Used 2008 or newer Accord if mid-size, used 2006 or newer Civic if small. Both cost much less than a new Prius, Leaf, etc. Your table should also include the initial purchase price of each vehicle, as well as adjustments for the fact that you'll pay full insurance until you pay a vehicle off entirely, as well as the fact that you're not going to spend "0" per year maintaining a vehicle, even if it's brand new.
I think, Civics and Corollas are way overpriced. Like 06-07 with 80-100k are sold for over 10 grand easily here - supply/demand actually works :).
Purchasing price is factored in the form of depreciation, which I guesstimate to be 10% of purchase price.
Full insurance won't be necessary as I will pay in full.
Good point on maintenance.
did you consider getting an estimate on doing the timing belt? And what makes you think that you need a head gasket. This is not a wear item and usually only fails if the engine over heated at some point. This can also be tested with a compression or leak down test. Is the engine smoking bad, or are you seeing coolant in the oil, which lead you to believe the head gasket is damaged?
Not sure what your commute is like, so i dont know what this translates to in time, but sounds like the car can last another 20-30k easy.
My mechanic asked 250 for TB change, plus parts will be around 200 (half of of is tensioner). I suspect bead gasket leak since there's oil in coolant tank (thanks God, not other way around). I changed timing belt @ 130K. So it's due should be is on 190-200K. The problem car this rattling sound at 1000-2000 RPM which is timing belt hitting its cover since tensioner fails to keep it in place. I checked TB for wear - it looks fine now at least. But there's a risk of it jumping couple teeth and kissing the whole head goodbye :(
My commute is 70 miles daily. Or 22K/year per table with weekend driving and road trips.
Depending on your commute - and since you're considering new cars - you might want to consider a Volt.
The Volt and the Leaf will both get you a nice boost when you do your income tax next year. The Volt's major advantage over the Leaf is that the Volt also has an 8-gallon gas tank. This makes it much more useful for longer trips. On gas, it gets 38-40 mpg.
Volt it quite pricey, Leaf is ugly (sorry Leaf owners). Plus their range compared to my commute of 70 will make me charge them daily. But I considered both of them :)
