New Car v's Old Car.... How the figures stack up ?

[EB#]

One may often think that a new/newer car (maybe with a warranty) will
save you money over an older car that may require require a range
of repairs or additional maintenance.

Here are a couple of cases from my experience:
(Figures do not include fuel costs, tyres and servicing as these are common to both)

1. '92 EB Fairmont (figures are cumulative)
$1900 Purchase price in 2004
$3000 Additional repairs and rego
$6000 General repairs over 4 years (rough figure from memory)
$7200 4 years of insurance

$7200 Total outlay after 4 years
$1000 - Trade/sell price

$6200 Net loss

2. '03 BA Falcon (figures are cumulative)
$17000 Purchase price in 2008
$17500 Stamp duty and transfer
$18100 Repairs
$19900 3 years of insurance

$19900 Total outlay after 3 years
$10500 - Estimated value at present

$9400 Net loss

My figures tend to show, that for private ownership and cars purchased outright, it's
actually cheaper to have an older car and repair it from time to time rather than a
newer car where depreciation is the main value reduction ?

I spoze there are many variables than could play into this comparison, but it's kind
of interesting to just see the simple figures laid out....