Cost of Owning

Car Cost of Ownership Calculator

The sticker price is the smallest part of what a car costs you. This calculator totals five years of depreciation, fuel or charging, insurance, maintenance and fees — then converts it into the only numbers that matter: cost per month and per mile.

Updated September 2026 · Free · No sign-up

Estimate your true 5-year cost

Total 5-year cost
—
Line item5-year amount

Depreciation is usually the biggest line, and it's the one you never write a check for. Selling private-party typically beats trade-in by 5 to 15%.

How the math works

Five lines, five years. Depreciation is purchase price minus resale value — enter an honest resale percentage, because optimism here poisons everything downstream. Fuel uses your miles per year against MPG (or kWh per 100 miles for an EV). Insurance, maintenance, and fees multiply your annual figures by five.

The output that changes decisions is cost per mile. A car that costs 65¢ per mile makes every 30-mile round trip cost $39, which is the honest way to compare against rideshare, transit, or keeping the old beater one more year.

Where the defaults come from

The $40,000 default price sits near the average MSRP in AAA's 2026 study ($39,376); the 45% resale matches Kelley Blue Book's 2026 five-year industry average of 44.7% — trucks and strong-resale brands run mid-50s to low-60s, EVs and luxury sedans under 40%. Gas defaults to $4.48, the EIA national regular average from September 2026, and electricity to 18¢, AAA's home-charging average. Insurance and maintenance defaults are mainstream-brand estimates — a luxury badge can double them, and your real insurance quote beats any national average. Set each field to your real numbers; the calculator is only as honest as its inputs.

How to use the result

Run the same car twice with different resale percentages and you will see why choosing a vehicle that holds value beats hunting discounts: a 5-point swing in resale moves the 5-year total by about $2,000 on a $40,000 car — more than most discounts. Run a gas and an EV version of the same segment with the EV vs gas guide open for the running-cost numbers.

Next steps

The full breakdown of the five cost buckets, with current-year figures, is in what it really costs to own a car. Then read which cars hold value best in 2026 before you pick the specific model — resale is the cheapest upgrade you can buy.

Frequently asked questions

How much does it really cost to own a car per year?
AAA's 2026 driving-cost study puts a new car at $12,863 per year all-in — about $1,072 a month — across 34 top-selling models with an average MSRP of $39,376. Depreciation is the single biggest slice at $4,422 a year, ahead of insurance, fuel, and maintenance. Cheaper cars and fewer miles scale that number down; the structure never changes.
What is the biggest cost of owning a car?
Depreciation, by a wide margin. AAA's 2026 figure is $4,422 a year on the average new car — roughly a third of the total, more than most people pay in fuel and often more than insurance. Buyers who shop by monthly payment and ignore resale value systematically overpay.
What cars hold their value best in 2026?
Kelley Blue Book's 2026 awards: the Toyota Tacoma tops all vehicles at 63.0% of MSRP retained after five years, followed by the Tundra (59.9%) and 4Runner (58.0%), with the Corvette, Porsche 911 and Ford Maverick near 54%. The industry average is 44.7%. At the bottom: Tesla Model 3 (35.0%), Mercedes E-Class (36.4%) and Porsche Taycan (37.8%).
Is it cheaper to buy used instead of new?
Usually, because someone else already paid the steepest depreciation years. The 2026 twist: average new-transaction prices moved back above $50,000 (Kelley Blue Book, August 2026), which pushes more buyers into the used market and props used prices up. The sweet spot is a 3-to-5-year-old vehicle from a high-resale brand — already past the value cliff, and still worth something when you sell.