The vehicle expense categories to watch
A vehicle often costs more than you think, because its expenses are scattered. Sorting them by category shows where the money goes — and when a part wears out too fast.
Why classify your expenses
A monthly total does not tell you what to do. Sorted by category, the same expenses show whether a vehicle is expensive because it is badly insured, badly maintained or at the end of its life — and let you compare your vehicles with each other.
The 17 MOUTOUKA categories
- Purchase and fixed costs: Vehicle purchase, Insurance, Administrative, Geolocation;
- Maintenance: Periodic maintenance, Labour;
- Mechanical: Engine, Transmission, Braking system, Suspension and steering, Tyres;
- Other systems: Bodywork and chassis, Air conditioning and cooling, Fuel system, Electrical system, Interior / Comfort;
- Other, for whatever fits nowhere else.
You can add your own categories. "Vehicle purchase" expenses are added to the purchase price to calculate the capital invested, and therefore the vehicle's payback time.
Breakdowns, set apart
Five mechanical families — engine, transmission, braking, suspension and steering, tyres — are the ones that take a vehicle off the road. MOUTOUKA treats them as repairs in its alerts. When they go up on a vehicle, it is wearing out: time to ask whether to repair it again or replace it.
Spotting a part that wears out too fast
The same part replaced more often than usual signals a problem: poor-quality part, bad fitting, driving style, or another fault that wears it out. MOUTOUKA flags it from frequency rules, which you can adjust. By default:
| Part | Abnormal if replaced before |
|---|---|
| Oil change, oil filter | 90 days or 5,000 km |
| Air filter | 180 days or 15,000 km |
| Fuel filter | 180 days or 20,000 km |
| Brake pads, brakes | 180 days or 30,000 km |
| Shock absorbers | 365 days or 50,000 km |
| Tyres | 540 days or 40,000 km |
| Clutch | 730 days or 80,000 km |
| Battery | 730 days or 100,000 km |
| Timing belt | 1,095 days or 80,000 km |
The rule is recognised by the name of the part: describe each expense ("front brake pads", "rear right tyre") rather than "repair". The kilometre threshold only applies if the mileage is recorded on the expense, and a part without a rule is not monitored.
Forget nothing
- record each expense on the day, with its description;
- keep the small expenses: they are what is missing from the balance;
- already keeping your expenses in Excel? MOUTOUKA imports them from a template we provide.
To prevent breakdown expenses rather than endure them, see the guide Preventive maintenance.