True Cost to Own a Car
The monthly payment is the part everyone compares. It is rarely the biggest cost. The value a car quietly loses usually beats it, and no bill ever arrives for that. This adds up all of it.
It really costs you, each year
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- Over all 5 years
- $0
- Each month
- $0
- Each mile
- $0
- Your loan payment
- $0
- What it is worth at the end
- $0
What owning it actually costs
The green block is it is worth at the end and it stays yours. The orange is your loan payment and it does not come back.
Move it and watch
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at {v} for price
And what you can change
Why your own figure may differ
Where the money actually goes
Biggest first. For most cars the top line is the one nobody budgets for.
| Cost | Over 5 years | A year | Share of the total |
|---|
The true cost of owning a car: real examples
Three cars, and what they actually cost. Click any card to load it.
- The payment is not the cost
$30,000 car, kept 5 years
Bought outright, driven 12,000 miles a year.
It costs $36,189 to own - and $16,689 of that is value it quietly lost. No bill ever arrives for that part.
Load this scenario in the calculator → - Borrowing changes it
Same car, $5,000 down
A 7% loan over six years, kept five.
Interest adds thousands on top, and you are still paying at the five-year mark. The loan outlasts the honeymoon.
Load this scenario in the calculator → - The heavy driver
25,000 miles a year
Same car, twice the driving.
The total climbs, but the cost per mile falls. the fixed costs get spread over more miles. Driving more is cheaper per mile, not per year.
Load this scenario in the calculator →
Common questions about the true cost of owning a car
Why is the real cost so much higher than the payment?
Because the payment only covers borrowing the money. It does not cover the value the car quietly loses, or fuel, insurance, tyres, servicing and repairs. For most cars the value it loses is the single biggest cost, and it never appears on any bill. That is exactly why it catches people out.
What is depreciation, in plain words?
It is the value your car loses while you own it. Buy at $30,000, sell at $15,000 four years later, and it cost you $15,000 to have owned it. Nobody sends you an invoice, so it feels free. It is usually the largest single cost of running a car.
Where does your depreciation number come from?
From you, deliberately. Other tools quote an average that is not published anywhere you can check, and cars vary enormously. If you know roughly what your car is worth now, put that in and the tool works out the real rate for your car. That beats any average.
What is the IRS mileage rate and why compare against it?
It is the amount the IRS lets people claim per mile for business driving. They set it to cover the whole cost of running a car, so it is a fair yardstick. If your cost per mile is well above it, your car is expensive to run compared with a typical one.
Does a cheap car always cost less?
No, and this is the useful surprise. A cheap car that loses value fast, drinks fuel and needs constant repairs can cost more per year than a pricier one that holds its value. Put both into the tool and compare the yearly figure, not the sticker price.
Should I count the whole loan interest?
Only the part you actually pay while you own it. Keeping a car for three years of a six-year loan does not cost six years of interest. This tool counts interest for the years you hold the car, not the whole term.
The guide behind this calculator
The comparison yardstick is the IRS standard mileage rate for business driving: 76 cents a mile for July 1 to December 31, 2026. Read from Standard Mileage Rates, checked 2026-08-18.