Damn, this is awesome. What’s the app?
"SPAMBot - Horse Doctor" (spambot2002)
12/21/2017 at 13:13, STARS: 1
Exactly. And now that I’m doing my major service early, my $/mile is outta control.The ratio will be better in a year or two, but I’d rather just focus on the smiles haha
"Chariotoflove" (chariotoflove)
12/21/2017 at 13:15, STARS: 1
We keep all vehicle related expenses broken out in our budget plan. And I track my mileage by habit whenever I fill up. And of course service records. But nothing more detailed than that.
"Dusty Ventures" (dustyventures)
12/21/2017 at 13:32, STARS: 1
Road Trip. I’ve been using it since 2010 and it’s excellent. The developer is constantly improving and updating it too, even after almost a decade. There’s a free “lite” version, but the full version is worth the couple bucks, especially if you have multiple cars. Not sure if there’s an Android version or if it’s just for iPhone.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/road-trip-mpg/id298398207?mt=8
"BeaterGT" (beatergt)
12/21/2017 at 13:34, STARS: 0
Apparently no Android version. Looks like I’ll be testing some apps over the next few weeks.
"Dusty Ventures" (dustyventures)
12/21/2017 at 13:37, STARS: 2
Can’t recommend it enough, it tracks all the expenses and has a bunch of detailed configurable graphs. You can even use it to track multiple cars and individual road trips
"Rust and Dust - Oppositelock Forever" (rustanddust)
12/21/2017 at 13:54, STARS: 0
Great app, but “Attila the Hoon” won the star.
"bhtooefr" (bhtooefr)
12/21/2017 at 13:59, STARS: 0
I use Fuelly, which is web-based (and just tracks fuel), but AFAIK there’s a paid Android version that tracks more.
"BeaterGT" (beatergt)
12/21/2017 at 14:01, STARS: 0
I use Fuelly as well but it’s not the greatest/most comprehensive. Especially because it makes me enter two different figures (trip vs odometer) for two different cars for the same fuel calculation. Between this and manual spreedsheets, it’d be nice to transition to something more efficient. I’ll have to try out some Android apps and see if they are any better.
"Party-vi" (party-vi)
12/21/2017 at 14:07, STARS: 1
I don’t need to track my costs - my wife is always there to remind me how much my E46 has cost to maintain.
"RPM esq." (rpm3)
12/21/2017 at 14:32, STARS: 0
No I do not, and if I did I wouldn’t track fuel consumption. In my case, ignorance is definitely bliss.
"E90M3" (e90m3)
12/21/2017 at 14:41, STARS: 0
I understand that. I track everything for the 3, the M3 though, yeah let’s not talk about how expensive it is.
"bhtooefr" (bhtooefr)
12/21/2017 at 16:15, STARS: 0
That sounds like how you’ve got the car profiles set up, IIRC you can set it up that way when you add a car.
"BeaterGT" (beatergt)
12/21/2017 at 16:20, STARS: 0
Yeah I didn’t find it first time I searched, got it this time around. I really only use it for entertainment now. It’s fun seeing which car will get worse MPG between the Legacy GT and C5Z.
"Captain of the Enterprise" (justanotherdayinparadise)
12/21/2017 at 17:31, STARS: 1
I just got organized last week. I have a google drive folder with scans of all my receipts for things I have done to the car. I also have a spreadsheet with a master list of all of the repairs and maintenance I have done with a record of who did the work, the date it was done, the parts involved, the miles of the car at the time and of course what the repair was. I like that I have it all uploaded digitally, that way I don’t have to worry about the paper receipts.
I used to track gas mileage at every fill up but haven’t bothered in about a year. I consistently get between 30-32 MPG no matter what I do (as long as its my usual commute 50 miles round trip to and from work/school (I work on campus as well).
In other words your not alone, I’m also quite James Mayish in this regard. Like him I also drive a small car with a small engine. 2005 Corolla Le with the 1.8 I-4 1zz-fe engine.
"Dusty Ventures" (dustyventures)
12/21/2017 at 18:47, STARS: 0
Many shenanigans were had in that car
"pip bip - choose Corrour" (hhgttg69)
12/22/2017 at 11:02, STARS: 1
do i track how much i spend?
NOPE!