People type this into search every day: total cost of car ownership.
The usual answer is the monthly payment. That number is easy to shop. It leaves out the value the car loses, the insurance bill, the fuel, and the parking and repairs.
This page is a labeled example. It is not your insurer’s quote, and it is not tax advice.
Five bills, then one monthly figure
The total cost of car ownership calculator adds the lines that keep running after you drive off the lot:
depreciation + finance + insurance + energy + maintenance and fees
Principal repayment is not a cost in this model, because it builds vehicle equity. Unexpected major repairs are excluded. The tool says both of those things in its assumptions.
Fig 1
Payment versus ownership cost
The loan is one input. The yearly pile has five.
True cost is the five yearly lines. The payment is a different calculator.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s auto-loan shopping page says a payment built from the sticker price skips taxes, add-ons, insurance, and ongoing maintenance. Its compare-offers page tells you to look at APR, the amount financed, the term, and the total you pay. A longer term can shrink the monthly number and raise the interest.
The published $12,500 year
Here are the calculator defaults:
- annual depreciation: $4,500
- annual loan interest: $1,800
- annual insurance: $1,900
- annual fuel or charging: $2,100
- maintenance, tax, and parking: $2,200
- distance driven: 15,000 km
Annual cost: 4500 + 1800 + 1900 + 2100 + 2200 = $12,500.00
True monthly cost: 12500 ÷ 12 = $1,041.67
Five-year cost at the same yearly pile: 12500 × 5 = $62,500.00
The site’s US profile prints distance as miles. 15,000 km is 15,000 × 0.621371192 = 9,320.57 mi. Cost by distance: 12500 ÷ 15000 km, shown as $1.34 / mi.
Calculator result
Total cost of car ownership
- Annual depreciation
- $4,500.00
- Annual loan interest
- $1,800.00
- Annual insurance
- $1,900.00
- Annual fuel or charging
- $2,100.00
- Maintenance, tax & parking
- $2,200.00
- Distance driven / year
- 15000 km
$1,041.67
true monthly cost
- Annual cost
- $12,500.00
- Cost by distance
- $1.34 / mi
- Five-year cost
- $62,500.00
Fig 2 · 1/5
Where $12,500 goes
Calculator defaults. Principal repayment is excluded.
Depreciation
$4,500
Interest
$1,800
Insurance
$1,900
Fuel
$2,100
Upkeep
$2,200
Depreciation is $4,500, 36% of the year.
Interest, insurance, fuel, and upkeep finish the $12,500.
The editorial walkthrough on this tool uses slightly smaller lines: $4,200 depreciation, $1,700 interest, $1,800 insurance, $2,000 fuel, $1,900 upkeep, still 15,000 km.
Annual cost: $11,600.00
Monthly: $966.67
Five years: $58,000.00
Cost by distance: $1.24 / mi
Those five numbers are planning inputs. Type the insurance you were quoted, the fuel on your last statements, and a depreciation guess from the next tool. I am not going to invent a national average insurance bill.
The payment is a different calculator
The car loan payment calculator amortizes price, tax and fees, and the down payment:
standard fixed-payment amortization on price × (1 + tax/fees) − down
Defaults:
- vehicle price: $38,000
- down payment / trade-in: $7,000
- tax and fees: 9%
- loan APR: 7.2%
- term: 60 months
Amount financed: 38000 × 1.09 − 7000 = $34,420.00
Monthly loan payment: $684.81
Total interest: $6,668.59
Total paid including the $7,000 down: $48,088.59
Calculator result
Car loan payment
- Vehicle price
- $38,000.00
- Down payment / trade-in
- $7,000.00
- Tax & fees
- 9%
- Loan APR
- 7.2%
- Loan term
- 60 months
$684.81
monthly loan payment
- Amount financed
- $34,420.00
- Total interest
- $6,668.59
- Total paid including down
- $48,088.59
$684.81 is the cash that leaves the account. $1,041.67 is the ownership model for the same year.
The $1,800 finance line in the ownership defaults is a yearly interest guess. On the 60-month default loan, 6668.59 ÷ 5 = $1,333.72 of interest a year if you spread it flat. Early years carry more interest than later ones. Put the first-year interest in the finance box if you want the ownership year to match the loan.
The editorial loan on the payment tool is a $36,000 price, $6,000 down, 9% tax and fees, 7% APR, 60 months.
Amount financed: 36000 × 1.09 − 6000 = $33,240.00
Payment: $658.19
Interest: $6,251.51
Total paid including down: $45,491.51
Same car, 48 months:
Payment: $795.97
Interest: $4,966.71
Total paid including down: $44,206.71
Same car, 72 months:
Payment: $566.71
Interest: $7,563.05
Total paid including down: $46,803.05
Stretching 60 months to 72 months drops the payment by 658.19 − 566.71 = $91.48. Interest rises by 7563.05 − 6251.51 = $1,311.54. That is the CFPB point about term length, on this labeled $36,000 path.
Fig 3 · 1/3
Same $33,240 loan, three terms
$36,000 price, $6,000 down, 9% tax and fees, 7% APR
- Total interest
| Category | Total interest |
|---|---|
| 48 mo | $5.0k |
| 60 mo | $6.3k |
| 72 mo | $7.6k |
Forty-eight months costs $4,966.71 of interest.
Seventy-two months costs $7,563.05. The payment falls as interest rises.
A 72-month version of the $38,000 default loan is a $590.14 payment, $8,069.93 of interest, and $49,489.93 paid including the down payment. The 60-month default was $684.81 and $6,668.59 of interest.
The ownership tool still ignores the principal inside $684.81. You can spend $684.81 and still have a $1,041.67 year if depreciation and the rest stay at the defaults.
If you are measuring a payment against income, use the debt-to-income post. Lenders look at the payment. Your budget feels the rest.
Depreciation is the quiet line
The car depreciation estimate calculator compounds a first-year drop, then a later yearly rate:
value × (1 − first year) × (1 − later years)^(years − 1)
The rates are user-entered estimates. Mileage, condition, and the used-car market are excluded.
Defaults:
- current vehicle value: $34,000
- first-year depreciation: 18%
- later annual depreciation: 12%
- years kept: 5
Year 1: 34000 × 0.82 = $27,880.00
Year 2: 27880 × 0.88 = $24,534.40
Year 3: $21,590.27
Year 4: $18,999.44
Year 5: $16,719.51
Value lost: 34000 − 16719.51 = $17,280.49
Retained value: 49.2%
Average loss per month: $288.01
Calculator result
Car depreciation estimate
- Current vehicle value
- $34,000.00
- First-year depreciation
- 18%
- Later annual depreciation
- 12%
- Years kept
- 5 years
$16,719.51
estimated resale value
- Value lost
- $17,280.49
- Retained value
- 49.2%
- Average loss / month
- $288.01
Fig 4 · 1/6
A $34,000 value over five years
18% in year 1, then 12% a year
Estimated resale value
- Resale value
| Point | Resale value |
|---|---|
| 0y | $34k |
| 1y | $28k |
| 2y | $25k |
| 3y | $22k |
| 4y | $19k |
| 5y | $17k |
After one year the estimate is $27,880.
After five years the estimate is $16,719.51.
Stop at three years on the same rates: $21,590.27 left, $12,409.73 lost, 63.5% retained, $344.71 a month.
Keep it seven years: $12,947.59 left, $21,052.41 lost, 38.1% retained, $250.62 a month.
The first year is the steep one on this path. 34000 − 27880 = $6,120. That is $6,120 ÷ 12 = $510.00 a month in year 1. The ownership default of $4,500 a year is a flatter planning number than this 18% / 12% curve.
If you drop the $17,280.49 five-year loss into the ownership tool as 17280.49 ÷ 5 = $3,456.10 a year, and keep the other four default lines, the year becomes 3456.10 + 1800 + 1900 + 2100 + 2200 = $11,456.10. Type $288.01 × 12 = $3,456.12 instead and the year prints $11,456.12, monthly $954.68, five years $57,280.60. The extra two cents are the monthly-loss rounding.
Cost per mile is not the IRS rate
The commute cost post already walks the IRS standard mileage rates. For 2026 business use they are 72.5 cents a mile from January 1 through June 30 (IR-2025-128) and 76 cents a mile from July 1 through December 31 (IR-2026-29). Charity stays at 14 cents. Medical and qualifying military moving are 20.5 cents, then 23.5 cents.
Notice 2026-10 treats 35 cents of the 2026 business rate as depreciation.
On this default 9,320.57 mi:
July–December 2026 business rate: 9320.57 × 0.76 = $7,083.63
January–June 2026 business rate: 9320.57 × 0.725 = $6,757.41
Depreciation slice at 35 cents: 9320.57 × 0.35 = $3,262.20
The ownership default is $12,500.00, or $1.34 / mi. $12,500.00 − $7,083.63 = $5,416.37 above the 76-cent line.
Fig 5 · 1/2
Same 9,320.57 miles
15,000 km, US profile
Annual vehicle cost
IRS 76¢
$7,083.63
Ownership default
$12,500.00
The IRS July–December 2026 business rate is $7,083.63.
The ownership default is $12,500.00, or $1.34 a mile.
The IRS rate is optional substantiation for qualifying business miles. Publication 463 is the travel booklet that sits under that method. Ordinary home-to-workplace commuting is generally not deductible. I am stacking the 76-cent rate on 15,000 km so you can see the gap. Do not take $7,083.63 or $12,500.00 as a deduction unless your facts match those rules.
The road trip fuel post prices one tank. Ownership adds the four lines that do not care whether you left town.
Driving less does not zero the year
Hold depreciation, interest, and insurance at the defaults. Cut distance to 7,500 km. Cut fuel to $1,050 and maintenance, tax, and parking to $1,100.
Annual cost: 4500 + 1800 + 1900 + 1050 + 1100 = $10,350.00
Monthly: $862.50
Five years: $51,750.00
Cost by distance: $2.22 / mi
You saved 12500 − 10350 = $2,150.00. The year did not fall in half, because $8,200 of the default pile did not move. Cost per mile rose, because the same insurance and depreciation sit on fewer kilometres.
That half-maintenance cut is a labeled what-if. Parking and tax often stay put when you drive less. Fuel is the line that usually follows the odometer.
Set finance to $0 and keep the other defaults, which is the paid-off case in the editorial guide:
Annual cost: $10,700.00
Monthly: $891.67
Five years: $53,500.00
Cost by distance: $1.15 / mi
Fig 6 · 1/2
Five years of the same yearly pile
No price change, no surprise repair
Cash spent
- Default $12,500 / yr
- Paid-off $10,700 / yr
| Point | Default $12,500 / yr | Paid-off $10,700 / yr |
|---|---|---|
| 0y | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| 1y | $13k | $11k |
| 2y | $25k | $21k |
| 3y | $38k | $32k |
| 4y | $50k | $43k |
| 5y | $63k | $54k |
The default year reaches $12,500 at month 12.
Five default years are $62,500. The paid-off path is $53,500.
A large repair belongs in the year it happens, or spread across several years if you want an average. The tool will not invent that bill.
Open the total cost of car ownership calculator with the five yearly lines you can write down. Use the car loan payment calculator for the cash the lender wants. Use the depreciation estimate when you need a resale path instead of a round depreciation number.