True Cost of Car Ownership Calculator
See what a car actually costs once depreciation, insurance, fuel, maintenance and interest are netted against what it is still worth — and what replacing it every few years costs over a lifetime.
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The real cost of 10 years
$124,063
$1,034 a month — including the months after the loan is paid off.
- Out the door
- $53,796
- Amount financed
- $48,810
- Monthly payment
- $965
- Total loan interest
- $9,097
That is $0.92 per mile across 135,000 miles.
Your loan payment is $965 a month. The gap between that and $1,034 is everything the payment does not cover.
These figures are estimates built from the assumptions shown on this page. Real running costs vary by vehicle, driver, location and market, and resale values are not guaranteed. This is not financial advice.
Where the money went
Sales tax and fees are financed, so they are already inside the loan payments. Counting them again would double-count them.
Assumptions and conventions
- Sales tax and fees are rolled into the amount financed rather than paid up front, so total cash out is the down payment plus running costs.
- Loan payments stop when the term ends; running costs continue for as long as you own the car.
- Insurance and fuel grow at the rates you set; maintenance and retained value follow the curves you can edit above.
- Resale value is a share of the original purchase price at the year you sell.
- Car price: Kelley Blue Book average transaction price, July 2026 · Loan rates: Bankrate · Insurance: Experian national average · Fuel: AAA · Depreciation: iSeeCars 2026.
- Values are calculated at full precision and rounded for display; columns may differ from totals by a small rounding amount.
What this calculator does
The monthly payment is the number people compare, and it is the smallest part of what a car costs. This tool adds up everything that leaves your account — loan payments, insurance, fuel, maintenance, registration — then subtracts what the car is still worth at the end. What remains is the real cost, expressed per month and per mile.
A second mode answers the question that matters more than new-versus-used: how long you keep each car. It runs two people with the same income and the same first car over several decades, one replacing often and one keeping each car a long time, and invests the difference between what they spend.
What changes the result most
Depreciation, by a wide margin. A car that holds 58% of its price at five years and 28% at ten has already cost you more in lost value than in fuel and maintenance combined. The retained-value curve is the single most influential input, which is why it is editable rather than hidden.
After that: how long you keep the car. Spreading purchase costs over ten years instead of five roughly halves their monthly share, and every year past the end of the loan is a year with no payment at all.
Formula
Out the door = price + sales tax + fees. The deposit is a percentage of the price, and the rest is financed: amount financed = out-the-door − deposit. The monthly payment is the standard amortising payment on that amount.
For each year owned: loan payments (until the term ends) + insurance grown at its rate + fuel (miles ÷ mpg × price per gallon, grown at its rate) + maintenance from the curve + registration.
Total cash out = deposit + all running costs. Sales tax and fees are NOT added again — they are inside the amount financed and are repaid through the loan payments. The real cost = total cash out − (price × retained share at the year you sell).
Assumptions
- Sales tax and fees are financed rather than paid up front; counting them separately would double-count them.
- Loan payments stop when the term ends; running costs continue for as long as you own the car.
- Maintenance and retained value follow editable curves; the defaults are anchored to the iSeeCars 2026 finding that the average car retains 58.2% of its price at five years.
- In the replacement comparison, fuel and registration are excluded because they are identical for both people and would only add noise.
- The default figures are US market averages quoted in a companion video; change any of them for your own market.
Content and formulas reviewed on 2026-08-28. See our methodology for how calculations are built and tested.
Worked example
A 49,855 car with 6.5% sales tax and 700 in fees is 53,796 out the door. A 10% deposit of 4,986 leaves 48,810 financed at 6.94% over 60 months — a payment of 965 a month and 9,097 of interest.
Over ten years that is 57,906 of loan payments, 33,543 of insurance, 23,786 of fuel, 15,300 of maintenance and 2,500 of registration: 138,022 of cash out. The car is still worth 13,959, so the real cost is 124,063.
That is 1,034 a month across the whole ten years — including the five years with no payment at all — and 0.92 per mile. The loan payment alone was 965, which is why the payment is a poor guide to the cost.
Frequently asked questions
Why is the real cost higher than my monthly payment?
The payment covers only the loan. Insurance, fuel, maintenance and registration continue for as long as you own the car, and depreciation — the value the car quietly loses — is usually the largest single cost of all. In the worked example the payment is 965 a month while the true cost is 1,034, and that is after crediting back what the car is still worth.
Should I add sales tax and fees to the total cash out?
Not if they were financed, which is the common arrangement and what this calculator assumes. They are inside the amount financed, so you repay them through the monthly payments. Adding them to the total again would count them twice. If you paid them in cash at the counter instead, add them to your deposit.
Is it cheaper to buy used?
Usually, because someone else absorbed the steepest part of the depreciation curve. Using the defaults, a four-year-old version of the same car comes out around 101,132 over ten years against 124,063 for the new one. Enter your own price, rate, fuel economy and maintenance figures to test it, since older cars carry higher repair costs that can narrow the gap.
Does keeping a car longer really make that much difference?
It is the largest lever available to most drivers. Purchase costs are spread over more years, and the years after the loan ends carry no payment at all. The second mode compares the two habits directly over several decades and invests the difference so you can see the size of it.
Where do the default numbers come from?
Car price from Kelley Blue Book's average transaction price, loan rates from Bankrate, insurance from Experian's national average, fuel from AAA, and depreciation from the iSeeCars 2026 study. They are US averages from mid-2026 and will drift; every one of them is editable so you can substitute figures for your own market and moment.
These estimates are for general information only and are not financial, tax, legal, or investment advice. Rates, fees, and lending rules vary by lender and country. Actual costs and outcomes may differ from the projections shown.