How Much Does It Cost to Own a Car Per Year? (2026 Numbers)

Updated 2026-11-02

Most people can tell you their monthly car payment. Far fewer can tell you what their car really costs. AAA's 2026 Your Driving Costs study puts the average cost to own and operate a new vehicle at $12,863 a year, based on 15,000 miles of driving. That is about $1,072 a month, roughly $35 a day, or around 86 cents for every mile you drive. This guide breaks that number down, shows why it is so much bigger than most people expect, and walks you through finding your own figure.

What AAA's number includes

The study adds up every major expense of keeping a car on the road: depreciation, financing, insurance, fuel or charging, maintenance, repairs, tires, license and registration, and taxes. That is the key point. A monthly payment covers one or two of those items. Insurance, gas, oil changes and the slow loss of value are all happening at the same time, and together they are usually much larger than the payment itself.

It is also an average for new vehicles. AAA's fuel estimate assumed a 12-month average gas price of $4.152 per gallon through May 2026, and its electric-vehicle figures assumed home charging at about 18 cents per kilowatt-hour. If you pay less than that for fuel, or drive an older car, your own cost will likely come in lower. If you drive more than 15,000 miles a year, fuel and wear will push it higher.

The $12,863 in smaller pieces

A big annual number is hard to feel. Dividing it up makes it more real.

Period	Average cost of a new vehicle
Per year	$12,863
Per month	About $1,072
Per week	About $247
Per day	About $35
Per mile	About $0.86
Per 100 miles	About $86

Seeing $86 for every 100 miles puts a lot of short trips in a new light. A quick 10-mile errand costs nearly $9 once every cost is counted, even though the gas for it might be only a dollar or two.

Depreciation: the biggest cost you never pay by check

Depreciation was the largest single piece of the study at about $4,422 a year, roughly a third of the total. It is simply the value your car loses as it ages. You never write a check for it, so it is easy to forget, but you feel it when you sell or trade in the car and the number is far lower than what you paid.

New cars lose the most value in the first few years. That is why buying a car that is two to five years old can save serious money: the first owner has already absorbed the steepest drop. You can test this with our car depreciation calculator, which shows what a car might be worth after each year.

Financing and insurance

If you borrow to buy a car, the interest is a real cost on top of the price. A longer loan lowers the monthly payment but increases the total interest you pay, and it keeps you owing more than the car is worth for longer. Paying cash or choosing a shorter loan lowers this cost.

Insurance is the other big fixed cost. Rates depend on your age, driving record, ZIP code, the car you drive and the coverage you choose. Newer and more expensive cars usually cost more to insure because they cost more to repair or replace. Shopping around once a year is one of the simplest ways to cut this expense without changing anything about how you drive.

Fuel and charging

Fuel is the most visible cost, but it is not the biggest. As an example, a car that gets 28 MPG and drives 15,000 miles uses about 536 gallons a year. At a price of $4.152 a gallon, that is roughly $2,224. Hybrids and electric cars can cut this a lot. Our fuel cost calculator works out the cost for any trip or any number of miles, and the guide on how much driving 100 miles costs compares gas, hybrid and electric side by side.

Maintenance, repairs and tires

These are the costs that creep up as a car ages. A new car under warranty may need little more than oil changes and tire rotations in the early years. An older car needs brakes, batteries, belts and eventually bigger repairs. Tires are a recurring cost too, and a new set can run from several hundred dollars to well over a thousand. For typical prices, see our guide on how much it costs to maintain a car.

An example: a paid-off used car

Here is a made-up example to show how different the numbers can look for a six-year-old sedan with no loan. These are illustrations, not AAA figures.

Cost	Per year
Depreciation	$1,200
Fuel (12,000 miles, 30 MPG, $3.50 a gallon)	$1,400
Insurance	$1,800
Maintenance and repairs	$1,300
Registration and fees	$250
Total	$5,950

That is about $496 a month, or 50 cents a mile, far below the new-car average. The gap comes mostly from depreciation and financing. It does not mean old cars are always cheaper, since repair bills can be unpredictable, but it shows why the age of the car matters so much.

What moves your number up or down

Several things change the total more than people expect. The price and age of the car set the depreciation. Annual mileage drives fuel, tires and maintenance. Where you live affects insurance, taxes and gas prices, and driving in a big city usually costs more than driving in a small town. The type of car matters too: trucks and large SUVs cost more to buy, fuel and insure than compact cars. Even your commute and parking costs can add up if you pay for them.

How to lower what your car costs

The biggest savings come from big decisions. Buying a car that is a few years old avoids the steepest depreciation. Keeping a car longer spreads its cost over more years. Choosing a smaller, more efficient vehicle cuts fuel, tires and insurance. Smaller habits help too: compare insurance quotes every year, keep tires inflated, follow the maintenance schedule so small problems stay small, and combine trips when you can.

How to calculate your own cost

You can work out your own number in a few steps. First, estimate depreciation by taking what you paid, subtracting what you expect to sell it for, and dividing by the years you will keep it. Second, add up a year of insurance, fuel, maintenance and repairs, registration, and any loan interest. Third, add everything together to get your annual cost. Divide by 12 for the monthly figure, and divide by your yearly miles for the cost per mile.

Or let our car ownership cost calculator do the math. It breaks your total into depreciation, fuel, insurance, maintenance, fees and financing, so you can see exactly where your money goes.

The bottom line

The real cost of a car is far more than the payment. AAA's average of $12,863 a year for a new vehicle is a useful benchmark, but your own number is what matters. Know it, and you can make better choices about which car to buy, how long to keep it, and when it is time to replace it. If you are thinking about that last question, read our guide on whether it is cheaper to repair or replace an old car.

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