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Total Cost of Ownership Calculator
Use this total cost of ownership calculator to find out what a car really costs — not just the sticker price, but the full price of owning it for years. Enter the purchase price, yearly fuel, insurance and maintenance costs, how long you will keep the car, and its expected resale value, and the calculator shows your total cost, cost per year, cost per month, and cost per mile. You can also compare two vehicles side by side.
Vehicle A
Enter your best estimates. If you are unsure about a number, use a slightly high one.
Where the money goes
The chart breaks your total cost into its parts: purchase price, fuel, insurance and maintenance, with the resale value shown as money coming back.
How it works
The sticker price is only the beginning. Over five years, fuel, insurance and maintenance can add more than half the purchase price again, and resale value can swing the final bill by thousands of dollars. Total cost of ownership pulls all of that into one number, so you can compare two very different cars on equal footing.
Purchase price is what you pay for the car, including dealer fees but before financing. If you take a loan, interest is an extra cost on top — this calculator does not add it, so add your total interest separately for the fully loaded figure.
Fuel or energy cost per year is what you spend keeping the car moving. Divide your miles per year by miles per gallon, then multiply by the price of a gallon. A car doing 12,000 miles a year at 30 miles per gallon uses 400 gallons; at $4.50 a gallon that is $1,800 a year. For an electric car, use your yearly charging cost instead.
Insurance per year is your annual premium. Get a real quote for the exact car you are considering, because premiums vary a lot by model: a car that is expensive to repair or popular with thieves costs more to insure.
Maintenance per year covers servicing, tires, brakes, oil changes and the small repairs that come with age. A new car under warranty might cost only $400 to $600 a year, while an older car can easily need $1,000 or more.
Years of ownership is how long you plan to keep the car before selling it. Keeping a car for eight years instead of four spreads the purchase price — and the steep early depreciation — over twice as many years, which usually makes the cost per year much lower.
Resale value is what you expect the car to be worth when you sell it. Some brands hold their value far better than others: every extra $1,000 of resale value is $1,000 off your total cost. Check used-car listings for the same model a few years old to set a realistic figure.
Cost per mile is the most useful number for comparing cars, because it strips out the size of the car and the length of ownership and leaves a single rate. The average driver pays roughly $0.60 to $0.80 per mile all-in for a typical car.
The comparison runs the same calculation for a second vehicle and shows the difference in total cost, cost per year and cost per mile. Use it for the classic dilemmas: a gasoline car versus a hybrid or electric car, or a new car versus a nearly-new one. The comparison shows exactly where the balance tips.
Worked example
Suppose you buy a car for $30,000 and keep it for 5 years. Fuel costs $1,800 a year, insurance $1,200 a year, and maintenance $800 a year. You drive 12,000 miles a year and expect to sell the car for $12,000 at the end.
Step 1: Add up the yearly running costs. $1,800 fuel + $1,200 insurance + $800 maintenance = $3,800 per year.
Step 2: Multiply by the years of ownership. $3,800 × 5 years = $19,000.
Step 3: Add the purchase price. $30,000 + $19,000 = $49,000.
Step 4: Subtract the resale value. $49,000 − $12,000 = $37,000. That is the total cost of ownership.
Step 5: Divide by the years. $37,000 ÷ 5 = $7,400 per year, or $616.67 per month.
Step 6: Total miles are 12,000 × 5 = 60,000. Then $37,000 ÷ 60,000 miles = $0.62 per mile.
Try it yourself: enter the numbers above and press Calculate. The tool gives exactly the same answer — total cost of ownership $37,000, $7,400 per year, $616.67 per month, and $0.62 per mile. The chart shows the purchase price as the biggest single bar, with five years of fuel ($9,000), insurance ($6,000) and maintenance ($4,000) alongside it, and the $12,000 resale value coming back at the end.
FAQ
What is total cost of ownership?
Total cost of ownership is everything a vehicle truly costs you from the day you buy it to the day you sell it: the purchase price, plus every year of fuel, insurance and maintenance, minus the resale value you get back at the end. The sticker price alone is misleading — a cheap car that drinks fuel and breaks down often can cost more over five years than a pricier car that is cheap to run.
Why does the calculator subtract the resale value?
Because the resale value is money that comes back to you. If you pay $30,000 for a car and sell it five years later for $12,000, only $18,000 of the purchase price was really spent. Subtracting resale value turns a list of expenses into your true net cost, so a car that keeps its value well can be much cheaper to own than its price tag suggests.
How do I estimate my fuel cost per year?
Divide your annual miles by the car's miles per gallon, then multiply by the price of a gallon. For example, 12,000 miles a year at 30 miles per gallon uses 400 gallons; at $4.50 a gallon that is $1,800 a year. If you already own the car, check a few months of fuel receipts and scale up. For an electric vehicle, use your annual charging cost instead.
Is leasing cheaper than buying when you compare total cost of ownership?
Sometimes, but not usually over a long period. A lease has lower monthly payments and you always drive a newer car, but you never build equity, you pay for the car's steepest depreciation years, and you may face mileage and wear charges at return. Buying usually wins if you keep the car for five years or more, because the payments stop while the car keeps serving you.
What costs does this calculator leave out?
It leaves out loan interest, taxes and registration fees, parking and tolls, and major repairs outside routine maintenance. If you are financing the car, add your total interest to the result. Taxes and fees vary by state, so add them separately. Even without them, the calculator captures the four biggest ownership costs and is accurate enough to compare two vehicles fairly.