# Accounting for Depreciation



## dirtylee (Sep 2, 2015)

I'm curious as to how most of you account for vehicle depreciation.

My method is $1500 for every 10k miles on a Honda Accord. Even if I bought a brand new lx model for $20k, when I hit 100k miles, that's $15k set aside. Sell it for $9k. The $24k covers maintenance {I work on my own car} & replacement with a new car.


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## dcc. (Jul 25, 2016)

I'm a bit lazy so I just calculate flat depreciation. 

Cost Per Km = Cost of Car / Total Km Expected Lifespan of Car. 

Scheduled servicing, so maintenance calculated separately. 

Perhaps a more accurate way would be to calculate flat depreciation based on how long you plan to keep the car. For example, buy a car at $20,000. Expect to drive 25,000km a year and sell after three years for $10,000 @75,000km: 
Cost Per Km = ($20,000-$10,000)/75,000km


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## Jimmy Bernat (Apr 12, 2016)

Depreciation can be figured out by going to a blue book site and then adding a number of miles say 10,000 

Most cars depreciation is around a nickel a mile


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## dirtylee (Sep 2, 2015)

Jimmy Bernat said:


> Depreciation can be figured out by going to a blue book site and then adding a number of miles say 10,000
> 
> Most cars depreciation is around a nickel a mile


5 cents a mile is too low. 15 - 25 cents is about right for uber mobiles.


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## UberLuxbod (Sep 2, 2014)

There is extra depreciation over and above the mileage covered.

Would you want to buy an ex Uber vehicle???

There will be extra wear and tear on the rear doors and interior, boot area and load lip will be subject to more wear and tear.

The rear suspension will wear faster due to more time being spent with people in the rear.

Would you pay the same for an ex Taxi Crown Vic as you would for a car with similar miles that had been driven on highways with a single owner driver, with little to no wear on the underpinnings and interior.

As soon as you use a vehicle for work it is immediately worth less, unless you dishonestly hide its previous use.

For Private Hire work (which is what Uber is) it was common to buy an above average mile fleet vehicle, these are usually used on smooth motorways (highways) and rarely carry passengers in the back.

So when you buy one at 3years old for a song because of the high miles the rear seats are like new and the suspension is still tight.

Batter it for three or four years.

Sell.

Repeat.


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## yojimboguy (Mar 2, 2016)

Let's say you have a 2014 Corolla with a particular trim package. Normal driving would mean you'd put on, say 15,000 miles in a year, but for Uber you''ll put on 45,000.

Go to Kelly Blue Book and look up the cost of buying that exact car with 15K miles on it, and then the cost of the same car with 45K miles on it. The difference will give you a pretty good idea of how much more and faster Ubering will depreciate your vehicle.


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