Car Ownership Cost Calculator
Estimate the monthly cost of a car including payments, insurance, fuel, and maintenance.
Car Ownership Cost Calculator
Estimate the monthly cost of a car including payments, insurance, fuel, and maintenance.
Not sure what things cost?
Pick an example to fill in starting estimates, then adjust any amount to fit your situation.
Estimates are illustrative US budgeting examples, not current market quotes. Loan costs, insurance, fuel, and repairs vary substantially.
What Americans spend on transportation
2024 U.S. household spending
These are averages across all U.S. consumer units, including households without a car purchase that year. Transportation includes more than one vehicle and public transit. Do not treat this as the cost of owning one car.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Expenditure Survey, 2024
How to use this calculator
A monthly car budget is more than the loan payment. Insurance, fuel, and upkeep can change the amount you spend significantly.
Enter your own expected expenses rather than relying on national averages. For maintenance, estimate the full year and divide by twelve to compare against monthly bills.
The result is a recurring monthly estimate. It excludes registration, parking, tolls, depreciation, financing fees, and unexpected repairs unless you include them in your estimates.
Frequently asked questions
What if my car is paid off?
Set the loan payment to zero. You still need to budget for insurance, fuel, and maintenance.
Does this include depreciation?
No. Depreciation affects the total economic cost of ownership but is not a monthly cash payment in this calculator.
How can I make the estimate more realistic?
Review your last three to six months of expenses and adjust fuel and maintenance estimates for your driving habits.
All results are illustrative estimates based on your entries, not professional advice or price quotes. Your inputs are processed in your browser.
Plan, compare and project
Use your current calculator inputs as a starting point. These projections use adjustable assumptions, not live quotes.
Costs are held at your entered baseline and compounded at the selected annual increase. The alternative assumes the percentage you choose, not a market price. Savings-goal results represent the remaining target rather than an annual expense.
For context: $1,110 per month (2024 BLS household transportation spending, not a one-car average). This is a broader category, not a directly comparable single-item average. Source.