Anyone use the 'my car' history properly?

[richb]

Earlier I filled in a few details on the 'my cars' section of my members profile. I linked in some pictures and added a few comments, but I wondered if anyone also uses and maintains the histoty section fully? It occurs to me that to get a proper picture of the running costs of our cars you need to add in not just maintenance costs but also insurance etc. Just a thought, you tell I'm a bit bored because it's summer season! Rich...

[simonelite501]

I always though I did, but I'd never thought to add insurance or Tax, but yes your quite correct. Nice TVR by the way, you could do with cutting the grass though

[MajorClanger]

quote:I wondered if anyone also uses and maintains the history section fully? It occurs to me that to get a proper picture of the running costs of our cars you need to add in not just maintenance costs but also insurance etc.

I try to and did at first add in insurance and car tax.... but it messed up the cost/mile calculation (as in effect you are paying for mileage that you'll drive in the future, whereas maintenance costs are the result of already have driven IYSWIM!). Perhaps Ted could change it to record/show insurance and car tax separately.

MC

PS I also looked at other peoples' history before buying to get an idea of costs, and if you are selective it can give a fair idea of what to expect

>> Edited by MajorClanger on Thursday 1st August 16:59

[rmaurer]

I'm using it to try and keep track of running costs...
Fortunately I'm now down below the £1 per mile mark!

Ross

[cotty]

if you add insurance then it becomes how much does it cost you to run that car, not how much that car costs to run, as insurance will vary from person to person.

[M@H]

I think it would hurt too much to put the historical insurance costs I've paid on to the Beetle.. I've driven and insured it since I was 17 (28 now), I don't really want to think what I have spent....

Cheers
Matt

[CleG]

I add most things .. I do intend to update it more and fill in anything I have left out.

[ap_smith]

I did everything for my Scooby until I rolled it into a ditch.

I don't think doing it for my wife's Rover 620 will be of too much interest to the public, so I'm not bothering anymore

[scruff400]

Need to get my ailiases in order!!

And before you start, I only have two:

Pedestrian - before car.
Scruff400 - after car and filling the spaces behind the seats with crap..

[PetrolTed]

quote:Perhaps Ted could change it to record/show insurance and car tax separately.

I've added some categorisation to the history so you can record whether the cost is servicing/maintenance, insurance, tax or tyres. I'll update the summary stuff to give various views onto that data.

[MajorClanger]

quote:
I'll update the summary stuff to give various views onto that data.

That would be great.

[PetrolTed]

I've added in a 'sort' facility that allows you to sort by the most active items. So you can see who's keeping a detailed history of their car vs who's not.

[JonRB]

Nice on Ted.

Just two further points:
1. Does an MoT test count as Service/Maintenance or Tax? Or should you add another type?

2. A mileage field for each entry would be useful. At the moment I enter it as text in the descrption.

Cheers
Jon

[JonRB]

Also, what about a type for 'modifications'? Actually now I think of it, sometimes its too difficult to separate maintenance from modifications - eg. replacing a worn part with an uprated part is both, I guess.

[CarZee]

Ted

We definitely need separate categories for the different types of air freshener available.

Also, if we could tell the frequency with which people empty their ashtrays, we'd get a better picture which are the best cars for smokers.

[MajorClanger]

Hi Ted

When you calculate annual costs do you take costs todate, divide by elapsed time to work out monthly costs etc?

Not so much of a problem for cars that have been owned for a while but it multiplies up the costs of insurance, tax and MOT i.e.annual costs. Gave me a scare when I looked at my summary!!!

Is there any way to change it so that you take in to account 'fixed' costs i.e. costs not dependent on mileage, or does this depend on people using the categorisation feature you've added (which, people could always go back and edit their history)?

Keep up the good work!

MC