Car Ownership Costs
Buying a car is costly, but maintenance and ownership are where the real dollars are spent. IntelliChoice provides five-year-ownership cost estimates for new models. Below, we look at estimated ownership costs for some 2006-model-year vehicles.
| Five-Year Ownership Costs | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The ownership costs below are split into two categories: fixed and operating. Fixed costs include depreciation, financing, insurance and state fees; operating costs include fuel, maintenance and repairs (more details). IntelliChoice's rating for each model, based on vehicle class, is also included. Vehicles are ranked by overall model sales in 2005. | |||||
| Sales | Make/Model/Trim | Fixed Costs | Operating Costs | Total Costs | Rating |
| 1. |  Toyota Camry SE | $20,973 | $8,367 | $29,341 | Better than average |
| 2. |  Honda Accord EX | $21,401 | $7,664 | $29,066 | Excellent |
| 3. |  Honda Civic LX | $17,234 | $7,162 | $24,396 | Excellent |
| 4. |  Nissan Altima 3.5 SE | $23,789 | $9,229 | $33,017 | Better than average |
| 5. |  Chevrolet Impala LS* | $22,632 | $9,237 | $31,872 | Excellent |
| 6. |  Toyota Corolla LE | $15,992 | $7,293 | $23,285 | Excellent |
| 7. |  Chevrolet Cobalt LT | $19,883 | $7,964 | $27,850 | Average |
| 8. |  Chevrolet Malibu LT* | $22,668 | $8,486 | $31,157 | Average |
| 9. |  Ford Taurus SE* | $24,430 | $10,336 | $34,765 | Worse than average |
| 10. |  Ford Focus SE | $19,569 | $8,398 | $27,970 | Average |
*Denotes vehicles with standard automatic transmissions. | |||||
Posted on 2/23/06