Car Ownership Cost
Total the true annual and monthly cost of owning and running a car.
About Car Ownership Cost
All monthly payments are multiplied by twelve, then yearly registration and depreciation are added to give the true annual cost. Car prices hide the real burden, and the total often surprises people who only track the monthly loan payment.
Formula
Car Ownership Cost
Annual cost = monthly costs x 12 + annual registration + depreciation
- depreciation
- How much value the car loses each year
Worked example
With the default values below, Car Ownership Cost returns Annual Cost of $12,110. Change any input above and every figure here is recalculated in your browser.
Inputs used
- Loan paymentminimum 0
- 350
- Insuranceminimum 0
- 120
- Fuelminimum 0
- 150
- Maintenanceminimum 0
- 60
- Registration & taxminimum 0
- 150
- Depreciationminimum 0
- 3,800
Results
- Annual Cost
- $12,110
- Monthly Cost
- $1,009
- Insurance Share
- 11.9%
- Cost per Mile
- $1.009
Step by step
- 1Values used
- 2Car Ownership Cost
- 3Annual Cost= 12,110
- 4Monthly Cost= 1,009
- 5Insurance Share= 11.9
- 6Cost per Mile= $1.009/mi
Assumptions and limits
- The result is derived only from the 6 inputs listed above. Anything not among them is not part of the calculation.
- In particular, this calculator does not take inflation, fees or charges or compounding frequency into account.
- Figures are rounded for display to 3 decimal places, so totals built from several rounded parts can differ slightly from the unrounded arithmetic.
How these calculators are built and tested is described on the Methodology page. If a figure looks wrong, please report it.
Frequently Asked Questions
How is Car Ownership Cost calculated?
Annual cost = monthly costs x 12 + annual registration + depreciation All monthly payments are multiplied by twelve, then yearly registration and depreciation are added to give the true annual cost.
Why does Car Ownership Cost matter?
Car prices hide the real burden, and the total often surprises people who only track the monthly loan payment.
What values do I need to enter?
This calculator takes 6 inputs: Loan payment, Insurance, Fuel, Maintenance, Registration & tax, Depreciation. The pre-filled defaults are a realistic starting point — replace them with figures from your own environment for a result you can act on.