Compare Q05 offers using acquisition, real charging and fuel routines, maintenance, support, contingency and conservative exit scenarios.
Use the same period and readiness boundary
Define ownership duration, annual distance, passengers, loading, climate and intended destination. Put every offer on the same inspected, prepared and usable boundary. The landed-cost file provides the acquisition scope for an import; a local offer needs its own transaction and immediate-work review. Name currency, dated estimates and professional inputs for taxes or registration. Keep BEV and PHEV identity explicit so service and energy assumptions do not drift between generations. The worksheet compares particular choices; it should not present a public fixed ownership price or claim that a nominally lower vehicle amount is automatically a lower complete cost.
Count initial preparation once
Record purchase, inspection, defined repairs, essential equipment and relevant installation or movement costs without duplicating a line. The maintenance guide helps distinguish completed preparation from future work. A service carried out before delivery should not also be charged as recurring maintenance for the same interval. The charger-bundle value review keeps hardware and site work clear. Optional cosmetic preferences belong outside essential readiness. An unresolved fault is not a precise cheap repair estimate; obtain suitable diagnosis and a supported quote first. A clean arithmetic sheet cannot make weak underlying evidence more certain than it actually is.
Model energy from the actual operating routine
Use supported consumption observations or applicable evidence, actual distance and relevant dated energy prices. For a BEV, separate home and public charging assumptions where their costs differ. For a PHEV, distinguish charged operation, fuel use and charging frequency through the PHEV range and economy guide. Do not apply a weighted brochure figure to every kilometre or count a theoretical saving from charging that the buyer cannot access. Include material operator or parking charges where confirmed. Show alternative routines if access is uncertain rather than letting one optimistic scenario hide how the car will actually be used.
Obtain maintenance and support estimates for the configuration
Ask a receiving workshop about applicable service, tyres, brakes, diagnostics and parts for the actual vehicle. Use the parts-matching file instead of a generic electric-car repair allowance. An earlier PHEV needs engine-side maintenance; a BEV comparison cannot simply omit those lines from both candidates. Do not assign every conceivable failure as a certainty. Defined needs require supported estimates, while acceptable uncertainty can justify a separately labelled reserve. Confirm warranty with its real provider and destination scope. A serious unsupported system can be a suitability problem, not merely a small cost item that makes the spreadsheet appear complete.
Add local ownership charges and conservative exit assumptions
Request current insurance, registration and other relevant recurring costs for the exact status and specification. Use local comparable evidence for possible resale where available, recognising that asking prices are not completed transactions. Do not promise that trim equipment, a larger battery or a popular model name retains a fixed premium. Calculate incurred acquisition and operating expenses less assumed net exit proceeds; show unused contingency outside that expense total. Keep transport or selling costs included where relevant and supported. Test an adverse but plausible outcome so the purchase does not depend entirely on a best-case future price that no seller or inspection can guarantee.
Choose an exposure that remains workable
Compare identical periods and tasks while retaining configuration-specific energy and maintenance inputs. Mark supported, estimated and unresolved items clearly. The import-versus-local decision can test another acquisition route if support or readiness changes the result. Prefer the option that passes essential requirements under coherent costs and realistic uncertainty. Request missing evidence where it can change the answer rather than padding the budget with invented precision. Preserve the assumptions by VIN and update them when the candidate, charging access or delivery scope changes. This worksheet reduces overlooked expenditure; it does not predict future faults, energy prices or resale and cannot guarantee the cheapest lifetime ownership.
Buyer approval checklist
Use these fields as a candidate-specific decision record. Assign each unresolved item before approving payment or shipment.
- Consistent ownership period and readiness
- Initial work not counted twice
- Actual BEV or PHEV energy schedule
- Supported maintenance and distinct reserve
- Conservative net exit and local charges
Primary references
Changan Q05 Three-Year Ownership Cost: Buying Worksheet: buyer questions
Should all contingency be counted as money spent?
No. Distinguish estimated incurred expenses from the cash buffer available for acceptable uncertainty. Unused reserve is not an expense.
Can one Q05 three-year total describe every buyer?
No. Configuration, condition, route, charging, destination charges, support and exit assumptions need candidate-specific inputs.