Maintenance Costs For A 2004 Cargo Van

mcavoy33 · Jun 22, 2011

Moot said:
Listed below are the costs for maintaining a 2004 Chevrolet 3500, long wheelbase 6.0 V-8 slop bucket, for the first 500,000 miles as it came from the factory.

Total:[/B] $15,990 or .03/mile.

I'm just studying the cost of buying new versus used. Do you have any idea on how I could budget for the difference.

aka if I buy new, I would hope for only regular preventative maintenance such as oil changes for the first year.

But if I buy used, I know I'm going to need a bigger emergency / maintenance fund in my first year.

From seeing your truck from new to used, you got any ideas on how I can ratio this out?

robh2 · Jun 22, 2011

That would be great to see the overall cost diff between the Sprinter and a regular van.

greg334 · Jun 23, 2011

mcavoy33 said:
I'm just studying the cost of buying new versus used. Do you have any idea on how I could budget for the difference.

aka if I buy new, I would hope for only regular preventative maintenance such as oil changes for the first year.

But if I buy used, I know I'm going to need a bigger emergency / maintenance fund in my first year.

From seeing your truck from new to used, you got any ideas on how I can ratio this out?

I budget just the same, no difference. When you come down to it, you want to build the maintenance fund up as soon as you can. A new van can have brake problems just as an old one can or you can spring for a new tire and rim because of that pot hole you hit while making your get away.

A used van, which there are a lot of them out there with low mileage, doesn't have to be a money pit. It all matters if you take the time to find one and then follow a good plan maintaining it.

mcavoy33 · Jun 23, 2011

greg334 said:
I budget just the same, no difference. When you come down to it, you want to build the maintenance fund up as soon as you can. A new van can have brake problems just as an old one can or you can spring for a new tire and rim because of that pot hole you hit while making your get away.

A used van, which there are a lot of them out there with low mileage, doesn't have to be a money pit. It all matters if you take the time to find one and then follow a good plan maintaining it.

In reality, I will do the same. I want to build a big reserve as quickly as I can.

But I wanted to compare the cost of buying new vs used. Reality tells me that the lower capital cost will result in a higher maintenance cost. I just want to look at everything properly.

One other thing I've done is I've used 400k as my baseline for the lifetime of both gas and diesel engines, which is probably as mistake. I should adjust that but I'm not sure to what figure.

greg334 · Jun 23, 2011

Assuming that a new van won't cost much is that, an assumption. Tires, brakes and other items can be costly, as with any evidence of overloading the van can put the entire thing out of warranty.

The comparison is easy to make.

Starting with a used van, plan on putting about 1000 to 1500 into it to get it road ready. Change the belts, have the battery checked properly, brakes and so on. Then plan on new belts every 100k, water pump when the clock hits 200k, possibly a new fuel pump and so on.

See the trick isn't what's on paper but what your ability to find a good vehicle without the up front cost. The van that has 100k on it may last longer than that new one and the up front costs of the used one may pay itself off within 2 years of its purchase by putting in that 1000 to 1500 while the up front cost of the new one may not be justified for 3 to 4 years of its purchase.

Rocketman · Jun 24, 2011

greg334 said:
I budget just the same, no difference. When you come down to it, you want to build the maintenance fund up as soon as you can. A new van can have brake problems just as an old one can or you can spring for a new tire and rim because of that pot hole you hit while making your get away.

A used van, which there are a lot of them out there with low mileage, doesn't have to be a money pit. It all matters if you take the time to find one and then follow a good plan maintaining it.

How much do you guys figure to be enough for a maintenance fund? With the ST I like to have at least $5k and prefer $10k. I would think 2-5k is enough for a van?

greg334 · Jun 24, 2011

Rocketman said:
How much do you guys figure to be enough for a maintenance fund? With the ST I like to have at least $5k and prefer $10k. I would think 2-5k is enough for a van?

Here is what I would do;

Take the most expensive item that is a common thing to just go bad and price out the replacement cost of it - in a vans case it is the transmission.

THEN double that plus ten percent to cover towing, hotel expenses and other things. This will give you a good number target to shoot for.

So if a Ford transmission is say 2500 to replace, add 2500 plus 500 more and that give you 5500 as a minimum amount in the fund.

The reason is that the transmission may not ever go bad but the fuel pump may or you may need tires so the maintenance pool is there to cover these costs to ensure the van is taken care of.

OH and just because you reach that level, does not mean you need to stop putting into the fund. I would continue to take money out of the revenue for everything and account for that per mile.

mcavoy33 · Jun 24, 2011

Really solid thinking greg. Thanks for your post. I think I'm starting to lean towards used again.

After the maintenance fund has reached its goal, I'd continue to put money aside for the replacement fund, aka next capital purchase.

greg334 · Jun 24, 2011

Well what I have done is to keep the pool as one, not split it up or use the money and have a plan to update at a given the end of life of the vehicle (or one of the components).

This may be a case where the vehicle, regardless of age, is in good body/chassis shape but the engine and trans (rear end too) are replaced to keep the van rolling.