Cars.com Introduces Total Cost of Ownership for New Cars

Cars.com already provides a lot of research tools for new-car shoppers, but that doesn’t mean we ever stop trying to improve and find more ways to assist in that tough buying decision. Recently, Cars.com launched its latest feature, called Total Cost of Ownership. After picking a vehicle you’re interested in via our Research page, just click the Total Cost of Ownership tab shown under the vehicle picture on the left.

The Total Cost of Ownership page will show you exactly how much that new car will cost you over five years, based on its MSRP, estimated depreciation, taxes, financing charges, insurance and fuel costs, and other factors. While there are certainly different expenses for different shoppers, this guide gives an excellent overall snapshot of each vehicle and is great for comparison purposes. Here, we selected the new Acura RDX SUV, which we’ll be testing later this week, so you can see how everything is broken down by dollar amount and percentage, complete with a handy pie graph.