Personal Car Versus Taxi And Car Sharing: When Your Own Car Is More Profitable

Owning a personal car for those who need a car not only for short trips to work or to a store, but also for regular flights out of town or for travel, will be several times more profitable than using a taxi or car sharing. These are the conclusions reached by the analysts of Avto.ru, having calculated the costs of maintaining models of different classes popular in Russia with the help of a calculator of the cost of car ownership.

Five models participated in the study: Hyundai Solaris, KiSportage, ToyotCamry, BMW 5-Series and Cadillac Escalade. Four of them (or their analogs) are found in taxis and car sharing, but owning them personally is still more profitable. And the alternatives to ownership for those who like large SUVs like the Cadillac Escalade are not yet available in car sharing services or in long-term rental programs.

How the cost of ownership was calculated:

• the price of the car, the loss of value, the prices of insurance (OSAGO and CASCO), transport tax, the cost of service and tire fitting are taken from the calculator;
• half of the cost of the car is credit funds. The loan is designed for the entire service life at a rate of 11% - average, according to the Bank of Russia;
• service life - 5 years;
• annual mileage - 20 thousand kilometers;
• fuel consumption - mixed, according to passport data. Fuel price - average in Moscow at the time of publication of the material: AI-95 - 47.50 rubles, diesel fuel - 47.5 rubles;

• washing costs - 500 rubles twice a month: we took into account that the owners periodically clean the salon, and some do dry cleaning every few years, so they deliberately raised the price;

• the article "Other" takes into account the annual additional costs - fines in the amount of 3,000 rubles, a set of winter tires (prices for rubber of the size recommended by the manufacturer are taken from Yandex. Market, the cost of the set is evenly distributed over 5 years) and small consumables (antifreeze washer fluid, wiper blades, air fragrance and other little things) - another 2000 ₽.

Owning a Hyundai Solaris for five years will be nearly half the price of a short-term rental alternative. And 2.5 times more profitable than taxi services: the difference in monetary terms is 800 thousand rubles and 1.8 million rubles, respectively!

The more expensive the car, the less savings from ownership will be (primarily due to a sharper decline in the residual value of premium models with age), but it will still remain significant. Operating a diesel BMW 5 Series for 5 years will cost half the price of a taxi ride at the “Business” tariff in a car of the same class. A short-term rental of a premium car costs 2-2.5 times more than an economy-class car: with comparable mileage, you will have to spend 4-4.5 million rubles for it in five years.

The operating costs of the Cadillac Escalade, which are generally not found in taxis and car sharing, will be comparable to those of a taxi. The high cost of ownership of such a car is explained by the too powerful and uneconomical engine, high transport tax, expensive service and low prices for the model in the secondary market. You can save a lot if you drive budget carsharing cars, but Escalade buyers are unlikely to be ready to trade a luxury SUV for a Hyundai Solaris.

Private cars in Russia are synonymous with freedom of movement and convenience for regular trips outside the city. This is the opinion of the majority of participants in the study conducted by Avto.ru. The coronavirus also reminded Russians of the relevance of personal transport: their own car turned out to be the safest mode of transport during the pandemic.