The Washington times., 1907-09-01

OF AutOSLOW
Trials Prove
of Keeping Car
Much Lower Than
Generally Sup
posed.

one of the most important questions
that arises in the mind OF an owner
Of an automobile Is the cost Of main
/ tenance OF his car. It is very difficult
for one who does not look personally
to the keep of his car to determine the
four points which enter into It's main
tenance.
How long will an automobile last2
/ What does Il cost to operate il?
/ How many miles VIII It run on a gal
/ Ion Of gasOlene?
/ How long will the tires wear7
These are probably the four important
factors III the life Of an automobile. In
some cases an automobile, In the hands
of competent driver. viii give great
deal more satisfaction. at a minimum
cost. as compared to the same car in
the hands of a less experienced man.
Systematic Effort TO Determine Cost.
To determine the average cost Of
maintaining and operating an automo-
/ bile. an enterprising manufacturer has
I just compiled statistics. showing that
( with judicious handling. and the ordi-
nary care that should be accorded an
automobile. the amount TO support a
machine Is not nearly as great as most
people believe. The Cadillac Company
determined recently TO discover the
/ cost. II sent Invitations through the
newspapers throughout the country and
10 owners OF single-cyIlnder Cadillac's.
/ asking them for sworn statements az
{ TO the total expense incurred IN tho
maintenance Of their car. OF those who
/ responded, hundreds were willing to
I make statements OF the approximate
cost Of running their cars, yet none Of
these was used.
! Only the actual costs, sworn before q
notary public and witnesses, were &C
cepted One hundred and sixty-four
( statements were received, coming from
thirty different states. which show
records Of cars that have been used on
'tH kinds of roads and under all sorts
Of conditions. From the data received.
the following statistics were complied;
The mileage gotten out OF the cars va
ried considerably. ranging from $50 TO
81, 600. Many OF the afidavits showed
mileage Of 10000 and nearly % pei. cert
had gotten over 1000 miles oct OF their
! car. The total combined made over
10000 miles. or. to be exact. I. $50 f27.
average Of this being 1861 miles per car.
/ Gasoline Consumption.
The gasolene consumption afforded
great interest one car running as low
as 92-3 miles per gallon. while another
ran as high as 90 miles per gallon.
Forty per cent Of the number have
lrf- inns 4 NfF,
Ion. while Tire average Of all Is a trife
over 1Sls miles per gallon.
The cost Of rePair-this amount ranges
from practically nothing in some cases
to several hundreds of dollars in others.
The total amount OF repairs, not includ-
ing tires, for the 16I cars was
S6SSLg9 or an average for each car
Of $42-74 For the average length OF time
the cars have been used lone year,
seven months and twenty days., il
means an average of S2.17 Per month. or
less than 81 cents per week. Another
way 70 compute the cost would be 10 to-
tai the distance Travelled, taking 16I cars
detailing ,555, AZ miles and with the total
cost for repairs S6SSI.20 it means that
the cost Of the upkeep averages .00f939
per mile or in other words only 44I4 cents
per 100 miles that is Travelled. That GER
talnly is cheaper than walking In con-
siderinE these points do not overlook the
number o. passengers carried. Some were
Tunabouts carrying one or two, and
sometimes three passengers, while
others were four-passenger cars carrying
five or six passengers. The average as
shown by affidavits was nearly three and
one-haif persons, so II would make this
expense less than Is cents per 100 miles
for each passenger.
Cost of Gasoline.
The next item Of expense IS that Of
EasoIene. The sworn statements show
that the miles obtained per gallon run
from as few as nine ana two-thirds VI
as high as several who got tw enty-three
or more, and one as high as thirty-twC
miles per gollon. Take the average OF
the lot, it shows eighteen and thirty-fouI
Cne-hundredth or a trifle over eighteen
and one-thlrd miles per Gallor. The cos
OF gasoline varies IN different parts OF
the country. but may probably be aver
aged at IS cents a gallon It would ther
make the average cent per mile per cal
for fuel, or less than 1-3 Of g cent pei
mile per passenger.
To obtain the amount of expenditure.
for tires, which in some cases had beer
included in the repair expenses becaus,
many owners do not keep separate ex
Ipeuse accounts, 200 dealers Throughout
the country were asked the following
questions:
What is the longest -Ime you have
known q set Of tires t. wear?
What is the greatest number Of mile!
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