How it works
- Enter the purchase price, how many years you will keep the car and what you expect it to be worth when you sell it.
- Add your yearly driving, fuel economy, fuel price, insurance, maintenance and fees.
- If you finance, enter the down payment, interest rate and loan term. For cash, put the full price as the down payment.
- Read the cost per month, per mile and in total, then check the tables for a longer or shorter ownership and a different resale value.
What total cost of ownership means
Total cost of ownership is everything the car costs between the day you buy it and the day you sell it, minus what you get back when you sell. The biggest piece is usually depreciation, the drop in value, followed by fuel, insurance, interest and maintenance.
How the numbers are calculated
Depreciation is the purchase price minus the resale value. Interest is what you pay to the lender during the years you own the car, using a standard fixed-payment loan. Fuel is miles divided by miles per gallon, times the price per gallon. All the pieces are added and divided by the years owned, the months and the miles driven.