really costs to own, 维护和维修前5年5%，前8年6%

 

What that car really costs to own

Knowing a vehicle's cost over time can save you thousands in the long haul

Last updated: August 2012

 

Costs vary among similar models   |  Calculating the costs   |  Carrying costs vs. operating costs   |  Owner costs drop over time   |  Most and least expensive to own 

 

Sometimes spending more up front on a car can cost you less in the long run. The trick is knowing when to invest.

It's comparatively easy to see which cars cost more to buy initially. But it's harder to know how much you'll get soaked in depreciation, insurance, maintenance and repair, and even fuel. Consumer Reports' owner-cost estimates bring to light all these hidden costs over 1, 3, 5, and 8 years of ownership.

And they contain some surprises. For example, a four-cylinder Mazda6 family sedan may seem like a good deal, at a price $1,900 less than a comparable Toyota Camry. But the total cost of owning the Mazda for five years is $2,000 higher than the Camry. Similarly, you'd save more than $5,000 over the long haul by buying a Toyota Highlander SUV, rather than a Dodge Journey that costs $1,600 less up front.

The factors included in our owner cost estimates are depreciation, fuel, interest on financing, insurance, sales tax, and average maintenance and repair costs you can't find anywhere else. Because depreciation is factored in our estimates, we assume that the vehicle will be traded in at the end of the term (after one, three, five, or eight years).  No matter how long you own your new car, checking out these estimates can save you thousands of dollars by the time you sell it.

Costs vary among similar models

Here are some other notable discoveries we made in our analysis:

• Over the first five years of ownership, the median car costs more than $9,100 a year to own—about what it costs to own a midsized SUV such as the Nissan Murano or an upscale sedan such as the Lexus ES. But it's easy to find nice cars that cost much less. Sporty cars such as the base Mini Cooper can cost as little as $5,800 a year to own. Even a quick, refined, and roomy small SUV such as the V6-powered Toyota RAV4 costs as little as $7,800 a year to own.
• Keeping a car for eight years, rather than five, can reduce median ownership costs significantly to just $7,800 a year on average. This is partially due to lower depreciation costs, and partly a result of keeping the car for a few years after the loan has been paid off.
  One of the least expensive cars to own in our estimation is the small Honda Fit, which costs just over $5,300 a year to own for five years. It combines a relatively low purchase price with low depreciation, great fuel economy, excellent reliability, and fairly low maintenance and repair costs.
• Paying more for a hybrid can save you money—as long as you choose the right hybrid. Most mainstream hybrids that aren't luxury or SUV models cost less to own over five years than their less expensive conventional counterparts. (Two exceptions are the Chevrolet Volt and Honda Insight. It takes six or seven years, respectively, to make up the added purchase price in fuel savings for those cars.)
• Large and luxury SUVs have the highest ownership costs by far, often amounting to more than $13,000 a year. Pickups of all kinds aren't far behind.
• While Hyundai and Kia models have low prices and long warranties, the savings are often offset by poor resale values. Hyundai's Accent and Elantra don't prove any less expensive after five years than Honda's more expensive Fit and Civic.
• Most Lexus models have relatively high maintenance and repair costs (primarily due to maintenance), despite their excellent reliability. The Lexus ES350 racks up an average of $2,300 in maintenance and repair in the first five years, about twice what you'd pay on a Buick LaCrosse.

Calculating the costs

Our cost of ownership Ratings comprise six main factors:

Depreciation is the largest cost factor by far. On average, it accounts for about 48 percent of total ownership costs over five years. Depreciation is a vehicle's loss in value over a defined period. To calculate it, we start with the price of a typically equipped model and factor in the discounts offered off the manufacturer's suggested retail price on some models. The average model depreciates about 65 percent over five years. Some vehicles depreciate faster than others because of oversupply, limited appeal, or rebates on similar new models. When we don't have depreciation data for a new model, we use estimates based on comparable vehicles.

Fuel costs can really add up, especially for SUVs. For example, you could pay more than $15,000 to fill up a Jeep Liberty over five years, while a similar-sized but more-efficient RAV4 V6 could save you $4,000 during that time. To calculate fuel costs, we assume the vehicles are driven 12,000 miles a year, the average reported by respondents to our annual survey. To that we apply the national average price of $4.00 a gallon for regular gas For models that require premium or diesel fuel, we use these costs: $4.20 a gallon for premium, and $4.30 for diesel. On average, fuel is the second-largest cost of vehicle ownership, at 24 percent over five years.

Interest is tied directly to vehicle price, and accounts for about 11 percent of five-year ownership costs. We calculate it based on a five-year loan, with a 15 percent down payment, because that is how many people buy cars. We use the average interest rate of 6.0 percent .

Insurance costs vary depending on many factors, including your age, location, and driving record. And they can dramatically boost the ownership costs of models that otherwise would seem affordable. For example, if you're looking for a fast car on a budget, steer clear of sports cars such as the Subaru Impreza WRX STi. Insurance can run three times as much as the fun and agile but cheaper to own Mini Cooper S. Overall, insurance makes up about 10 percent of total ownership costs over five years. Costs are derived from data from the Highway Loss Data Institute.

Maintenance and repair costs make up 4 percent of ownership costs over five years on average, according to data from Consumer Reports subscribers who responded to the online version of our Annual Car Reliability Survey.

They gave us their estimated costs for the past 12 months-excluding tires-and their responses provided data almost 300 models on vehicles up to eight years old. We used estimates based on similar models when data was unavailable. The majority of the costs are covered by the factory warranty during the first few years. But for some vehicles it can still add up. On average, we found that the Porsche Cayenne SUV is the most expensive vehicle to own for maintenance and repairs, costing more than $4,000 over the first five years. But the Toyota Land Cruiser is also luxurious and very capable off-road and costs just over half that.

Sales tax costs owners about as much as maintenance and repair does. We use the national average of 5.0 percent.

Carrying costs vs. operating costs

Costs can be divided into carrying costs (those tied to the vehicle purchase) and operating costs associated with ongoing driving expenses. Operating costs include fuel, insurance, and maintenance and repair costs. Depreciation, interest, and tax are carrying costs.

Carrying costs diminish significantly over time, while operating costs rise slightly, primarily due to increasing maintenance and repair costs. Still, on average, operating costs are less than carrying costs until a vehicle is about five years old.

Still, we found that some cars are expensive to drive, even though they're affordable to park in your garage. Some small cars, for example, have low prices, but their high insurance costs make them relatively expensive to operate. The Toyota Prius is one of the least-expensive cars to own in our estimation, and most of its costs go into insurance, gas, and maintenance. But small cars are the exception.

On average, carrying costs outweighed operating costs by 20 percent over the first five years for the average model we examined. For example, carrying costs for the BMW 750 Li add up to almost $17,000 a year. But it is relatively inexpensive to drive at just over $4,500 a year.

Even so, operating costs for some vehicles can be surprisingly high. The Cadillac Escalade, for example, costs about $5,300 a year on average for fuel, insurance, and maintenance and repair for the first 5 years.

Owner costs drop over time

Our ownership costs compare the expense of keeping a new car for one, three, five, and eight years.

Most people keep their new vehicles for five or eight years. But the high depreciation costs in the first year help explain why new cars are so expensive to own, so we break that out, as well. Depreciation makes up almost 60 percent of the cost in the first year, and it is still the largest annual ownership cost for vehicles up to six years old. Sales tax also adds to the cost of the car the first year.

Cars cost less to own every year after that. For example, the average model in our study costs almost twice as much to own the first year as it does the second year. The sixth, seventh, and eighth years combined about equal the cost of the first year.

While maintenance and repair costs increase, even over eight years they still don't average one-sixth the cost of depreciation.

Still, we found that some cars can be inexpensive to own initially compared with others, then become relatively expensive as they age.

For example, maintenance and repair costs are very low for BMWs over the first five years of ownership, primarily because BMW offers free maintenance during the four-year warranty. In fact, our subscriber survey reports that the BMW X3 is one of the least-expensive SUVs to maintain over the first five years, costing an average of just $279 a year. But BMWs are some of the most expensive cars to maintain over the long term. Once the free maintenance period expires, the X3  averages more than $1,100 a year in maintenance costs. The BMW 3 Series sedan also goes from having near the lowest maintenance and repair costs in its category to among the highest.

In the end, it is almost always less expensive to hang on to your current car than to buy a new one. Even the most-expensive repair bills for an old car can't outweigh the cost of depreciation on a new one.

While our data can't show exactly what you'd pay for a specific vehicle, it can help you approximate which new vehicles can be the best value in the long run.

Online subscribers can compare costs for one, three, five, and eight years of ownership from within the model pages. Find the model you want to research from the pull-down search tools and go to the "Prices & Costs" tab.

Most and least expensive to own

Lowest cost		Highest cost
Make & Model	Cost/year over 5 years	Make & model	Cost/year over 5 years
Small cars
Toyota Prius C	$5,000	Mitsubishi Lancer ES	$7,000
Toyota Corolla Base	5,250	Mazda3 Hatchback	7,000
Honda Fit (base)	5,250	Nissan Sentra 2.0 SL	7,000
Smart ForTwo	5,500	Ford Focus Hatchback	7,000
Honda Fit Sport	5,500	Kia Soul	7,000
Mazda2 (MT)	5,500	Kia Forte Hatchback	7,000
Scion xD (MT)	5,500	Kia Forte Koup	7,250
Toyota Yaris Hatchback	5,500	Chevrolet Cruze 1.4T	7,250
Scion xD (AT)	5,750	Suzuki SX4 Hatchback	7,500
Toyota Corolla LE	5,750	Chevrolet Cruze ECO	7,500
Family sedans
Toyota Camry Hybrid	6,500	Toyota Camry (V6)	8,250
Volkswagen Passat TDI	6,500	Ford Fusion (V6, FWD)	8,250
Toyota Camry (4-cyl.)	6,750	Chevrolet Impala (3.6)	8,250
Hyundai Sonata Hybrid	6,750	Nissan Altima (V6)	8,500
Hyundai Sonata (2.4)	6,750	Subaru Legacy 3.6R	8,500
Honda Accord (4-cyl.)	6,750	Chrysler 200 (V6)	8,500
Ford Fusion (4-cyl.)	7,000	Kia Optima 2.0T	8,750
Mazda6 (4-cyl.)	7,000	Ford Fusion (V6, AWD)	8,750
Nissan Altima (4-cyl.)	7,250	Mazda6 (V6)	9,000
Subaru Legacy 2.5i	7,250	Volkswagen Passat (V6)	9,250
Upscale & luxury cars
Lexus CT 200h	7,750	Lincoln MKS AWD	13,000
Buick Verano (2.4)	7,750	BMW 535i	13,250
Audi A3 2.0T	8,000	Mercedes-Benz E350	13,500
Buick Regal (2.4)	8,000	Jaguar XF	13,500
Acura TSX (4-cyl.)	8,250	Hyundai Equus	14,000
Buick Regal (turbo)	8,500	Lexus LS 460L	16,000
Buick LaCrosse eAssist	8,750	Jaguar XJL	19,000
Infiniti G25 Sedan	9,000	Audi A8 L	20,000
Toyota Avalon	9,000	Mercedes-Benz S550	20,500
Volkswagen CC 2.0T	9,000	BMW 750Li	21,500
Lowest cost		Highest cost
Make & Model	Cost/year over 5 years	Make & model	Cost/year over 5 years
Small SUVs
Toyota RAV4 (4-cyl.)	$7,000	Subaru Forester 2.5XT (turbo)	$8,250
Honda CR-V	7,250	Nissan Xterra	8,750
Nissan Juke	7,250	Mitsubishi Outlander (V6)	9,000
Mitsubishi Outlander (4-cyl.)	7,500	Kia Sportage (2.0T)	9,250
Hyundai Tucson (2.4)	7,500	Volkswagen Tiguan	9,750
Midsized SUVs
Hyundai Santa Fe (4-cyl.)	8,000	Dodge Journey V6)	10,750
Chevrolet Equinox (4-cyl.)	8,000	Nissan Pathfinder (V6)	10,750
GMC Terrain (4-cyl.)	8,000	Ford Explorer (V6)	11,250
Kia Sorento (4-cyl.)	8,250	Jeep Grand Cherokee (V6)	11,250
Jeep Liberty	8,500	Jeep Grand Cherokee (V8)	12,750
Large SUVs
Ford Flex (V6)	10,500	Dodge Durango (V8)	13,500
GMC Acadia	10,500	Ford Expedition	14,000
Chevrolet Traverse	10,500	Chevrolet Suburban	14,000
Ford Flex (EcoBoost, V6)	11,750	GMC Yukon XL	14,250
Dodge Durango (V6)	12,250	GMC Yukon (5.3)	15,000
Upscale/luxury SUVs
BMW X3 (3.0)	10,250	Mercedes-Benz ML350	14,250
Land Rover LR2	10,500	Land Rover LR4	14,250
Infiniti EX	10,500	Mercedes-Benz GL350 BlueTec	15,000
Audi Q5 3.2	11,250	Porsche Cayenne (V6)	15,250
Lexus RX 350	11,250	Infiniti QX56	15,500
Buick Enclave	11,250	Lincoln Navigator	15,750
Volvo XC60	11,500	Toyota Land Cruiser	16,000
Mercedes-Benz GLK350	11,500	Land Rover Range Rover Sport	16,250
Land Rover Range Rover Evoque	11,500	Mercedes-Benz GL450	16,500
Acura MDX	11,750	Cadillac Escalade (base)	17,250
Lowest cost		Highest cost
Make & Model	Cost/year over 5 years	Make & model	Cost/year over 5 years
Minivans & wagons
Toyota Prius V	$6,000	BMW 328xi Wagon	$10,000
Volkswagen Jetta Wagon TDI	6,250	Dodge Grand Caravan SXT	10,250
Volkswagen Jetta Wagon SE	7,500	Kia Sedona	10,500
Mazda5	7,750	Nissan Quest	10,500
Subaru Outback 2.5i	8,000	Chrysler Town & Country	10,750
Sporty cars & convertibles
Mini Cooper Hatchback Base	5,750	Lexus IS 250 Convertible	11,000
Honda CR-Z	6,000	Subaru Impreza STi	11,000
Fiat 500 Sport	6,000	Chevrolet Camaro Convertible SS	11,000
Volkswagen Beetle 2.5	6,500	Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution	11,250
Fiat 500 C	6,500	BMW 328i Convertible	11,750
Mini Cooper Hatchback S	6,500	Audi A5 2.0T	11,750
Scion tC	6,500	Infiniti G37 Convertible	11,750
Hyundai Veloster	6,750	Chevrolet Corvette Base	12,750
Kia Forte Sedan	6,750	Chevrolet Corvette Z06	14,500
Honda Civic Si	7,250	Jaguar XK	19,000
Pickup trucks
Toyota Tacoma (V6)	8,500	Chevrolet Avalanche	13,000
Chevrolet Colorado	9,250	Dodge Ram 2500 Turbodiesel	13,750
Nissan Frontier	9,250	Ford F-250 Turbodiesel	14,000
GMC Canyon	9,500	GMC Sierra 2500HD Turbodiesel	14,250
Honda Ridgeline	9,500	Chevrolet Silverado 2500HD Turbodiesel	14,250