Automobile Operating Cost Figure the Full Cost of Owning Your Vehicle

 

Compare Operating Costs

When buying a car most people fail to consider ALL of the expenses that will be generated by their purchase. And because nearly all car buying scenarios come with different variables (depreciation rates, interest rates, purchase prices, insurance costs, mpg ratings, etc.), it becomes extremely difficult to compare one buying scenario with another...until now that is. This calculator will not only help you to forecast the REAL COST of buying and owning a car, but it will also help you to more accurately compare the real cost of one car buying scenario with the real cost of a second car buying scenario.

Shortcut: Fill in all the blanks in the Scenario #1 column and then click on "Copy #1 to #2." This will automatically copy Scenario #1 values into the Scenario #2 column.

Entry Description Vehicle #1 Vehicle #2
Total price of the car, including options:
Sales-tax (%):
Annual licensing cost:
Extended warranty cost, if applicable:
Financing this vehicle?:
Down-payment ($):
Interest Rate (APR %):
Loan term (years):
Annual insurance premium:
Miles you expect to drive annually:
Estimated MPG rating:
Gasoline Cost per Gallon:
Car age (years):
Anticipated ownership length (years):
Estimated monthly maintenance & repair cost:
Tax, License, and Extended Warranty Costs:
Depreciation Costs:
Finance Costs:
Insurance Costs:
Fuel Costs:
Maintenance & Repair Costs:
Total cost of buying and owning the car:
Annual cost to own and operate this vehicle:
Cost per mile:

Recent Auto Loan Rates

We publish an auto lender review guide to help buyers see current rates from top nationwide lenders.

For your convenience, here is data on what rates looked like across Q1 of 2023 after the Federal Reserve likely completed most of the current hiking cycle.

Borrower Credit Score New Used
Super Prime 781 - 850 5.18% 6.79%
Prime 661 - 780 6.40% 8.75%
Nonprime 601 - 660 8.86% 13.28%
Subprime 501 - 600 11.53% 18.55%
Deep Subprime 300 - 500 14.08% 21.32%

Source: Experian 2023 Q1 data

Here were what rates looked like in Q2 of 2022.

Borrower Credit Score New Used
Super Prime 781 - 850 2.96% 3.68%
Prime 661 - 780 4.03% 5.53%
Nonprime 601 - 660 6.57% 10.33%
Subprime 501 - 600 9.75% 16.85%
Deep Subprime 300 - 500 12.84% 20.43%

Source: Experian 2022 Q2 data, published in August of 2022

For historical comparison, here is what the data looked like in Q1 of 2020 as the COVID-19 crisis spread across the United States.

Borrower Credit Score New Used
Super Prime 720 or higher 3.65% 4.29%
Prime 660 - 719 4.68% 6.04%
Nonprime 620 - 659 7.65% 11.26%
Subprime 580 - 619 11.92% 17.74%
Deep Subprime 579 or lower 14.39% 20.45%

Source: Experian 2020 Q1 data, published on August 16, 2020

Across the industry, on average automotive dealers make more money selling loans at inflated rates than they make from selling cars. Before you sign a loan agreement with a dealership you should contact a community credit union or bank and see how they compare. You can often save thousands of dollars by getting a quote from a trusted financial institution instead of going with the hard sell financing you will get at an auto dealership.

If our site helped you save time or money, please get your accessories like cell phone chargers, mounts, radar detectors and other such goodies from Amazon.com through our affiliate link to help support our site. Thank you!

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