Car ownership costs $5,851 per year before auto loan payments: Analysis

Car buyers often focus on the sticker price and monthly payment, but those are just the beginning of the costs they face.

U.S. drivers spend an average of $5,851 a year on car ownership, according to a new study from insurance comparison site Insurify. The largest amount, $2,237, is the average annual cost of full coverage auto insurance. Gasoline costs an additional $2,126, and maintenance or repairs account for the remaining $1,488. This analysis is based on insurance quote data from Insurify and gas and maintenance cost estimates from AAA.

This annual expense is on top of your monthly auto loan payment, and the average payment for a new car in the second quarter was $765, according to credit reporting company Experian. For used cars, the average payment was $542.

The average price paid for a new car in July was $49,855, according to Kelley Blue Book, an auto pricing and research firm. The average list price for a used car that month was $27,028, according to market research firm Cox Automotive.

These prices are approximately 34% and 29% higher than July 2019, respectively. The overall inflation rate since July 2019 has been around 30%.

But the cost of auto insurance has jumped about 50% since July 2019, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data through July. Much of that increase occurred after the pandemic, with premiums jumping more than 40% from mid-2022 to mid-2024, according to BLS data. Julia Taliesin, an economic analyst at Insurify, said premiums rose in part because inflation increased vehicle repair costs.

Taliesin said advanced technology in cars is also factored into insurance cost calculations.

“Newer vehicles have more sophisticated electronics and systems, so they cost more to repair than simple vehicles from a few years ago,” Taliesin said. “Higher repair costs mean higher insurance claims, and insurance companies factor that into their rates.”

For car buyers, it’s worth knowing how much it will cost to insure the car you want to take home before you sign on the dotted line.

Karl Brauer, executive analyst at used car research site iSeeCars, said, “Don’t buy a car, new or used, without knowing the insurance details in advance.”

Experts say prices vary widely depending not only on the specs of your car, but also where you live and your driving history. In some states, insurance companies may be allowed to incorporate so-called credit-based insurance scores (which, according to the insurance company, measure whether you are likely to file a claim) into pricing. The lower the insured’s score, the higher the premium charged.

Gasoline prices are also rising, leading to an increase in the cost of car ownership.

As of Friday, the average price for a gallon of unleaded regular gasoline was $4.29, according to AAA. That’s down from May’s 2026 high of $4.56 and well below mid-2022’s $5.01, but prices are 56% higher than in July 2019, when prices were about $2.75 per gallon, according to fuel price tracking app and website GasBuddy.

The price of crude oil, the main ingredient in gasoline and generally the largest component of retail prices, has risen in recent weeks amid growing concerns that the Iran war will drag on and further reduce the ability of Middle East oil tankers to reach global markets.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures, the benchmark U.S. oil price, rose above $102 a barrel last week but fell to about $99 a barrel on Friday, while international benchmark Brent crude futures were trading around $104 a barrel. On February 28, before the war began, these prices were $67 and $72, respectively.

As of Friday, diesel prices were at $6.05 per gallon, an all-time high, according to AAA.

Maintenance and repair costs vary depending on the year and model of your car.

AAA estimates that in 2025, these costs will equal 11.04 cents per new car mile. For a car that drives 15,000 miles per year, that’s $1,656 per year.

This is about 23.5% higher than in 2019, when AAA’s per-mile estimate was 8.94 cents. This equates to $1,341 for a car driven 15,000 miles per year.

Of course, older cars are more likely to need repairs, and experts say used car buyers should keep that in mind.