Buzz
The real cost of owning a car goes far beyond the initial purchase price. It includes additional expenses such as yearly registration fees, monthly car insurance, and even the occasional parking fine. While regular oil changes and a set of new tires every few years may seem like the main costs, car maintenance can actually accumulate quite a bit over time. However, these costs can vary depending on the vehicle you choose.
A few years ago, the mobile car repair service YourMechanic.com analyzed their own data to identify which car brands and models have the highest maintenance costs over a span of 10 years. Their findings revealed:
At YourMechanic, we maintain a vast dataset covering the make and model of every vehicle we've serviced, along with the types of maintenance performed. We used this data to understand which cars experience the most breakdowns and incur the highest maintenance expenses. To start, we focused on which major car brands were the most expensive to maintain during the first decade of a car’s life. All years of all models by brand were grouped together to calculate the average cost per brand. To estimate annual maintenance costs, we used the expense for every two oil changes, as oil changes are generally done every six months.
Based on their data, BMWs are by far the most expensive brand to maintain, with a 10-year cost of $17,800. They found that luxury brands typically incur the highest long-term ownership costs, but surprisingly, less glamorous vehicles also made the list, including some brands that no longer exist. If you’re considering buying a used car, it’s worth checking out the list, as many aging Pontiacs ($11,800 in 10-year maintenance costs) and Saturns ($12,400 in 10-year maintenance costs) are still in use and accumulating maintenance costs.
Toyota stands out as the best option for maintenance value according to the list. The now-defunct Scion and Lexus brands ranked second and third for the least expensive cars to maintain, respectively. Both brands were part of the Toyota group, with some Scion models being rebranded as Toyotas after the 2016 model year.
To see the maintenance costs across all brands, take a look at the graphic below. The complete article provides more details about how costs evolve over time and how they differ by specific model.
