Saturday, April 10, 2010

AAA: The price of owning a car — any car — rose over the last year

April 8, 2010 5:53 pm

As with many things nowadays, the cost of owning a car went up over the last year, AAA said Thursday.
The average cost to operate a medium-sized automobile — such as a Ford Fusion or a Honda Accord — increased 4.8% in the last 12 months, according to AAA’s annual "Your Driving Cost" study. Based on driving 15,000 miles a year, it costs 47.6 cents a mile, or $9,519 a year, to operate a mid-size car, the study said.
Other models haven’t gotten any cheaper either. Small-car owners paid an average of 43.3 cents a mile, or $6,496 a year, on the same 15,000 miles-a-year scale, the study said. That category — made up of Chevrolet Cobalts, Nissan Sentras and similar-sized rides — rang up the smallest increase: 2.9%.
The most expensive type of vehicle to own was a four-wheel drive sport utility vehicle. AAA said Jeep Grand Cherokees, Toyota 4Runners and their kin cost an average of 73.9 cents a mile to operate, or $11,085 a year, a 10.7% increase from the previous year. LINK...

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And they tell us inflation is less than 2%??? It's almost laughable. GCC