It's important to consider total cost of ownership, not just the initial purchase price. The TCO formula would be:
TCO = Sold for - (Purchase Amt + Parts + Maintenance + Repair Svc + Shipping)
Examples:
The TCO for my Titanium Taurus Tracker would be:
-$360 = $350 - ($600 + 0 + $5 + 0 + $105)
My friend bought the S&W Mountain-lite at the same time. His TCO would be:
-$85 = $625 - ($700 + 0 + $10 + 0 + 0)
The Taurus looked cheaper to begin with but ended up being much more expensive since it had to be shipped back 3 times for the same problem. The Smith cost more out of pocket initially but it's like putting that money in the bank and instead of interest you get the use of a great handgun.
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