I'm trying to save a bit of money and wonder if it would be cheaper to run a scooter rather than our old corolla. Its just for my husband to get to and from work (12mins drive away).
Please could somebody explain to me how much the rego costs are for a 50cc scooter, how much insurance is (we are over 25), and do you need a wof!
Thanks.
cuda.340,
Jan 15, 9:11pm
get him a pushbike it's cheaper & he might get fitter. a win win for you.
thejazzpianoma,
Jan 15, 9:17pm
12 minutes equals how many km's in your case roughly!
Is there a cost effective alternative for days when its pouring with rain!
tequilagirlie,
Jan 15, 9:23pm
its 7kms roughly. pushbike would be fine but he does really long hours sometimes and can start at weird times. i looked at the landtransport site and got confused with vehicle registering and licensing. how much is insurance!
thejazzpianoma,
Jan 15, 9:23pm
Incorrect. If we are talking about a "moped type" which we assume given there is no WOF then its just under $170 per year.
thejazzpianoma,
Jan 15, 9:25pm
Next to nothing for insurance. My suggestion would be to get something like an FA50 or NC50 in good condition. You will pick it up for a few hundred so just 3rd party will be fine.
The big wheels on those scooters are a big advantage and reliability etc is superior to all the Chinese rubbish around these days.
Older is not necessarily a bad thing with a scooter.
Not sure on exact price but 3rd party for a scoot will be next to nothing.
gtf,
Jan 15, 9:28pm
Just be sure to increase his life insurance cover. for the other idiots in cars of course!
thejazzpianoma,
Jan 15, 9:29pm
You are probably not really going to notice a big difference in fuel price alone (say $500 cheaper per year)) but the cheaper maintenance, lack of WOF, cheaper insurance etc etc all adds up.
If he pays parking for the car that may be the biggest saving.
thejazzpianoma,
Jan 15, 9:32pm
Its not the fuel thats the saving, but you are right you need cost effective alternative transport for miserable days.
franko171,
Jan 15, 9:35pm
i have a 150cc scooter reg is same as a50 cc 414$ a yearbut cheap 2 run about 250kms a tank of gas 9 ltrs thant manily open rd .about to take it for a trip frome thames to chch and back.
tequilagirlie,
Jan 15, 9:36pm
so rego is about $170 a year if its registered as a moped! its thats the case it sounds like we could save a bit compared to the old corolla. we have another car for really horrible days!
thejazzpianoma,
Jan 15, 9:39pm
Here is a rough guide, assuming here the "old Corolla" is a $2000 old cheapie.
If you pay for parking or the Corolla is newer the difference will be a LOT more.
get him a light for his pushbike, he can take his work frustrations out on the pedal home & before you say anything about the rain, buy him a raincoat to match his pushbike. it's the cheapest option.
thejazzpianoma,
Jan 15, 9:44pm
Except the Scooter is safer given you can move with the traffic (even better if you have a bigger scooter) its quicker and you don't arrive at work all sweaty.
thejazzpianoma,
Jan 15, 10:00pm
Fair enough its hard without an explanation. was only meant as a rough guide.
Depreciation in this case is more. a fund to replace the car.
When you allow for whats required to bring another cheap car up to scratch etc as well as the purchase price less what the old car sold for thats typically what you need to put aside.
Think about it in terms of the context of the situation rather than classical depreciation in accounting.
Its all pretty hard to gauge with accuracy though.
Feel free to post your own figures if you wish.
tequilagirlie,
Jan 15, 10:23pm
if it depreciated at $500 a year it wouldn't be worth a thing now lol! it still goes well but needs a bit of work sometimes for the wof, combined with rego costs, petrol, insurance, and sometimes parking (but free parking at work).
pushbike isn't fair on the kids if he's working long hours.
hobby.,
Jan 15, 10:32pm
you would be hard pressed to spend $500. a year on fuel for a under 50cc or moped scooter.
topper,
Jan 16, 12:52am
Just a couple of thoughts;A power assisted bicycle does not require rego or WOF.Abysmal performance and no safer than a bicycle. An older 50cc motorcycle(Yamaha RD 50, Honda MB5, Suzuki A50) which is regesterd as a moped. Doesn't require a WOF, gives you bigger wheels, reasonable brakes, a comfy seat and a tank to hold on to with your knees in order to control the beast in the certain eventuality of having to take evasive action.Most will do 50 or 60 km/hr quite comfortably on the flat, some will do a whole lot more.
The high centre of gravity, nothing to hang on to with your knees and small wheels of most scooters pits the laws of physics much more firmly against the rider.
Good luck in your quest, and I hope that these thoughts are of value to you.
tequilagirlie,
Jan 16, 2:32am
thanks. its trying to weigh everything up. we have to tighten our belts and this would be the easiest thing to change. hubby used to have a 125cc and loved that.
thejazzpianoma,
Jan 16, 2:48am
I shouldn't have labled it depreciation I should have labled it depreciation/replacement fund or something like that. Its not about what the car is worth its about looking at it and saying right its got 350K on the clock now and will be to a point in 3-5 years where it needs replacing because it will be uneconomical to service. Or something expensive will go wrong with it in that time which would be uneconomical to fix.
In 5 years you will get a small amount back for the car but you will need to repalce it with say another cheap one which will likely need money spent on it to get it to a point where you can service it for the allowed figure per year.
You must count these costs realistically because they are real and exist. By contrast a tidy FA50 can be maintained for decades for very little cost. If you did manage to wreck it it can be replaced again for a few hundred.
That's the point of the exercise.
thejazzpianoma,
Jan 16, 2:52am
Also, if you are looking at tightening up your belts what is your other car (model and age) and how many km's roughly do you do in it a week!
Transport is usually right up there in the housholds biggest 3 expenses so it makes sense to look at it carefully.
thejazzpianoma,
Jan 16, 3:00am
Good spotting, I must have multiplied by the fuel cost twice or something. Based on the expected 3500km a year (14km return, multiplied by 5 days a week multiplied by 50 weeks)
Fuel should be about 2.5 litres per hundred km multiplied by two for price plus say 75C for Two Stroke oil. Thats $5.75 per 100km.
So 3500 divided by 100 multiplied by $5.75
Thats just over $200 a year so much better than I suggested and more points in favour of the Scooter. That will teach me to do things in a hurry. (normally I stop and consider things more)
tequilagirlie,
Jan 16, 3:37am
thanks very much. our other car is not the most economical in the world but we really like it, it goes really well and fits our family. i'm just going down the list trying to figure out what we could change, can't avoid paying the rates, gotta feed the dogs, gotta pay the mortgage etc, the kids need to eat. do we really need 2 cars! the answer is not really but without a scooter it would be really hard work.
franko171,
Dec 27, 5:44pm
yes get at least a 100cc
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