This is a great bit of insight that most don't get. I'll be making a total cost of ownership site soon to show how all of these details affect true cost of a car.
My husband and I did some of those calculations when we were considering my next car seven years ago.
Result: I ended up not considering anything less than three years old, and am still the content owner of an off-lease diesel 2008 Ford Focus Turnier (station wagon), about to have a new timing belt put in. My cost per kilometer would have been lower had I been confident in my manual shift driving capabilities (at the time, no; now, yes) and had eschewed luxuries like leather seats and the larger engine.
Cost per km over the past seven years: 0.334 EUR
Average cost per year (not considering that I've dropped my driving from over 20T to under 8T km/yr): 5826 EUR
But I've not looked at it from an inventory perspective; it does spend an awful lot of time sitting in our garage ever since I switched offices and now carpool with a colleague who loves driving his BMW and is delighted that I give him 10 EUR/wk for gas and peer-pressure him into leaving for work at 7am :)
Result: I ended up not considering anything less than three years old, and am still the content owner of an off-lease diesel 2008 Ford Focus Turnier (station wagon), about to have a new timing belt put in. My cost per kilometer would have been lower had I been confident in my manual shift driving capabilities (at the time, no; now, yes) and had eschewed luxuries like leather seats and the larger engine.
Cost per km over the past seven years: 0.334 EUR Average cost per year (not considering that I've dropped my driving from over 20T to under 8T km/yr): 5826 EUR
But I've not looked at it from an inventory perspective; it does spend an awful lot of time sitting in our garage ever since I switched offices and now carpool with a colleague who loves driving his BMW and is delighted that I give him 10 EUR/wk for gas and peer-pressure him into leaving for work at 7am :)