OCR Text |
Show New look at auto costs The cost of gasoline for the average U.S. motorist in 1979 represented about the same portion por-tion of his per-mile driving expenses ex-penses as it did in 1977 despite the sizeable increase in g;isoline prices during the past two years, according to Amoco Oil Company. Com-pany. An Amoco spokesman said that the cost of gasoline will amount to about 14.5 percent of the per-mile cost of owning and operating a 1979 intermediate car for three years at 10,000 miles per year. This compares with 14.1 per cent in 1977 and 12.3 per cent in I97H, based on the Mertz Corpo- ration annual driving cost survey. According to Amoco, this relative rela-tive stability in gasoline costs as a percentage of overall driving costs can be attributed to improved im-proved mileage of the newer curs and because other driving expenses ex-penses also have increased ig-nificantly. ig-nificantly. For instance, pcr-milc gasoline costs rank far below depreciation and about equal to insurance nnd interest, the survey says. Other costs include maintenance, oil and lube, and licenses and fees. Tolls and parking were not included. |