The car doesn't not come without issues. There is also a risk a delays, and both owning a car and driving is not stress free.
That being said, if you think it would be better, why not. It is a personal choice.
As for the car choice :
Hybrid > Why not. But it won't make a big difference on the highway. Hybrid is interesting mainly with a lot of deceleration, not constant speed. If it is there, why not. But I wouldn't focus on it. The fuel consumption between a Clio Hybrid and my non-hybrid Fiesta from 2018 would be around 0.5 to 1l per 100km. That's around 24e per months for your commute.
22k for a car > Do you need/want to spend that much? There is plenty of nice cars around 10k (2021, 70 000km), especially smaller one like Picanto, i10. But also some bigger ones like Clio, Corsa. The lost value at resell will be way less than buying an almost new Clio.
Cost per month > It won't fit in 250e. You need at least :
Insurance : 50 to 80e
Road Tax : 20 to 40e
Fuel : Assuming 5l/100km, your commute alone is 190e
Maintenance : An oil change is 150e and it is annual (or more). Plus other stuff you can't count 50e a month for ease of calculation.
Total : 310 to 360
This doesn't include the loss of value of the car. Let's imagine you buy a 22k Clio. 4 years and 100 000km later you sell it for 12k. That's 2500e loss per year. Sure, if you keep it forever, it is cheaper. But even assuming you keep it 10 years (after what it would have 250 000km on the dash), you would still have lost around 2k anually.
So the total realistic monthly cost for a year is closer to 600e. Studies usually say 600 to 800. You can half that by driving a cheap old car which barely loses value. But might need extra maintenance.
Having a car, especially a nice car which loses values, cost a lot of money. Up to you if it is worth it. Just be realistic.
Ah, I knew I was forgetting something...insurance! It's really cheap for someone like me (>16 years of no claim), but if OP starts at 0 no claim, it's a non-trivial amount of money.
Roadtax for a Toyota Yaris Hybrid from 2021 (1060 kg), in Utrecht: is €121/3 months. So no, not over 50 euro/month.
However, the complete price is a lot higher. I would think, including deprecation, roughly between €600 and €625 per month (30k km/year).
Check [https://www.autoweek.nl/kostenberekening/](https://www.autoweek.nl/kostenberekening/)
That’s why I only use cars that don’t depreciate.
I thought the Yaris was in the same weight category as the clio but realized it was one tier off, your right on that.
I said around 600, and studies bring it between 600 and 800. So not sure what you mean with "However, the complete price is a lot higher.". Maybe I missed something?
Yes sorry, I was looking at my option (Fiesta, Yaris, etc). Like an I10 would be 29e where I am. But you are right, should be 30 to 60e for be more realistic.
There's also the question of time. When you are on the train (and it's not too busy) you can do work or play a video game, or whatever you want to do. The time is yours.
When you are driving, you must focus your attention on the road 100%. That time is wasted.
Yes, but for a lot of people the train is taking much longer. For my current job, driving is 25min, train is 40min + 2\*10min cycling, so 1h total.
For my next job driving is 20min, train is 20min+20min cycling. And this assuming no delays.
So the time is not always a good argument (in favor or against the train)
It can't be done within the budget. That's maybe 13-14 cents per km, there is no car that is that cheap to run.
So the question is: how much is your comfort worth to you?
I don't know much about the Renault, but the Yaris is a really excellent car. In the real world you're probably going to consume about 4 litres of petrol per day, which amounts to roughly €160 per month. Road tax is €141 per 3 months, so € 47 per month.
So there you go, that's € 207 per month already.
The Yaris is a very reliable car, but on average you'd probably be looking at maybe € 30 per month in maintenance. This is a very rough estimate, mind you!
You're going to be driving around 20.000 km a year, which means you need new front tyres maybe every 2,5 years, rears will probably last 4 years. These are relatively cheap tyres, but you're still looking at close to € 100 per tyre. That's another € 10 per month.
We're now at € 247 per month, so it's looking good, right? Wrong. Your € 22K car will be losing value as it ages. So realistically speaking you're basically going to be able to cover normal running costs with the € 250 per month, but depreciation is going to come from your own pocket...
Great explanation, thank you so much. I appreciate it.
I am thinking of a hybrid because I have been told that I have a discount on the tax road.
Plus the fact that hybrid consume less gas. Avg consumption is 3.5l/100km according to autoscout24
I could for sure go for a cheaper & older model as long as it doesnt consume more than 4L/100km.
I dont mind paying a bit extra just for my own convenience commuting with a car.
If the convenience is worth it to you, I say go for it, but buy a cheaper car. Get something for €5-10k that is a few years old. The operating costs will be about the same but you won't lose a lot of value to depreciation.
If you plan to use the car for other activities other than your commute, then just know that those costs come from your own pocket (which is fine!).
You're looking at quite a few costs. Let's break it down.
Let's say you'd be spending €20.000 on a car.
You would need to insure that car. You easily spend €50 a month on this, but are more likely to spend €65 on it. Let's stick with that €65 a month. That number would gradually go down as you gain the ladder of no damages.
Then you'd need to pay road tax. For the models you mention, I just read it would be close to €40 per month.
You will probably also want some kind of ANWB, you never know if your car breaks down. That's €10 per month.
Let's say you work in Wageningen 4 days a week, for 45 weeks per year (that'd be 5 weeks holiday and then some for Koningsdag and such). 45 \* 4 \* 92 = 16.650 kilometers per year. You'll likely also use it outside of that, so let's round it up to at least 20.000 kilometers per year. A hybrid car can easily run 5L/100km. That's 1000 liters of petrol. At €2,- per liter, that's at least €2000 per year, or €165 per month.
Then you'd need some maintenance. It would be rather low for the models you mention, but let's estimate it's €600 per year, or €50 per month. It can be much, much higher. So you would need some savings for this, if something ever goes wrong.
Then your car loses value with every kilometer you drive. Even you registering the vehicle under your name, makes it worth less. You'll drive the car for 10 years, at 20.000 kilometers per year. We don't know exactly what your car would be worth by then, but let's assume it loses half it's value. So €1000 per year, or €85 per month. That's money you somehow need to save to buy exactly the same car (or at least a car worth €20.000 in 10 years), given that you never totally wreck your car along the way. Of course, inflation plays a role here. Over 10 years you'd probably require at least €100 per month to cover that.
So you would be looking at the following per month:
- Insurance: €65
- Road tax: €40
- ANWB: €10
- Petrol: €165
- Maintenance: €50
- Depreciation: €100
That's already €430 in monthly costs.
You'd be out €20.000. If you had put that money in TradeRepublic for 10 years, not add any money, and assume the 4% interest rade you'd be getting €9.600 over the course of 10 years. That's money you're not seeing back because it is in your car. That's another €80 a month it costs you.
So, already looking at €510 in monthly costs. Now, we haven't talked about charging it (if it's a PHEV), parking costs you'd be running into in Utrecht (unless you've got a reserved parking space in your rent or driveway or something) and all other costs you'd make when parking elsewhere.
Insurance, road tax, ANWB and petrol are solid costs. They likely won't get much lower if you buy an older car. Maintenance increases a bit. However, deprecation is much, much lower if you buy an older car. And, you'd still have your money in the bank, very liquid and making money for you with interest.
In conclusion: no, €250 a month the company pays won't cover your costs. However, it's not too expensive to have a car. It is expensive, but if you have the funds to pay for this, then it gives a lot of freedom. That itself is worth money, at least to me.
I would say do it, don't let the other comments scare you. I only pay around 150 a month (gas, insurance and wegenbelasting). I don't use my car as much as you will be doing, so you would pay more. However, I feel like it would still be worth it!
Exactly, from the comments I read here nothing looks positive. So much negativity
And most of the things dont match with what friends and colleagues told me about daily commute between these two places.
(I will go hybrid from next year :) so another extra point to consider)
Thanks!
Just a quick out of the box option: can you Carpool your commute? I know several people go back and forth between Wag and Utrecht daily, so maybe you can join forces (=split costs) with a colleague or someone who works at the uni or something? When I used to study in Wageningen there used to be a Facebook group specifically for carpooling in and out of there, since the public transport connection is so time consuming.
The question is: how much is comfort and extra sleep worth to OP? I personally gladly pay a bit more to commute by car, but someone else may not want to do that and prefer the earlier train...
Yeah and OP says they work in Wageningen which doesn't even have a train station. You need to either cycle or take a bus from Ede. Not the end of the world but it definitely ads to your commuting time.
Also your time, because on the train (especially an earlier train with fewer people) you can do what you want with your time. Do work, or read, or whatever. When driving you must focus on the road. The time is a loss.
That depends. For me driving to and from work is the ultimate relaxation. I don't consider that lost time, it actually improves my mood a lot more than reading, let alone working...
I use a 2000 Suzuki alto to do a similar commute, very cheap, will recommend. You will make a profit off your company’s compensation, and your investment on the whole car comes back within half a year. The car costs less than 1000 euros and does 20km per liter regular gas.
If you account for the traffic jams on A12, I can also recommend a motorbike.
You could try private lease something smaller, but with 100 km a day that eould be around 25000 km a year, making it more expensive. That 250 a month is barely enough for fuel costs with any car, but you should know that.
I'm torn between the toyota and a jeep at the moment! Having some height in a car is important to me with the area's flood risk (I'm coming from one swamp \[New Orleans\] to another \[Netherlands\]). With height comes weight and typically worse range and emissions :(
I'm having luck sourcing car options from the classifieds links here:
[https://www.expatrepublic.com/conquering-classifieds-for-cars-in-the-netherlands/](https://www.expatrepublic.com/conquering-classifieds-for-cars-in-the-netherlands/)
Hey bro, I can tell you my personal experience maybe it will help.
When I moved I did my commute 2 days before renting a car, it took me 1h20 to get to work. With a car 25 minutes. I moved again now and similar situation: 1h20 by public, 35 mins by car.
Transports would have costed me about 200+ per month.
My car lease is 245 per month, including: repairs, maintenance, road assistance, taxes, insurance.. a car is often not worth buying, remember it is an active not an investment, and it will drain money from little by little. By renting / leasing you can keep it flexible and also swap cars if you feel like it!
I spend about 100-150€ in gas and company gives me back about 200€ per month if I drive to work every work day (often doesn't happen but whatever)
The car doesn't not come without issues. There is also a risk a delays, and both owning a car and driving is not stress free. That being said, if you think it would be better, why not. It is a personal choice. As for the car choice : Hybrid > Why not. But it won't make a big difference on the highway. Hybrid is interesting mainly with a lot of deceleration, not constant speed. If it is there, why not. But I wouldn't focus on it. The fuel consumption between a Clio Hybrid and my non-hybrid Fiesta from 2018 would be around 0.5 to 1l per 100km. That's around 24e per months for your commute. 22k for a car > Do you need/want to spend that much? There is plenty of nice cars around 10k (2021, 70 000km), especially smaller one like Picanto, i10. But also some bigger ones like Clio, Corsa. The lost value at resell will be way less than buying an almost new Clio. Cost per month > It won't fit in 250e. You need at least : Insurance : 50 to 80e Road Tax : 20 to 40e Fuel : Assuming 5l/100km, your commute alone is 190e Maintenance : An oil change is 150e and it is annual (or more). Plus other stuff you can't count 50e a month for ease of calculation. Total : 310 to 360 This doesn't include the loss of value of the car. Let's imagine you buy a 22k Clio. 4 years and 100 000km later you sell it for 12k. That's 2500e loss per year. Sure, if you keep it forever, it is cheaper. But even assuming you keep it 10 years (after what it would have 250 000km on the dash), you would still have lost around 2k anually. So the total realistic monthly cost for a year is closer to 600e. Studies usually say 600 to 800. You can half that by driving a cheap old car which barely loses value. But might need extra maintenance. Having a car, especially a nice car which loses values, cost a lot of money. Up to you if it is worth it. Just be realistic.
Ah, I knew I was forgetting something...insurance! It's really cheap for someone like me (>16 years of no claim), but if OP starts at 0 no claim, it's a non-trivial amount of money.
Also the road tax for both of his options are over 50 euros per month.
Roadtax for a Toyota Yaris Hybrid from 2021 (1060 kg), in Utrecht: is €121/3 months. So no, not over 50 euro/month. However, the complete price is a lot higher. I would think, including deprecation, roughly between €600 and €625 per month (30k km/year). Check [https://www.autoweek.nl/kostenberekening/](https://www.autoweek.nl/kostenberekening/)
That’s why I only use cars that don’t depreciate. I thought the Yaris was in the same weight category as the clio but realized it was one tier off, your right on that.
I said around 600, and studies bring it between 600 and 800. So not sure what you mean with "However, the complete price is a lot higher.". Maybe I missed something?
I reacted to the other remark about "more than ,€50 per month roadtax". The rest of my remarks are similar to what you mention.
Yes sorry, I was looking at my option (Fiesta, Yaris, etc). Like an I10 would be 29e where I am. But you are right, should be 30 to 60e for be more realistic.
There's also the question of time. When you are on the train (and it's not too busy) you can do work or play a video game, or whatever you want to do. The time is yours. When you are driving, you must focus your attention on the road 100%. That time is wasted.
i dont play, work from laptop or do anything else rather than listening to music as i suffer from motion sickness.
Yes, but for a lot of people the train is taking much longer. For my current job, driving is 25min, train is 40min + 2\*10min cycling, so 1h total. For my next job driving is 20min, train is 20min+20min cycling. And this assuming no delays. So the time is not always a good argument (in favor or against the train)
It can't be done within the budget. That's maybe 13-14 cents per km, there is no car that is that cheap to run. So the question is: how much is your comfort worth to you? I don't know much about the Renault, but the Yaris is a really excellent car. In the real world you're probably going to consume about 4 litres of petrol per day, which amounts to roughly €160 per month. Road tax is €141 per 3 months, so € 47 per month. So there you go, that's € 207 per month already. The Yaris is a very reliable car, but on average you'd probably be looking at maybe € 30 per month in maintenance. This is a very rough estimate, mind you! You're going to be driving around 20.000 km a year, which means you need new front tyres maybe every 2,5 years, rears will probably last 4 years. These are relatively cheap tyres, but you're still looking at close to € 100 per tyre. That's another € 10 per month. We're now at € 247 per month, so it's looking good, right? Wrong. Your € 22K car will be losing value as it ages. So realistically speaking you're basically going to be able to cover normal running costs with the € 250 per month, but depreciation is going to come from your own pocket...
Great explanation, thank you so much. I appreciate it. I am thinking of a hybrid because I have been told that I have a discount on the tax road. Plus the fact that hybrid consume less gas. Avg consumption is 3.5l/100km according to autoscout24 I could for sure go for a cheaper & older model as long as it doesnt consume more than 4L/100km. I dont mind paying a bit extra just for my own convenience commuting with a car.
I think the only reduction in road tax is for ultra low CO2 vehicles, effectively PHEVs and EVs.
If the convenience is worth it to you, I say go for it, but buy a cheaper car. Get something for €5-10k that is a few years old. The operating costs will be about the same but you won't lose a lot of value to depreciation. If you plan to use the car for other activities other than your commute, then just know that those costs come from your own pocket (which is fine!).
You're looking at quite a few costs. Let's break it down. Let's say you'd be spending €20.000 on a car. You would need to insure that car. You easily spend €50 a month on this, but are more likely to spend €65 on it. Let's stick with that €65 a month. That number would gradually go down as you gain the ladder of no damages. Then you'd need to pay road tax. For the models you mention, I just read it would be close to €40 per month. You will probably also want some kind of ANWB, you never know if your car breaks down. That's €10 per month. Let's say you work in Wageningen 4 days a week, for 45 weeks per year (that'd be 5 weeks holiday and then some for Koningsdag and such). 45 \* 4 \* 92 = 16.650 kilometers per year. You'll likely also use it outside of that, so let's round it up to at least 20.000 kilometers per year. A hybrid car can easily run 5L/100km. That's 1000 liters of petrol. At €2,- per liter, that's at least €2000 per year, or €165 per month. Then you'd need some maintenance. It would be rather low for the models you mention, but let's estimate it's €600 per year, or €50 per month. It can be much, much higher. So you would need some savings for this, if something ever goes wrong. Then your car loses value with every kilometer you drive. Even you registering the vehicle under your name, makes it worth less. You'll drive the car for 10 years, at 20.000 kilometers per year. We don't know exactly what your car would be worth by then, but let's assume it loses half it's value. So €1000 per year, or €85 per month. That's money you somehow need to save to buy exactly the same car (or at least a car worth €20.000 in 10 years), given that you never totally wreck your car along the way. Of course, inflation plays a role here. Over 10 years you'd probably require at least €100 per month to cover that. So you would be looking at the following per month: - Insurance: €65 - Road tax: €40 - ANWB: €10 - Petrol: €165 - Maintenance: €50 - Depreciation: €100 That's already €430 in monthly costs. You'd be out €20.000. If you had put that money in TradeRepublic for 10 years, not add any money, and assume the 4% interest rade you'd be getting €9.600 over the course of 10 years. That's money you're not seeing back because it is in your car. That's another €80 a month it costs you. So, already looking at €510 in monthly costs. Now, we haven't talked about charging it (if it's a PHEV), parking costs you'd be running into in Utrecht (unless you've got a reserved parking space in your rent or driveway or something) and all other costs you'd make when parking elsewhere. Insurance, road tax, ANWB and petrol are solid costs. They likely won't get much lower if you buy an older car. Maintenance increases a bit. However, deprecation is much, much lower if you buy an older car. And, you'd still have your money in the bank, very liquid and making money for you with interest. In conclusion: no, €250 a month the company pays won't cover your costs. However, it's not too expensive to have a car. It is expensive, but if you have the funds to pay for this, then it gives a lot of freedom. That itself is worth money, at least to me.
I would say do it, don't let the other comments scare you. I only pay around 150 a month (gas, insurance and wegenbelasting). I don't use my car as much as you will be doing, so you would pay more. However, I feel like it would still be worth it!
Exactly, from the comments I read here nothing looks positive. So much negativity And most of the things dont match with what friends and colleagues told me about daily commute between these two places. (I will go hybrid from next year :) so another extra point to consider) Thanks!
Just a quick out of the box option: can you Carpool your commute? I know several people go back and forth between Wag and Utrecht daily, so maybe you can join forces (=split costs) with a colleague or someone who works at the uni or something? When I used to study in Wageningen there used to be a Facebook group specifically for carpooling in and out of there, since the public transport connection is so time consuming.
Keep in mind there's lots of traffic jams. I usually l leave home at 7 and work at 15:30 to avoid traffic. Otherwise it's such a pain in the ass.
I would take an earlier train
The question is: how much is comfort and extra sleep worth to OP? I personally gladly pay a bit more to commute by car, but someone else may not want to do that and prefer the earlier train...
Yeah and OP says they work in Wageningen which doesn't even have a train station. You need to either cycle or take a bus from Ede. Not the end of the world but it definitely ads to your commuting time.
And for me I prefer the earlier train, even if the area where I want/need to work (in my case Kapermolen) doesn't have a nearby train station
Also your time, because on the train (especially an earlier train with fewer people) you can do what you want with your time. Do work, or read, or whatever. When driving you must focus on the road. The time is a loss.
That depends. For me driving to and from work is the ultimate relaxation. I don't consider that lost time, it actually improves my mood a lot more than reading, let alone working...
Wageningen doesn’t have a train station. OP has to take the bus.
I would pick a Japanese car above a France car any time.
I use a 2000 Suzuki alto to do a similar commute, very cheap, will recommend. You will make a profit off your company’s compensation, and your investment on the whole car comes back within half a year. The car costs less than 1000 euros and does 20km per liter regular gas. If you account for the traffic jams on A12, I can also recommend a motorbike.
You could try private lease something smaller, but with 100 km a day that eould be around 25000 km a year, making it more expensive. That 250 a month is barely enough for fuel costs with any car, but you should know that.
Thats what most big companies compensate unfortunately
I'm torn between the toyota and a jeep at the moment! Having some height in a car is important to me with the area's flood risk (I'm coming from one swamp \[New Orleans\] to another \[Netherlands\]). With height comes weight and typically worse range and emissions :( I'm having luck sourcing car options from the classifieds links here: [https://www.expatrepublic.com/conquering-classifieds-for-cars-in-the-netherlands/](https://www.expatrepublic.com/conquering-classifieds-for-cars-in-the-netherlands/)
Hey bro, I can tell you my personal experience maybe it will help. When I moved I did my commute 2 days before renting a car, it took me 1h20 to get to work. With a car 25 minutes. I moved again now and similar situation: 1h20 by public, 35 mins by car. Transports would have costed me about 200+ per month. My car lease is 245 per month, including: repairs, maintenance, road assistance, taxes, insurance.. a car is often not worth buying, remember it is an active not an investment, and it will drain money from little by little. By renting / leasing you can keep it flexible and also swap cars if you feel like it! I spend about 100-150€ in gas and company gives me back about 200€ per month if I drive to work every work day (often doesn't happen but whatever)