Car Tools Ireland

A car is bought on two numbers — the price and the monthly payment — and neither is the cost. Depreciation is usually the largest single line over a period of ownership and it never sends a bill, which is exactly why it goes unnoticed until the trade-in.

What the car actually costs

The true cost calculator adds depreciation, fuel, insurance, motor tax, servicing and tyres into one annual figure and divides by the kilometres you drive. The cost per kilometre is the number worth having: it makes the comparison with public transport, a second household car or a shorter commute concrete rather than theoretical.

Paying for it

Showrooms compare finance on the monthly payment, which is the one figure that can be made to say almost anything. The PCP vs HP vs cash comparison compares on net cost of ownership — everything paid out, less what the car is worth at the end — which is the only basis on which a balloon payment, a deposit and a monthly payment are comparable at all.

Choosing between cars

The EV vs petrol comparison costs both cars over the years you will keep them, at your mileage and your electricity price, with depreciation included on both sides. The share of charging done at home is the input that decides it — public rapid charging costs several times a home night rate and removes most of the advantage.

Before you sell or trade in

Get an independent valuation before the conversation about a trade-in starts, because a trade-in is easy to undervalue when the discussion is about a monthly payment. The depreciation calculator projects what a car will be worth when you expect to change it, which is worth knowing before you buy rather than after.

And if a large repair is the reason you are thinking about changing at all, run it through the repair or replace calculator first — comparing a repair with the car’s value alone is the mistake, because the real alternative is a year of payments on something else.