Shark

A couple of months ago, I purchased a brand-new, leftover 2001 Kia Rio for $9000 out-the-door. When I told everyone that I bought the Rio to use as a daily driver and to save money, most thought I was crazy. The truth-of-the-matter is, driving the Rio everyday and the S2000 on the weekends saves me $208 every month (as opposed to driving the S2000 everyday). Most don't realize how expensive the maintenance is for performance vehicles (like the S2000), not to mention the higher costs of gasoline and insurance. These costs quickly add-up over a period of 2-years, especially if you drive more than 15,000 miles/year.

I created a spreadsheet that details the depreciation/cost figures for both my '01 Kia Rio and '01 S2000 over a period of two years. It's a real eye-opener to see that it just doesn't pay to drive the S2000 everyday. In fact, because the S2000 devalues nearly $11,000 over just two years (with 50k miles), the Rio quickly pays for itself.

Download the Excel spreadsheet here.

Please offer suggestions if you think I missed something, or if my figures seem inaccurate. Sales tax and inspection costs are for the state of Pennsylvania. Feel free to modify the spreadsheet for your own use.

PS: I chose the Kia Rio because I wanted to buy a simplistic vehicle that would be CHEAP to operate. With its standard 5-year, 60k mile bumper-to-bumper warranty, maintenance costs should be extremely low. Did I mention that it also has a 10-year, 100k mile powertrain warranty? So far, I've put 5,000 miles on it and have no regrets. In my opinion, it's just about the perfect (long-term) beater car!

MyBad

Very interesting!

I hope you factored in the cost of rear tire replacement at 12k mi., Rick's and Muz's accessories, lost revenues from surfing the board, etc.

Good job!!

CBeyond

50,000 miles in two years? If you need to drive that much for business purposes or something, then you have my sympathies, and your plan makes perfect sense. Your spreadsheet assumes a 10 year lifespan for the Kia. Is this perhaps optimistic?

winter

Not trying to be funny or anything but what you are missing is not driving the S2000 all the time - seriously. Maybe with the kind of miles you're driving it would start to drag but personally if I had two cars, one being the s2k and the second being a more ordinary/beater car I would loathe having to drive the beater. Driving it on the weekends only? Gack!

ElTianti

Where is that spreadsheet is the cost of the Rio?
In other words, what would you save by not buying the
Rio?

yellow2001

I rather pay the extra $273 a month and drive the s2000 everyday. Every car has problems giving enough time and milage. Now you have 2 cars to think about.

Shark

Yes, I factored in the cost of the above.

Shark

[QUOTE]Originally posted by CBeyond
[B]50,000 miles in two years?

2x6spds

12000 miles out of a set of S02 rears? I'm getting 5000. No smoking burnouts, no drifting through corners.

xsfer

Lets face it, admitting to driving a Kia is pretty sad to save a few bucks.... Especially if you can afford an S2000...