Very true.
What you did is what a smart man does when he narrows his choices down to the last two or three vehicles.
But a generic yearly cost figure could help the average Joe narrow down the field to those last two or three options. (and you know your not an average Joe don’t you?)
I don’t think a generic yearly figure helps anybody, because nobody knows how they relate to that figure. We might know how we relate in general to it, but not specific enough to be able to look at their figure and know what it is for us. I know my insurance is cheaper than any average the dealer might pick because my FIL was career Air Force and subsequently we get to use USAA, but I don’t know how much cheaper without calling USAA, at which point I won’t be paying any attention to dealer numbers. And if you’re working the numbers for your budget how much is what matters, so unless the prospective buyer is Mr Generic putting those numbers on the sticker won’t help him at all.