There's more to the cost of owning a car than just paying the sticker price; in fact, the car with the lower sticker price might just turn out to be more expensive over the long haul. In other words, you might have the cash to buy a car, but not the income to afford to own it. That's the difference between price and total cost of ownership (TCO).
The total cost of ownership (over five years) includes six factors:
- Depreciation accounts for 46 percent of TCO (the average model depreciates 65 percent).
- Fuel costs mount up quickly -- especially for SUVs -- constituting 26 percent.
- Interest varies according to vehicle price, but in a typical case (a five-year loan, 15 percent down, 6.4 percent interest), it accounts for 12 percent of TCO.
- Insurancecosts vary according to age, location, driving record, vehicle make and model but on average account for 11 percent.
- Maintenance and repairconstitute 4 percent of TCO on average.
- Sales tax costs owners about as much as maintenance and repair, assuming the national average of 4.9 percent.
So which cars have the lowest cost of ownership? It's a complicated question and your circumstances may vary (especially if you include used cars in the mix), but here are some good candidates among 2010 vehicles. The list also indicates the award-winners in their categories for 2010:
Nissan Versa (also best compact car), Toyota Yaris (also best subcompact car), Hyundai Accent, Honda Civic, Scion xD (also best compact wagon), Honda Fit, Toyota Corolla, Toyota Prius
(also best mid-sized car), Nissan Cube, Chevrolet Aveo5
