General Real World 500 cost comparison
- Thread starter cowabunga
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General Real World 500 cost comparison
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No points scoring or taking sides here, just observations and curiosity.
3 year service costs on my 1.2 Panda were £450 and I have a 2 year service plan on my 500 purchased for £250. So unless my 3rd service for the 500 is >£300 then £550 over 3 years is attainable - costs depend on where you are in the UK. The OP has missed out the need for an MOT in year 3 in the spreadsheet, though which bumps the costs up a bit.
Secondly, my Panda front tyres took 19k miles to wear down to 2-2.5mm which is the tread depth I tend to replace tyres rather than going right down to the legal minimum. Does your estimated 35-40k lifespan assume alternating use of winter tyres and a linear wear rate to 1.6mm legal tread for replacement? Just trying to work out the economics of summer & winter v all season tyres for when the 500 needs reshod.
If only there was someone who could write me a spreadsheet?:chin:
I think it's largely irrelevant. If you plug whatever variable you see fit into the spreadsheet model in post #35 you'll see it doesnt make that much difference to overall costs. Maybe heavy/ light tyre wear could skew things 1-2% of overall cost either way which is unlikely to be an important cost consideration in the grand scheme of things.
You should check out the cost of the 36k mile service on the 1.2 500. Sadly cowabunga isn't experienced enough in these matters to know the real costs of running a 500 and doesn't want to accept any help.
Yes my estimated lifespan includes the use of winter tyres and fairly linear wear rate. Do remember though, that tyres wear more when they're new as the tread blocks have more flex in them so 35-40k is certainly not impossible. I'm not planning to run them down to the TWI's as this is daft, so I'd say 35k miles is what I'll get and I certainly don't hang around, though I do drive in such a way that gets me places fairly quickly, whilst causing as little wear to the car as possible.
I thought I'd post a warning as the creator of the spreadsheet seems unwilling to include realistic figures, therefore I would suggest that anyone looking to purchase a 500 and for whom cost is a concern, should post a thread in the forum and ask what the running costs of a 500 are as the arbitrary figures are extremely misleading and could result in you being hundreds of pounds out of pocket.
Just as an example of these silly figures, the 1.2 500 in v5 of the spreadsheet supposedly wears its tyres out at 17k miles and the 1.3 MJ supposedly has tyres which last 3k miles more. This is completely at odds with the experience of just about everyone on this forum. I have a 1.2 500 and I've ALREADY done 22-23k miles on my summer tyres and my tyres have about 5.5-6mm of tread left. At 6mm a tyre is only 31% worn and at 5mm it's only 47% worn so if I run them down to the legal limit I'll easily have 40k miles out of them and if I replace them at 2 or 2.5mm then 35k miles is very much doable. Now assuming that as in the spreadsheet the tyres cost £300 for a set, that is £300+ that I've outperformed the spreadsheet by. Now of course not everyone will get 40k miles out of a set of tyres and I accept that, but 17k out of a set of tyres on a 1.2 is a very atypical value when compared to the multijet which does generally tend to wear its tyres out after 20k miles.
This is just one example of the way the figures in the spreadsheet are incorrect
The author of the spreadsheet seems to have made it his mission to disagree with me rather than just doing his/her best to provide you with a spreadsheet which provides realistic data for you to do your sums with.
If I can stop doing better things with my time I'll endeavour to make my own spreadsheet which includes guidance on what realistic service and tyre costs are for the average motorist.
In the meantime do feel free to start a thread to discuss your own personal needs as this will be the best way for you to get the best idea of what your chosen 500 is going to cost you
Just as an example of these silly figures, the 1.2 500 in v5 of the spreadsheet supposedly wears its tyres out at 17k miles and the 1.3 MJ supposedly has tyres which last 3k miles more. This is completely at odds with the experience of just about everyone on this forum. I have a 1.2 500 and I've ALREADY done 22-23k miles on my summer tyres and my tyres have about 5.5-6mm of tread left. At 6mm a tyre is only 31% worn and at 5mm it's only 47% worn so if I run them down to the legal limit I'll easily have 40k miles out of them and if I replace them at 2 or 2.5mm then 35k miles is very much doable. Now assuming that as in the spreadsheet the tyres cost £300 for a set, that is £300+ that I've outperformed the spreadsheet by. Now of course not everyone will get 40k miles out of a set of tyres and I accept that, but 17k out of a set of tyres on a 1.2 is a very atypical value when compared to the multijet which does generally tend to wear its tyres out after 20k miles.
This is just one example of the way the figures in the spreadsheet are incorrect
The author of the spreadsheet seems to have made it his mission to disagree with me rather than just doing his/her best to provide you with a spreadsheet which provides realistic data for you to do your sums with.
If I can stop doing better things with my time I'll endeavour to make my own spreadsheet which includes guidance on what realistic service and tyre costs are for the average motorist.
In the meantime do feel free to start a thread to discuss your own personal needs as this will be the best way for you to get the best idea of what your chosen 500 is going to cost you
Still a year away from 36k mileage service on the 500 yet but the Panda 36k service was £150.
About the tyres, of course what I hadn't dialled in was I'm replacing two tyres every ~19k rather than four every 35k, so predicted replacement intervals are similar to you. I used to religiously rotate tyres but, being a relatively low mileage driver, found that I ended up with 4 evenly worn tyres but with cracked sidewalls from UV exposure.
Yes i do indeed know you and when you mean something you will do it !so i will look forward to your version
Didn't think it would ever happen.
Such a shame a thread about spreadsheets could end up like this. Best part is I bet folk dont even realise how stupid they look.
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