Consumer Reports have recently published an analysis on the total cost of ownership of a new vehicle over a one, three, five and eight year period.  They have used a number of factors in their analysis including depreciation, fuel, interest on financing, insurance, sales tax, as well as average maintenance and repair costs.

Their analysis has produced some interesting results.  First and foremost the median cost of ownership for a new vehicle is more than $9,100 a year, over a five year ownership period.  Furthermore, the largest single cost in a new vehicle is depreciation, making up 48% of costs in the first five years. This of course assumes that you will be eventually selling the new vehicle down the road and not driving it into the ground.

Consumer Reports Analysis

Courtesy: Consumer Reports.org

The second largest cost is fuel accounting for 24%, while interest on vehicle financing is third with 11%, again over a five year period.

As indicated at the beginning of this post the Consumer Reports analysis is based on a number of assumptions, such as the cost of fuel ($4.20/gallon or $1.11/litre), insurance, interest (6%, 15% down, 5 years – also assumes the vehicle isn’t bought outright at the beginning) and sales tax (5%) to name a few.

All of their assumptions are reasonable and necessary for a broad based analysis, but can vary widely across different jurisdictions. One should keep this in mind when reading the results.

Nonetheless, based on their analysis, the least expensive car to own is Toyota Prius which costs just $5,000 a year to own for five years.  While the most expensive vehicle in the list is the BMW 750Li at a whopping $21,500 a year, for a five year period.

A complete breakdown on the ownership cost per model can be found below.

For a more in depth analysis, including further details on the assumptions used and how that may relate to your situation read the complete article here.

Ownership Costs by Vehicle
(Source: Consumer Reports)