Top 10 Luxury Cars With the Lowest TCO for 2006

[Tuna]

Looks like Volvo's stepping it up with 4 cars in the Top 10 compared to 1 each for both Audi and BMW. It's nice to see them getting some respect for a change. It's a bit surprising coming from Edmunds, generally unless it comes from Toyota, Nissan, or Honda they have something bad to say about it.

The list is (US figures).....

1. 2006 Chrysler 300 — TCO: $38,023.
2. 2006 Volvo V50 — TCO: $39,273
3. 2006 Volvo S40 — TCO: $42,091
4. 2006 Audi A4 — TCO: $43,995
5. 2006 Lexus ES 330 — TCO: $44,979
6. 2006 BMW 3 Series — TCO: $45,656
7. 2006 Infiniti G35 — TCO: $45,661
8. 2006 Acura TL — TCO: $46,013
9. 2006 Volvo V70 — TCO: $47,434
10. 2006 Volvo S60 — TCO: $47,620

Since we're a "Euro" forum figured I should help diversify

Oh yea, the orginal article http://www.edmunds.com/reviews/list/...5/article.html

[Dubs]

Re: Top 10 Luxury Cars With the Lowest TCO for 2006

Ohh i dont understand how this shows you anything .. if the price of each car is different how can you rank them .. shouldnt it be a precentage of orginal value or something to make it fair .. of course a car that already cost more is gonna depreciate more ect .. BAH stick that kia that looks like an E-Class in there and it will kick the volvos ass .. but who cares!

[Tuna]

Re: Top 10 Luxury Cars With the Lowest TCO for 2006

Ohh i dont understand how this shows you anything .. if the price of each car is different how can you rank them .. shouldnt it be a precentage of orginal value or something to make it fair .. of course a car that already cost more is gonna depreciate more ect .. BAH stick that kia that looks like an E-Class in there and it will kick the volvos ass .. but who cares!

Well a lot of reporters have calling the Volvo's "too expensive" for what you get compared to some of the other cars. This kind of shows otherwise, but yes, I agree it's not the best way to report it but these are all considered to be in the same "class" so your Kia example doesn't work.

[kuhli]

Re: Top 10 Luxury Cars With the Lowest TCO for 2006

Luxury and lowest total cost of ownership? I don't get it, how about fastest luxury cars, best performing luxury cars. TCO and economy cars go together but...

[Canadian Turbo]

Re: Top 10 Luxury Cars With the Lowest TCO for 2006

What about this study that compares lifetime energy consumption of a vehicle and hybrids end up costing more than Hummers!

As Americans become increasingly interested in fuel economy and global warming, they are beginning to make choices about the vehicles they drive based on fuel economy and to a lesser degree emissions. But many of those choices aren’t actually the best in terms of vehicle lifetime energy usage and the cost to society over the full lifetime of a car or truck, according to a report by CNW Marketing Research. The firm spent two years collecting data on the energy necessary to plan, build, sell, drive and dispose of a vehicle from initial concept to scrappage. To put the data into understandable terms for consumers, it was translated into a “dollars per lifetime mile” figure. The most Energy Expensive vehicle sold in the U.S. in calendar year 2005: Maybach at $11.58 per mile. The least expensive: Scion xB at $0.48 cents. While neither of those figures is surprising, it is interesting that driving a hybrid vehicle costs more in terms of overall energy consumed than comparable non-hybrid vehicles.

For example, the Honda Accord Hybrid has an Energy Cost per Mile of $3.29 while the conventional Honda Accord is $2.18. Put simply, over the “Dust to Dust” lifetime of the Accord Hybrid, it will require about 50 percent more energy than the non-hybrid version.

One of the reasons hybrids cost more than non-hybrids is the manufacture, replacement and disposal of such items as batteries, electric motors (in addition to the conventional engine), lighter weight materials and complexity of the power package.

And while many consumers and environmentalists have targeted sport utility vehicles because of their lower fuel economy and/or perceived inefficiency as a means of transportation, the energy cost per mile shows at least some of that disdain is misplaced.

For example, while the industry average of all vehicles sold in the U.S. in 2005 was $2.28 cents per mile, the Hummer H3 (among most SUVs) was only $1.949 cents per mile. That figure is also lower than all currently offered hybrids and Honda Civic at $2.42 per mile.

“If a consumer is concerned about fuel economy because of family budgets or depleting oil supplies, it is perfectly logical to consider buying high- fuel-economy vehicles,” says Art Spinella, president of CNW Marketing Research, Inc. “But if the concern is the broader issues such as environmental impact of energy usage, some high-mileage vehicles actually cost society more than conventional or even larger models over their lifetime.

“We believe this kind of data is important in a consumer’s selection of transportation,” says Spinella. “Basing purchase decisions solely on fuel economy or vehicle size does not get to the heart of the energy usage issue.”

“We hope to see a dialog begin that puts educated and aware consumers into energy policy decisions,” Spinella said. “We undertook this research to see if perceptions (about energy efficiency) were true in the real world.”

[Kor]

Re: Top 10 Luxury Cars With the Lowest TCO for 2006

Do you have a link for that total energy use of hybrids story Blair?

[Canadian Turbo]

Re: Top 10 Luxury Cars With the Lowest TCO for 2006

^^^^

http://cnwmr.com/nss-folder/automotiveenergy/