Father Christmas is long overdue a new sleigh and team of reindeer according to automotive experts hpi.
Analysts at hpi have looked at the journey and found that Santa’s sleigh, although a much sought after collector’s item, will have depreciated massively once his mammoth present delivering journey is done and dusted on Christmas Day.
This Christmas, Santa will distribute gifts to approximately 233,000,000 good households that celebrate Christmas around the world. The Earth’s surface area is 510,000,000km which means on average each stop between households will be around 1.47km (0.91 miles) apart. Father Christmas will therefore have to travel a total of approximately 342,510,000km (212,030,000 miles).
Assuming at least one child per household, that’s 233,000,000 stops for Santa and his sleigh.
But all this travelling takes its toll on Santa’s trusted sleigh and as with any vehicle, lots of factors can contribute to depreciation ranging from age and condition to mileage and market availability.
And despite having one careful owner for hundreds of years, experts at hpi have listed the following factors as being responsible for huge depreciation on Santa’s sleigh:
- Excessive mileage – over 212,030,000 miles clocked up in just one night
- Condition – multiple dents, scrapes and scratches after clipping rooftops, chimney stacks, aerials and high-rise buildings
- Weight – the sleigh not only carries Santa himself but thousands of tonnes of presents. (If each child’s presents weighed on average 1.2kg then that’s 279,600,000kg of gifts)
- Fuel AKA reindeers – the original cost of Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner and Blitzen varies between £1,500-£2,000 but with each having millions of miles on the clock sadly their market values have plummeted despite being of strong sentimental value to the owner. There’s also specialist reindeer feed to take into consideration which costs around £12 per 25kg a bag + £30 transport/delivery. Each Reindeers should eat 2 x 1kg per day, morning and evening, so a bag will last about 12 to 13 days. Shelter for the remaining 364 days of the year is a further cost consideration.
- Other factors taken into account include years of unpaid speeding tickets and parking fines plus involvement in multiple hit and run type accidents on particularly busy streets where parking is a problem and even collisions with aircraft. Road tax and insurance for Santa’s sleigh is also astronomical.
James Dower, used car specialist at hpi commented: “We think it’s about time that Santa gave his current sleigh the sack and put his team of reindeers out to grass. While they’ve served him well, the sheer volume of ground they’ve covered, not to mention sea and air too, has led to huge depreciation. I’m not sure it would fetch that much at an auction if I’m being honest – maintenance on a vehicle like this is costly and the parts are very rare.
“In a break with tradition, Santa may wish to consider trading his beloved sled in for another model. A rocket powered sleigh presents one viable option but the fuel costs would be huge not to mention the environmental impact. A hybrid or electric sleigh could also be an option but it’s likely there’d be a risk of huge delays on deliveries as Santa would have to wait for it to recharge and may also run into difficulty finding charging stations, particularly in some of the more remote areas he delivers to.”
Get a free car valuation here www.hpi.co.uk
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