Just retired my 1998 E320 wagon after owning it for 9 years and added up all the repair & maint. bills (incl. tires). The cost was $11,916 over 94,000 miles which comes out to $.127/mile or $1,324/year. It was serviced at the dealer for first few years, and at Indy shops after that. Looking at some of the invoices I forgot how many little things went wrong with this car. Cheers!

 

TCO should include purchase price with associated taxes and fees.

 

Well, it should include depreciation, the diff in purchase price and sale price.

 

You are correct! I did not include the sale receipt.

 

I stand corrected! Mainly I was interested in figuring the cost of maint./repairs so I'd have something to compare with my new R down the line.

As soon as the car is sold, I can throw in the rest of the numbers and calculate the TCO according to the technical definition of the term.

 

After totaling all my receipts, it cost $388/month to own (excl. insurance) my 1998 E320 wagon over a period of 9 years:

purchase $30,600
tax +$2,568
sold -$ 4,500
interest +$1,364
repairs/maint+$11,916

total $41,948
divide by 9 years $4,660/yr
divide by 12 months$388.41/month

The interest cost is low because of a large downpayment and then paying off the loan early. I purchased the MB extended warranty on my new R class based on my experience with the E class. Happy motoring!

 

Thanks for the calculation!