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Auto Total Cost of Ownership

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Use total cost of ownership to see the real cost of a vehicle over the years you plan to keep it, not just the sticker price.

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Interactive workbench

Five-year cost of a car

Purchase Price+Fuel+Maintenance+Insurance−Resale Value

$32,000 + $9,000 + $4,000 + $7,000 - $12,000 = $40,000 true cost over five years.

Step 1 of 6

Variables and units

  • Purchase Price

    Out-the-door price including fees and taxes.

    currency

  • Total Fuel Cost

    Estimated fuel cost over the ownership period.

    currency

  • Total Maintenance

    Estimated maintenance and repairs over the period.

    currency

  • Total Insurance

    Estimated insurance over the period.

    currency

  • Resale Value

    Expected resale or trade-in value at the end.

    currency

Common mistakes

  • Forgetting fuel, insurance, and maintenance.
  • Ignoring resale value.

Step-by-step example

Five-year cost of a car

  1. 1. Start with the example inputs

    • Purchase Price$32,000
    • Total Fuel Cost$9,000
    • Total Maintenance$4,000
    • Total Insurance$7,000
    • Resale Value$12,000

  2. 2. Apply the formula

    Purchase Price+Fuel+Maintenance+Insurance−Resale Value

  3. 3. Run the numbers

    $40,000.00

    $32,000 + $9,000 + $4,000 + $7,000 - $12,000 = $40,000 true cost over five years.

What this result means

$40,000.00 is the real cost of this vehicle over the ownership period — purchase price plus fuel, maintenance, and insurance, minus what you recover at resale. Comparing total cost of ownership across vehicles often reverses the ranking that sticker prices suggest, because fuel economy, reliability, and resale value compound over the years.