The Real Cost of Cars – A CBD carpark, yours for $407K. It all counts

Sometimes you find yourself driving around the city on a weekend wishing you had a guaranteed space to park your car.  That’s just part of normal life nowadays but it can get frustrating.  But finding a place to park, let alone finding a “dream-spot”, is only half the problem as the price of parking in some cities is increasing at a rate that would make a real estate agent blush.

With some Sydney-based commuters spending upwards of $19K a year on CBD parking alone, is it any wonder people are purchasing parking spots for huge sums?  A few years ago it was reported that a New York City car spot was going for around a million dollars.  However, last Saturday marked the anniversary of a Sydney paper reporting the sale price of a Bond Street car space for $400,000 – breath-taking!

Australians have a reputation for loving their cars or at the very least, the freedom that comes with access to a car.  But we often forget about the cost of running a car.  It’s not just the price of purchase (or lease if you’ve gone that way), it’s the fuel, rego, maintenance, cleaning and… the parking!

But really, how bad could it be?

Cars make life a whole lot easier in many areas of Australia however, the costs are one of the numbers you’ll need to keep an eye on as a business owner.  Some time ago, I decided to break down the various vehicle-related costs I was accruing on a very nice, leased, top-of-the-line vehicle.  From an emotional standpoint I could happily tell everyone that the comfort, the performance, the prestige and the admiration of likeminded car enthusiasts, more than made up for the costs.

But there’s more to most stories than emotion… there are cold, hard, uncompromising facts.  Facts and figures that Ben was more than happy (too happy?) to go over with me and then share on a recent facebook live (squirm).

Turns out that thanks to monthly expenses like the lease ($1200), fuel ($500), rego, premium cleaning (for a prestige car – very necessary), private carpark (also necessary), valet parking at Qantas… put it this way, we’re already a hair over $2700 every month.  Wait, what!?!

Wow, so what now?

What now?  Nowadays, I do what I should have done instead of falling under the spell of that fantastic car and everything it forced me to do against my will.  Confronted with the numbers, I joined the growing legion of people who are increasingly looking to a combination of public transport, Uber, their own cars, pedal power and just legging it from point A to point B?

For me, travel is a very necessary part of what I do and I don’t see that slowing down – there’s far too much knowledge out there and value in being (literally) present to stay put.  However, by practising what we preach, I weigh the cost of getting around against the value (dollars, experiences, knowledge) that is derived.  That’s how I maintain a favourable balance between costs and benefits.  So over-priced parking costs, rarely come into the equation.

To have a conversation about how you could balance your costs or even just to find out if you can afford a nice carpark in Sydney, feel free to contact us.