If I should ask any car owner or user, the cost of their vehicles, they will quote the purchase price of the vehicle. They might be right in a way, but is that the true cost of owning a vehicle?
The total cost of owning a vehicle goes beyond the purchase price of the vehicle when you purchased it from the dealership or the pre-owned car you bought from your colleague or the pre-owned car dealership close to your office.
The cost of owning your vehicle includes every pesewa you spend in the period of owning the vehicle; i.e., if you use yours for a year, two years or five years – which is mostly the number of years your car you purchase from the dealership is eligible for warranty – every amount and time, which can be equated to money, contributes to the cost of owning your vehicle.
Purchase price
The first component of the cost of owning your car is the purchase price of your car. Of course, you can’t own your car if you don’t purchase it or have it in your possession.
Purchasing your vehicle on an outright cash basis, which is the common practice in Ghana, saves you from a lot of problems.
Purchasing your vehicle on a hire purchase basis or a financing option from your bankers will come with interest. If you are purchasing it in a foreign currency, it will come with inflation in price when you convert it into Ghana cedis plus the interest payment. You need to factor the interest as an extra cost.
Motor insurance
The second cost component of owning your dream vehicle is the cost of motor insurance for your vehicle.
The Ghanaian law, Motor Third Party Act 1958, mandates that all vehicles must be covered for unlimited body injury and death compensation for third parties.
Motor insurance is non-negotiable. You either go in for the comprehensive insurance package or the third party package. In Ghana, comprehensive insurance for private and light commercial vehicles are 5 percent plus some levies and 7 percent respectively. You need to speak to your insurers for better details and guidance.
Cost of maintenance
Ghanaian social media and car enthusiasts went haywire when Dr. Kwame Despite released his Bugatti Chiron. I bet you wished you owned it, but have you made inquiries on how much it costs to maintain that car?
According to carcoops.com, it will cost you an estimated amount of US$500,000 to maintain your Bugatti Chiron over a 4-year period.
The cost of keeping your car running is another major component of owning your vehicle. The cost of spare parts, cost of labour, and cost of accessories count. The amount of time your vehicle spends at the service centre or workshop due to part unavailability or a qualified technician can be equated to money.
As you plan to purchase your new vehicle, conduct a research on how much it will cost you for regular maintenance, accident repairs and others.
It’s sad to see car owners or users park their vehicle because they can’t afford the cost of a part. This is because they failed to do due diligence before purchasing the vehicle.
Cost of fuel
Unless you drive an electric vehicle, which will even come with a charging cost, fuelling your vehicle is a must. Even in these times of high fuel prices, you can’t drive your vehicle without filling it up.
Most of the time, you would ask about the engine capacity of the vehicle during the purchase process, which gives you an idea how big or small your vehicle’s engine is. One critical specification most car buyers miss out on is the fuel economy.
Fuel economy basically means how much distance you can travel with your vehicle for a specified quantity of fuel. It is measured in miles per gallon (mpg) or kilometres per litre (km/L). This will inform you the miles or kilometres your vehicle can travel for a gallon or litre of petrol or diesel. The next time you are on the hunt for your next vehicle, before you choose that car out of the lot, look out for the vehicle with the best fuel economy, among other specifications.
Among the highlighted points above, the fees you will incur while using your vehicle may include registration fee, which is mostly one time, parking lot charges, toll booth charges, vehicle accessories cost and others.
Overlooking these points when looking for a new vehicle will have a bearing on how much you will spend during the time of owning the vehicle. Make the right choice.
About the author
Edmond Nana Flynt is the CEO of Flynt Automobile, an automobile start-up which is into automobile events (Flynt Auto Events), automobile consultancy, and provides other automobile services.
Emai: [email protected]
Tel / Whatsapp: (0)20 946 1390
LinkedIn: Edmond Nana Flynt
