Owning a new car costs about $12,863 a year on average in 2026, according to AAA’s Your Driving Costs study. That works out to roughly $1,072 a month, or about 86 cents for every mile if you drive 15,000 miles a year. The single biggest piece is depreciation at $4,422 a year, followed by fuel, insurance and maintenance. Vehicle type moves the total a lot: a small sedan averages about $9,259 a year, while a half-ton pickup averages about $16,449.
Those numbers describe a specific owner: someone who buys a new vehicle with a loan, carries full coverage insurance, drives 75,000 miles over five years and then trades the car in. Your real cost can be much lower or higher. Below is what each category includes, what each vehicle type costs per year, how mileage changes the math, and a simple method to estimate your own number before you buy.
What AAA’s 2026 figure includes
AAA prices 34 popular models across seven vehicle categories, averages the cost over five years and 75,000 miles, and reports it per year and per mile. The average sales-weighted sticker price in the 2026 study was $39,376. Here is how the $12,863 breaks down:
- Depreciation: $4,422 a year, about 34% of the total. This is the gap between what you pay and what the car is worth at trade-in after five years.
- Fuel: about $2,595 a year, or roughly 17 cents a mile. AAA used a regular gas price of $4.152 a gallon, the 12-month average through May 2026.
- Insurance: $2,098 a year, about 16% of the total, priced for full coverage on an experienced driver with a clean record.
- Maintenance, repairs and tires: about $1,761 a year, or roughly 12 cents a mile. It covers scheduled service, wear items, estimated repairs and one set of replacement tires over five years.
- Finance charges: $1,184 a year in loan interest. AAA’s model assumes a five-year loan with 15% down.
- License, registration and taxes: $802 a year, which spreads sales tax and title fees from the purchase across the five years along with annual registration.
Parking, tolls, car washes, tickets and roadside service plans are not in AAA’s categories. If you pay for a garage spot or commute on a toll road, add those yourself, because they can rival the fuel bill in some cities.
AAA’s 2025 study put the average at $11,577. AAA changed its method for 2026 by adding hybrid and electric models to its standard categories, so it says the two years should not be compared directly. The inputs did rise, though: the 2025 study used $3.151 gas and $1,694 for insurance, versus $4.152 gas and $2,098 for insurance in 2026.
Annual cost by vehicle type
The category you buy matters more than almost any other choice. Bigger, heavier vehicles cost more to buy, burn more fuel, wear through pricier tires and usually cost more to insure. These are AAA’s 2026 gasoline averages at 15,000 miles a year.
| Vehicle type | Cost per mile | Per year | Per month | Over 5 years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Small sedan | 61.7 cents | $9,259 | $772 | $46,295 |
| Medium sedan | 70.4 cents | $10,555 | $880 | $52,775 |
| Subcompact SUV | 71.7 cents | $10,752 | $896 | $53,760 |
| Compact SUV | 77.8 cents | $11,670 | $973 | $58,350 |
| Midsize pickup | 87.3 cents | $13,089 | $1,091 | $65,445 |
| Medium SUV | 96.3 cents | $14,447 | $1,204 | $72,235 |
| Half-ton pickup | $1.10 | $16,449 | $1,371 | $82,245 |
The gap between the cheapest and most expensive category is about $7,190 a year, or close to $36,000 over five years. AAA also compared gas, hybrid and electric versions in four categories and found hybrids cost the least per year in every one. Electric sedans cost more than gas sedans in the study mostly because of steeper depreciation, even though charging at home cost 66% to 70% less than gasoline.
Example: Maria is choosing between a compact SUV and a medium SUV for her 15,000-mile-a-year commute. Using AAA’s averages, the compact SUV runs about $973 a month all in, and the medium SUV about $1,204. Unless she regularly needs the third row or the towing capacity, the smaller SUV saves her roughly $2,780 a year, which is about $13,900 over five years.
Depreciation is the cost you never get a bill for
Depreciation never shows up as a payment, which is why people underestimate it. At $4,422 a year, the average new vehicle in AAA’s study loses about $22,110 over five years, or roughly 56% of its sticker price. You feel it when you trade in or sell, or when an insurer totals the car and pays only its current value.
Three choices control most of it. Buying a vehicle that is two or three years old lets the first owner absorb the steepest early drop. Picking a model with strong resale history helps, since compact trucks, popular small SUVs and hybrids have tended to hold value better than large luxury SUVs and many EVs. Keeping the car longer spreads the purchase over more years, because depreciation slows down after the first few.
Fuel: the cost that changes with your habits
Fuel is the easiest cost to estimate for yourself. The formula is miles driven per year, divided by your real-world miles per gallon, times your local price per gallon. Use the combined MPG rating from FuelEconomy.gov as a starting point, then knock off a little if you do mostly short trips or drive in cold weather.
For electric cars, divide your miles by the car’s miles per kWh and multiply by your electricity rate. AAA used 18 cents per kWh for home charging in 2026. An EV that goes 3.5 miles per kWh and drives 12,000 miles uses about 3,430 kWh, which costs roughly $617 a year at that rate. Public fast charging usually costs several times more per kWh than charging at home, so EV owners without a home charger should price their local stations instead.
Example: Jordan drives 12,000 miles a year in a sedan that gets 30 MPG, and gas near him is $3.50. That is 400 gallons, or $1,400 a year. If he switched to a hybrid rated at 48 MPG, he would buy 250 gallons and spend $875, saving about $525 a year on fuel alone.
Insurance, maintenance, fees and interest
Insurance is the most personal number on the list. AAA’s $2,098 assumes full coverage for an adult with years of experience and no accidents. A teen driver, a recent at-fault claim, a high-theft model or a ZIP code with lots of claims can push your premium far above that, while dropping collision coverage on an older paid-off car can cut it sharply. Get real quotes on the exact vehicle before you sign, since two similar models can be priced quite differently.
Maintenance is low in the first years of a new car and climbs with age. AAA’s per-mile estimate covers oil changes, filters, brakes, a set of tires and typical repairs across the first five years. A ten-year-old car will usually need more: timing components, suspension parts, a battery and more frequent brake work. If you buy older, budget more here and less for depreciation.
Registration and taxes vary widely by state. Some states charge a flat registration fee, while others charge a percentage of the car’s value every year, which can make a newer car noticeably more expensive to register. Check your state DMV’s fee calculator for the exact vehicle. Finance charges depend on your rate and loan length, and paying cash removes them from the yearly cost entirely.
How your mileage changes the cost per mile
Some costs are fixed (insurance, registration, much of depreciation and loan interest) and some rise with every mile (fuel, tires, maintenance). That is why cost per mile drops as you drive more, even though your total bill goes up. In AAA’s 2025 study, the average vehicle cost about $1.00 per mile at 10,000 miles a year, 77 cents at 15,000 miles and 66 cents at 20,000 miles.
Two practical takeaways follow. If you drive very little, a cheaper and older car usually wins, because you are paying fixed costs on a vehicle you barely use. If you drive a lot, fuel economy and tire costs matter more, which is where hybrids tend to pull ahead.
How to estimate your own annual car cost
AAA’s average is a benchmark. Your own number takes about 20 minutes to build with this method:
- Estimate your yearly miles from past service receipts or your odometer, and check the vehicle’s combined MPG (or miles per kWh).
- Calculate fuel: miles divided by MPG, times your local gas price. For an EV, use miles divided by miles per kWh, times your electric rate.
- Get two or three insurance quotes on the exact year, make, model and trim, with the coverage you plan to carry.
- Estimate depreciation: look up the car’s current value and its value for the same model three years older on a pricing guide, then divide the difference by three.
- Add maintenance: use about 10 to 12 cents a mile for a newer car and more for an older one, plus any repair you already know is coming.
- Look up registration and any annual property tax on your state DMV site, and add loan interest from your lender’s payment schedule.
- Add parking, tolls and anything else AAA leaves out, then divide the total by 12 for a monthly figure.
Example: Dev is buying a five-year-old midsize sedan for $18,000 cash and drives 10,000 miles a year. His illustrative budget: about $1,500 a year in depreciation, $1,125 in fuel (10,000 miles at 32 MPG and $3.60 gas), $1,600 for insurance, $1,200 for maintenance and repairs, and $300 for registration. That totals $5,725 a year, or about $477 a month, well under half of AAA’s new-car average, mostly because he has no loan and a smaller depreciation hit.
Common questions
How much does it cost to own a car per month?
AAA’s 2026 study puts the average new vehicle at about $1,072 a month, including depreciation and loan interest. A small sedan averages about $772 a month and a half-ton pickup about $1,371. A paid-off used car can cost far less, often a few hundred dollars a month for fuel, insurance and upkeep.
What is the biggest cost of owning a car?
Depreciation is the largest single cost for a new car, averaging $4,422 a year in AAA’s 2026 study. Fuel and insurance come next. For an older car that has already lost most of its value, insurance, fuel and repairs usually become the biggest items.
Is a used car always cheaper to own than a new one?
Usually, because depreciation and finance charges are lower. Repairs tend to be higher, and a used car with a known problem or a high-cost part such as a transmission can erase the savings. A pre-purchase inspection and a realistic repair budget make the comparison fair.
Does AAA’s cost include parking and tolls?
No. AAA counts fuel, maintenance, repairs, tires, insurance, license and registration fees, taxes, depreciation and finance charges. Parking, tolls, washes, tickets and accessories are extra and can add hundreds or thousands of dollars a year depending on where you live.
How much should I budget for car maintenance each year?
For a newer car, AAA’s 2026 figure works out to roughly $1,760 a year at 15,000 miles, including tires and repairs. Older, higher-mileage cars generally cost more. Setting aside a fixed amount each month keeps a $900 brake and tire visit from becoming a credit card balance.
Before you buy your next car
- Compare vehicle categories first. In AAA’s averages, a compact SUV costs about $2,780 a year less than a medium SUV, and a midsize pickup about $3,360 less than a half-ton.
- Price insurance on the exact trim before you negotiate.
- Run the fuel formula with your own miles and local gas or electric rates.
- Look at three-year-old prices for the model to gauge how fast it loses value.
- Add the costs AAA leaves out, like parking and tolls.
- Check that the total monthly cost, not just the loan payment, fits your budget.
Editorial note: This article is general information, not financial advice. Figures were checked against AAA’s published Your Driving Costs data as of November 2026; your costs will vary by location, driving habits and vehicle, so confirm current numbers with AAA, your insurer and your state DMV.