I have had 2 cars till now: a Volkswagen Polo 1996 and a Honda Jazz 2008. Which one is cheaper to run and operate? I have logged every expense which I had to carry out on both of them on a Google Spreadsheet.

I bought my VW Polo at Rs 72,000 in November 2015 and I sold it for Rs 40,000 in February 2019. But, as you know, cars come with lots and lots of other expenses such as registration tax, road tax, insurance, repairs and maintenance. In all, the money to acquire and run the Polo for 39 Months was Rs 142,000 (excluding fuel). I drove 39,144km during this time. If we add fuel too, the total spent was Rs 275,000.

TCO per month for VW Polo:  Rs (142,000 – Rs 40,000)/39 month = Rs 2615

TCO per km for VW Polo: Rs (142,000 – Rs 40,000)/39,144 = Rs 2.61/km

Total cost per km for VW Polo: Rs (275k – 40k) / 39,114 = Rs 6.00/km

I bought my Honda at Rs 210,000. With all other costs taken into consideration, as of today 22 months later, the total money spent was Rs 257,000.  I estimate the resale value to be Rs 190k. I drove 24,280km with it till now. With the fuel added, it is Rs 331k

TCO per month for Honda Jazz: Rs (257k – 190k)/22 month = Rs 3053

TCO per km for Honda Jazz: Rs Rs (257k – 190k)/24,280 = Rs 2.77/km

Total cost per km for Honda Jazz: Rs (331k – 190k) / 39,114 = Rs 5.82/km

Summary

Cars cost a lot to buy and maintain. The more expensive and exotic, the cost can be drastically higher than mine.