[deep_bang]

This post is about generalising the costs of maintaining a car.

Often, the maintenance costs are forgotten as they are a yearly cost, and other costs such as fuel costs are more on our minds as they are recurring. This post is to discuss on what the typical cost of maintenance is for each year, so that users can better understand the maintenance costs over the lifetime of the product.

We all know that some cars are more expensive to maintain and some other are less so. Depending on whether you service it at an FNG or at the authorised dealer, this may further differ. However, please go ahead and put in your costs either way.

It could so happen that one service may be a major one, and there may be minor services that are cheaper. I request that you put in an approximate average cost in such cases.

Some of us may drive more and some less, but i am sort of thinking that most of us would be driving about 15k plus or minus 5k kms per year.

But i think these inputs will get averaged out over time and we will get a good view of how much each of us spend on maintenance every year.

This data will help make decisions on when to buy a new car/replace with an EV/Keep the car for longer and such decisions can be made with better judgement.

[jinojohnt]

Would be good to differentiate between ASS and FNG as well, since FNG service costs are typically lower

[SoumenD]

Does the number include annual costs like Insurance as well? Or only mechanical bits like timely service and fixes? And I guess instead of checkbox it should be radio-button.

I drive a Jazz CVT and we have 6 months service each costing between 4-6k. Total ~10k. But insurance costs 16-18k. Total ~26-30k including both. And I have been driving it for like 2k/year since pandemic hit

[sunikkat]

My 6+ years Octavia TDI, an average cost of 15 to 20k per year in regular service, wheel alignment/balance etc. It's a different thing that I keep spending much higher almost every year in upgrades (suspension upgrades, wheels, tyres, brakes etc.), which in most cases were avoidable

Other car, 10 months old i20 - I would expect <15k in initial years.

Not including insurance, fuel etc.

[GForceEnjoyer]

Haven't voted, since there are two cars in the garage that fall into different categories.

• 2006 Ford Fiesta (1.6 litre petrol manual): Under 10k, allowing the usual two services + a couple of small age-related issues sometimes. A five-figure expense is extremely rare.
• 2021 Škoda Superb L&K (2.0 litre petrol automatic): Between 10k and 25k. A usual yearly service costs just over 10k (including consumables and labour), so I'd expect costs to stay within this interval even if repairs have to be made in the future.

Both cars are serviced at the authorised service centres. Both cases also exclude insurance costs.

[Turbohead]

Vento TDI 2014 5-MT.

Average maintenance cost in the first 4 years: ₹15,000 (ASC)
Average maintenance cost in the last 4 years: ₹30,000 thanks to part replacements (FNG)

Expensive?
Yes.
Worth it?
Absolutely! The additional cost of service is meagre when compared to the cost of replacing the vehicle with a worthy upgrade.

[Sanidhya mukund]

2014 Mercedes C-class Petrol (W204)

The car visits the Merc service centre annually and usually comes home with a bill of 50-70K. This year, a few replacements like engine mounts and tyres were also carried out, so the bill came out to be 1.9 lakhs. Attaching the final amount for the last 3 annual visits:








Expensive? Definitely. But keeping it in good shape with Mercedes genuine parts and the assurance of good workmanship at the dealership does bring in some peace of mind. Especially makes sense for me because I plan to keep this car upto the point it is legal to drive here in Delhi.

One would anyway have to spend a ridiculous amount of money to buy a similar car today. Not even considering what a proper upgrade would cost nowadays.

[SmartCat]

Typically Rs. 15,000 per year for Honda BR-V.

- Rs. 5,000 per year (spread over multiple years) for tyres, batteries etc.

- Rs. 7,000 per year for regular servicing, including minor part replacement

- Rs. 3,000 per year for interior cleaning/shampoo-ing at the dealership. The service advisor puts random stuff like clutch cleaning, brake pad shining and what not. I remove all that stuff from the job card & add interior cleaning instead. I could NOT opt for this and save some money but I'm afraid the service advisor will just handover a clean car end of the day without servicing it.

[deep_bang]

Originally Posted by SoumenD

Does the number include annual costs like Insurance as well? Or only mechanical bits like timely service and fixes? And I guess instead of checkbox it should be radio-button.

The reason for the check box was only to accomodate multiple cars you may have different service costs.

Originally Posted by GForceEnjoyer

Haven't voted, since there are two cars in the garage that fall into different categories.

Both cars are serviced at the authorised service centres. Both cases also exclude insurance costs.

My intention of providing check box was so that multiple options can be chosen if you have multiple cars but with different service costs.
I agree that this is not the best way, but I did it in the interest of keeping it simple.

[ashis89]

Selected 25+.

Avg. cost per service = 7k-10k (2 service in a year)
Avg. Cost of tyres/battery = 15k (50k in 3 years)
Avg. Cleaning cost = 3k

Total = 38k

The above estimate excludes insurance cost, fuel or accessories.

[GTO]

4x4 Jeep = Approximately 20,000 per year

Nissan Sunny = About 15,000 - 20,000 per year

BMW 530d = About 1.5 lakhs per year (averaged)

Skoda Superb = 15,000 per year currently as we have taken the 4-year service pack for 60,000. Will definitely increase from the 5th year (each service will be billable) and even more from 7th year (when extended warranty expires).

[UD17]

2013 Honda city (Gen 3)= 3 months service interval. Never practiced that but always serviced the car yearly. Yearly running is around 12K Kms for this car. The average maintenance cost per year comes around <10K INR

The cost: Minor service 4000INR
Major service: 8000 -10000 INR (mostly near 8000 INR)

Insurance is around 15K for Zero Dep (till now running on Zero dep).

[aeroamit]

I have Hyundai Fluidic Verna CRDi SX 2012 model always being serviced at Hyundai Authorized Service Center ( Trident, Yelahanka) and my annual maintenance cost varies between 5K -7K. 7k is expense when the Diesel filter is also changed otherwise it stay around 5K ( e.g. Year 2021 INR 5089/-). My Other car Hyundai Grand i10 NIOS Sportz DT 2021 model till now had 2 services @ HASS 9 Trident Yelahanka) and cost was INR 0 ( 1st Service) & INR. 2136/- ( 2nd Service).

I even write a note on the Job card that any additional expense added without my permission is to be complementary from Workshop and till now it worked. Eventhough at the time of opening Job card they do add-up may unwanted stuff but I stick to what Owner's Manual says and Service Advisor have adhered to it. I always stays at the Service Center till the Service is done and it take around 2-3 Hours without External and Internal cleaning. I clean my cars on my own on weekly basis with water and with Jopasu Duster. Even my previous Maruti Alto 2007 model was always serviced at MASS (BIMAL, Yelahanka) and bill was never beyond 3.5K. Wheel Alignment is always performed outside Company Service Centre at an interval of 5K Kms and annual cost is less than 2K for both the cars.

I do hear from my friends and neighbours about their fear of service bill going high but was able to help them in keeping the Service cost reasonable ( e.g. my neighbour's 2012 Ertiga ZXi was serviced in Aug-2022 at MASS ( VARUN, Yelahanka) and expense was within 4.5 K).

[viXit]

Safari Insurance 13k
Yearly maintenance at ASC around 40k (since the 6 year mark, should come down)

City Insurance this year 40k
Maintenance 10k


Grand i10
insurance ??
Maintenance 15k
fuel is the part that bites, being a petrol AT

[AG-D]

My 2011 Alto K10 is serviced at small Maruti ASS (more of a FNG now due to the relationship I have built up with them). The cost typically comes around 3K. I stick to the parts replacement cycle as per the Owner's Manual and any others that the SA advices based on the condition of the parts. He has been judiciously conservative and it has worked well till now.

My 2021 Harrier is serviced at Tata ASS. Costs typically around 11K including DEF refill. I religiously stick to the Owner's Manual and review the Job Card before approving. Touchwood till now the experience has been good.