The theory that car owners are financial masochists has been gaining ground recently as the ever-unreliable on road costs take their toll on everyone. Even mechanics are feeling the hot breath of cost on their bottom lines, and it’s a good idea to look at working with a budget that’s both painless and reliable.

Figuring out on road costs

There are multiple issues in on road costs, and all of them have the potential to become big costs.

These are the big factors:

• Type of car
• Age
• Usage
• Fuel economy
• Servicing
• Wheels
• Brakes
• Transmission
• Tyres
• Checkups
• Accessories (GPS, baby seats, hands-free phones, features, etc.)

It’s easy enough to come up with a ballpark figure, but all of these factors can be condensed into one word: Reliability.  An old car which is fuel-economic, properly serviced and maintained is a lot cheaper to run than a new, problem-riddled thing, particularly if that new car comes with a $40,000 price tag and “issues” with its electronics.

Budgeting for cars has to be based on a real world series of equations:

• If you budget for a regular service, the odds are that your car will be costing you less than the dramatic mercy dashes to the service center as it gets older.
• If you plan your driving to avoid the brake, gearbox and steering epics of heavy traffic, both your car and your nervous system will be feeling a lot better.
• When calculating your costs, give yourself a quote on your expected outlay. Now, convince yourself, or not, that you’ve got the budget mix right. If not, you need a new car, one that won’t send you broke.

Budgeting and new cars

When you’re looking for a new car, be as fussy as you know how to be. You can budget selectively, and this is where you have control over what happens and doesn’t happen. This exercise isn’t about what you can afford, it’s what you can’t afford. A liability on wheels is more like risk management than driving, and you can’t really win the battle of the dollars on that basis.

Use exactly the same equations as you did for your old car. Never mind the sales talk, figure out real costs by getting information from someone not making a commission on selling you the car. Ask your local car repairs shop and any reliable car mechanics you know about the models you’re looking at buying, before you spend a cent. If the repairer sighs and your friendly mechanic looks at you pityingly, you can draw the appropriate conclusions.

A final word about budgets for current and new cars

There’s exactly one other thing you need to know about budgeting for a car:

Do not, ever, go anywhere near your income limits for costs.

If a car costs that much, it’s not worth owning. If anything goes wrong with it, it’ll trash your entire domestic budget as well. It’s a car, not a kid, and the expense really does have to be justified.

Following months of negotiations and uncertainty, the British Racing Drivers Club has signed a deal with the FIA and Formula One Management to keep the British Grand Prix at Silverstone for the next seventeen years, starting with next year’s race.

The deal is struck for the same amount of time (with a cancellation clause after ten years) that rival circuit Donington Park had signed with Bernie Ecclestone. That deal fell through, however, and Donington has gone into bankruptcy. In order to meet Formula One’s demands, Silverstone – which first hosted the event in 1948 and has hosted it every year since 1987 – will undertake a massive renovation project.

Included in the plans are new grandstands, a new paddock area with new pits, and a potential switch to a new track layout. The Arena circuit was carved out of sections of the existing grand prix circuit for use by MotoGP, which will also be racing at Silverstone in the coming year. By containing it within the main area, the Arena circuit offers spectators a better view of the action, and the BRDC (headed by 1996 World Champion Damon Hill) has submitted the layout for FIA approval. Press release after the jump.

Volkswagen has now confirmed the purchase of almost 20% of Suzuki.

Suzuki has become the latest brand to become part of the Volkswagen Group after VW agreed to buy a 19.9 per cent stake in the Japanese microcar specialist.

VW has been attracted to Suzuki by its expertise in small car design and by purchasing a stake in the firm, VW has gained access to Japan’s kei-car market and a firmer foothold in China, where Suzuki has a large presence. VW is already China’s top-selling manufacturer.

A TRAVEL-loving sailor has found himself with nothing but a smile after his beloved van, packed with all his gear for a trip to Fremantle, was stolen just hours before he was due to leave Darwin.

When the thieves made off with Robbie Lewis’s white 1983 Toyota Hi-Ace in the early hours of Saturday morning they also took his tools, music equipment, passport, wallet, and a swag of memorabilia he had been collecting for years.

“I didn’t get my car stolen – I got my life stolen,” he said. “I’ve got nothing, nothing at all.

“Exit life, stage left.”

Mr Lewis was staying with friends in Stokes St, Parap, after returning from a sailing trip to Indonesia.

He was all packed to drive to Fremantle the next day.

He is now hoping someone will recognise the van and contact police.

“It’s so distinctive – there’s this huge bullbar on the front with huge spotties,” he said.

Mr Lewis said the NT police had been “amazingly helpful” in trying to find his van.

“They’ve come back, they’re following it up,” he said.

Mr Lewis, 55, who said he works as a “pleasure craft maintenance consultant”, said he preferred the sea, where all you need is a good sail and a breeze.

“I’ll stick to sailing now, I’ve had it with driving,” he said.

Mr Lewis was philosophical about his loss yesterday, describing it as an “opportunity for rebirth” – and he didn’t mean the rebirthing of his travelling van by thieves. “I guess I’ll give it a day or so then jump the plane and have to go home and work it out,” he said.

“I’ve just got to get on with it.”

And he said he would be taking advice from Hunter S. Thompson’s book Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: “When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro” – which seemed to mean he would go with the flow.

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It seems fitting that after everything that’s gone on in the global auto industry, a Middle East country is swooping in to take advantage of the industry’s dire straits. It’s becoming a trend really, and the latest we’ve heard is that Aabar, an investment fund owned by the government of Abu Dhabi recently bought a 4% ownership stake of Tesla, the electric car manufacturer that was recently purchased by Daimler.

The sale, of course, comes way of the German manufacturer, who a few months ago, purchased its own 10% ownership stake of Tesla from its US-based ownership group, which it bought from Tesla for around $50 million. The purchases result in Daimler controlling 6% of the company while Aabar now has a 4% stake on Tesla.

Despite what may seem like a small percentage, Aabar’s purchase is yet another reminder of Abu Dhabi’s aggressive pursuit in diversifying its resources apart from oil, which they understand won’t be around too long. Moreover, the UAE – Abu Dhabi in particular – is also pushing for a more eco-friendly future, one that will provide them with a better prospect of success down the road. The country even made a mammoth $22 billion investment on a state-of-the-art carbon neutral city that houses over 50,000 citizens. It’s this kind of bold step and foresight that has allowed the Middle East to prosper despite the turbulent economic crunch the rest of the world is experiencing.

Venturing into the auto industry is nothing new to Aabar, which last year purchased a 9.1% stake from Daimler. It’s beginning to look like the balance of power among those in the industry is shifting towards this small, yet extremely rich and powerful region.