These Are The Cheapest 2018 Cars To Own For Five Years

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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.”

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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.

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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.