Media release for the Canadian Automobile Association

INFLATION STOPPED BUT COST OF DRIVING RISES

FOR RELEASE JULY 29, 1994
 

OTTAWA --- The cost of driving a car is rising faster than the cost of living.
 

Owning a car will cost $7,403 this year, an increase of $372 over last year. Figures released today by the Canadian Automobile Association (CAA) show that there were higher costs in almost every category, including fuel, maintenance, insurance and depreciation costs.
 

"That's an increase of 5.3 per cent," says Richard Godding, acting president of the Canadian Automobile Association. "But if you look at Statistics Canada data, the consumer price index has gone up exactly zero per cent."
 

Assuming that the average motorist drives 24,000 kilometres per year, each kilometre costs 30.8 cents, up from 29.3 last year cents.
 

The CAA 1994-1995 Car Costs data are based on the operation of a 1994 Chevrolet Cavalier RS with a 2.2 litre, 4 cylinder engine, which is driven 24,000 kilometres a year.
 

Figures are provided to CAA by Runzheimer International, a management consulting firm that provides services to accurately measure the costs of transportation.
 

The Car Costs brochure also ranks the ten provinces and the Yukon based on annual average ownership and operating costs. For the fifth year in a row, car costs are highest in Quebec, and for the eighth year in a row they are lowest in Alberta.
 

Single copies of 1994-1995 Car Costs are available from most CAA Member clubs.
 

The CAA is the federation of all not-for-profit provincial and regional automobile clubs in Canada.
 

For further information, please contact:
 

Richard Godding, Acting President

Canadian Automobile Association

1775 Courtwood Crescent

Ottawa, Ontario

K2C 3J2

(613) 226-7631