The Hidden Costs Of Buying A Car

It’s Not Just The Expense Of Financing

If you’re going to own a vehicle, expect to pay around $3,000 a year in associated operational costs after full ownership, and in exclusion of gasoline. If you’re financing a vehicle, expect it to cost you $5k to $8k a year, depending on how you manage to get the thing financed. Assuming you own the car outright, let’s look at the hidden costs making up that annual $3k ownership fee.

Insurance

Insurance will cost you $250 to $3,000 a year in and of itself, depending on the vehicle you drive and your driving record. Teenagers with a bunch of tickets under their belts are going to pay a massive premium. Meanwhile, if you’re driving an RV around annually with a good driving record, it’s only going to cost you about $100 a month for full coverage. Liability will only be a few hundred a year, call it $300 minimum.

Registration

Again depending on your vehicle’s value, registration and licensing fees will have an associated cost. A vehicle that is worth about $57k new will be around $300, $350 a year to get properly registered and licensed. The less the MSRP, the less in registration you have to pay annually. The way this is reckoned isn’t on what you paid for the vehicle, but it’s “new” value.

Changing The Oil

You’re going to have to change your oil every one to four months, it will be a minimum of $40 per change; up to $120. That means you’re looking at $120 to $360 a year in oil changes, on average.

Generalized Maintenance

Expect about $1,000 in maintenance fees of one kind or another every year. Most big repairs will be under this, but sometimes you’ll go a year or two without any sort of maintenance at all; so it averages out. If you budget $1k a year for repairs, you should be pretty good, so long as you keep up with the maintenance and drive defensively.

Keeping The Vehicle Clean

You should wash your vehicle about twice a month, and spend at least ten dollars doing it. Vacuuming the inside will probably run you up another $2 to $5, so call it $24 to $30 a month in cleaning costs, or $288 to $360 a year, total.

Incidentals That Aren’t Expected

There are always incidentals. Maybe some kid on a bicycle knocks your mirror off, and you’ve got to order a new one online. Maybe you’re taking an air freshener down from your rearview mirror, knock that off, and you must buy a kit to properly reattach it. Maybe some sort of sealant spills on a seat or a floor mat, predicating replacement. Maybe you get a traffic ticket for $200. Budget about $500 a year for incidentals.

Know What You’re Getting Into

Now if all these hidden costs were maintained at the minimum threshold, you’d be looking at $2,308 a year. At maximum, you’re looking at $5,570. The average between those two comes out to $3,939; but for most, it’s not likely you’ll end up paying more than about $3,000 a year, on average, to own your vehicle; or about $8.21 a day in addition to gas.

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