Just how much you need to drive to make owning a car worth while

Is owning your own car worth it or is just catching an Uber or renting a GoGet the better option? The results may surprise you.

Have you ever wondered whether it’s worth owning a car?

New research from comparison website Finder.com.au shows you exactly how far you need to drive each week to make owning a car worth your while.

The research compared owning a car with using GoGet car rentals and Uber to see which was the most affordable.

The bad news for car owners is unless you drive your car almost daily you are better off ditching your wheels.

If you do a dozen 30-minute trips a week, owning a car is the best option costing about $5100 a year.

This price was calculated using a car valued at $10,000 with the full cost financed over five years plus the addition of running costs including petrol and servicing.

Using your car consistently makes it a better value proposition with GoGet costing about $6700 for the same 12 trips and uber an astonishingly high $21,000.

GoGet was more affordable than owning a car if you drove less than six hours a week.

And if your commute is an hour, a car will cost you about $6300 a year for 12 trips a week while GoGet jumps to $13,152 and Uber to $41,265.

The GoGet price was calculated on its Toyota Yaris GoFrequent plan, which is almost always the cheapest. Uber fees were calculated by the base fare, booking fee, cost per minute and cost per km.

However, there is bad news for those that rarely drive their car. If you make just two 30-minute trips a week, GoGet is by far the cheapest option costing just $1300 a year. Surprisingly Uber is the next most affordable at $3500 while owning you own car will set you back about $4100.

Even if you take six 30-minute trips a week, GoGet is still the cheapest at $3500, while owning you own car ($4500) becomes more affordable than Uber ($10,700).

Regular Uber trips is not a viable alternative to owning a car.

GoGet is still cheaper than owning a car and Uber even if your commute is an hour long. Owning becomes a better option once you do 12 trips or more per week.

Finder insights manager Graham Cooke says to make the most out of owning your own car you need to drive it almost daily.

“If you’re a daily commuter who relies on a car, you’ll likely spend less per year paying for a $10,000 vehicle than renting or using ride-sharing service,” says Cooke.

“If on the other hand, you have your car sitting in the carport several days a week, you may be better off ditching it completely.

“Especially for inner-city residents, GoGet and other car share services provide a more affordable alternative to ownership and often come with reserved parking spaces,” he says.

However, GoGet is not the only option for those looking to ditch their own set of wheels.

Car sharing services such as Car Next Door allow users to rent private vehicles from neighbours for short or long term use. According to Car Next Door, the average user makes about $7000 a year renting out their car.

The more recent arrivals among car services, such as Carly and Carbar, enable users to drive a range of vehicles for a monthly fee.