[bryanlarsen]

Does that include used vehicles? Average for new is $47k. https://fortune.com/2024/02/28/how-expensive-new-used-cars-o...

And new is appropriate, since used price is payment from one owner to another. IOW, if one side of the transaction gets a good deal the other gets a bad one, leaving average unchanged.

Average annual capital cost is new price divided by lifetime.

[nwienert]

First - the average number there is according to Kelly Blue Books "proprietary editorial process", and I have doubts. Given it's spiked in recent years too we can assume that 90% of people today aren't at this new inflated price even if it's true and likely many more are holding out or buying used now.

Second - every one of your numbers is rounded up quite a bit, especially mileage as the average mileage would be 135k by year 10.

Third - You left out selling your 50k car in year 10 given 135k miles.

Fourth - EAC, one way to get to the truth, not the only.

[bryanlarsen]

I never claimed the numbers were average. The OP claimed that $10,000 a year on a car is uncommon. I'm saying that you don't have to go much above average to pay $10,000 a year on your car -- that spending $10,000 a year is common, even if a little less than 50% of people do so.

[nwienert]

I'd guess closer to 10% than 50% do, the more average amount would be closer to 5k/year making the original claim pretty far off.