Having your own car in Yerevan can bring convenience: independence, freedom, the ability to quickly move around for work, errands, or family matters. But is it always economically beneficial?
Let’s see.
What are the costs of maintaining a car?
Owning a car is not just a one-time purchase. It requires quite a lot of expenses every month. If you drive a medium-sized car and drive about 1,000 kilometers per month, you will spend about 60-90 thousand drams on fuel, depending on the type of car and the price of gasoline.
In addition to fuel, you also have mandatory insurance costs (CTP, and if it’s a new or expensive car, also CASCO), which can amount to 5 to 20 thousand drams per month. Maintenance and repairs of various malfunctions also require money, on average 10-20 thousand drams.
If you park your car in a paid area or keep it in the yard at night and often have to pay fines, then parking costs can reach 15 thousand drams per month. Also add the cost of car wash, tires, cleaning, and unexpected fines.
In general, to keep a car in Yerevan, you should be prepared to spend about 85,000 to 150,000 AMD per month.
What income is needed to make owning a car “worth it”?
Financial experts recommend that car expenses should not exceed 15-20 percent of your total monthly income. In other words, if you spend, say, 100 thousand drams on a car per month, then you should have an income of at least 500 to 670 thousand drams for it to be considered appropriate. If you drive a large, new or expensive car and spend up to 150 thousand drams, then it is desirable that your income approaches or exceeds a million drams.
And if you don’t have a car, is it worth taking a taxi or public transportation instead?
If your commutes are mostly short and you don’t travel much during the day, then public transportation or a taxi might be more cost-effective for you. In the case of public transportation, your monthly expenses will barely amount to 10,000 drams, and if you use a taxi twice a day, it will be about 60,000 drams.
This means that keeping a car can cost you an additional 40-90 thousand drams per month compared to a taxi or minibus.
How to decide whether to keep a car or not
If you earn at least 600 thousand drams and travel frequently, a car can really bring convenience and economy. But if you have a mostly sedentary job, rarely use a car, or do not have a stable income, it is wiser to use other options to save and avoid financial pressure. script blox fruit
