Everyone knows owning a car involves much more than the purchase price. There’s taxes, insurance, registration fees, gas, and maintenance, among other costs, which means that the price tag for new cars can sometimes be almost beside the point after years of ownership. Kelley Blue Book is here to help, crunching the numbers on those extra costs and declaring some winners and losers.
In the seventh edition of their 5-Year Cost To Own Awards, they said that, across the board, Hyundai was the cheapest brand to own and maintain for five years after purchase, while Acura came out on top for luxury brands.
There’s also the Porsche Panamera if you want to go really nice.
Kelley Blue Book’s study takes into account “depreciation, expected fuel costs, finance and insurance fees, maintenance and repair costs, and state fees.”
There were also individual winners. Here’s the full list from KBB:
SUBCOMPACT CAR: Chevrolet Spark
ELECTRIC VEHICLE: Nissan LEAF
COMPACT CAR: Toyota Corolla iM
SUBCOMPACT SUV/CROSSOVER: Honda HR-V
SPORTY COMPACT CAR: Honda Civic Si
COMPACT SUV/CROSSOVER: Subaru Crosstrek
MID-SIZE CAR: Hyundai Sonata
MID-SIZE SUV/CROSSOVER: Jeep Wrangler Unlimited
FULL-SIZE CAR: Chevrolet Impala
FULL-SIZE SUV/CROSSOVER: Chevrolet Tahoe
ENTRY-LEVEL LUXURY CAR: Acura ILX
LUXURY COMPACT SUV/CROSSOVER: Buick Encore
LUXURY CAR: Lexus GS
LUXURY MID-SIZE SUV/CROSSOVER: Infiniti QX60
HIGH-END LUXURY CAR: Porsche Panamera
LUXURY FULL-SIZE SUV/CROSSOVER: Infiniti QX80
SPORTS CAR: Chevrolet Camaro
MID-SIZE PICKUP TRUCK: Toyota Tacoma
HIGH PERFORMANCE CAR: Dodge Challenger SRT
HYBRID/ALTERNATIVE ENERGY CAR: Toyota Prius c
FULL-SIZE PICKUP TRUCK: Ford F-150
MINIVAN: Honda Odyssey
What sticks out to me is the high number of Chevys on that list, and the relative lack of winners from the two others among the Big Three—though Jeep Wrangler’s win won’t surprise anyone, since the depreciation of the Wrangler remains impressively low.
What stands out for Hyundai, KBB says, is that most of the cars are relatively cheap to begin with; they also have a good warranty program, making repair costs low.
You can see the full rankings here, though here’s a snapshot from one of Chevy’s wins:
You’re reading that right: $43,629 over five years just to own a new car! Don’t think about it too much.