🚗 Car cost per use calculator
← Life & LivingPetrol is only the part you pay for at the pump. Add your car's depreciation, insurance, registration and maintenance to see what each drive actually costs — and what you'd spend even if the car barely moved.
Your result
This is the average full cost of owning the car, spread over every trip — not the amount of cash you hand over for one drive.
That trip has more than one price tag
Two prices for the same journey
What if you drove more (or less)?
What if your car holds its value better?
Hypothetical sensitivity checks, not predicted market prices. Your car's actual resale value can be higher or lower than this broad age-based estimate.
Five years in your driveway
A few more ways to look at it
The numbers behind the estimate
| Cost | Over the period | Per trip |
|---|
These are estimates from the values you entered. A resale figure is a guess unless you research your model, age, condition and mileage — real depreciation is not flat through time. Fuel use varies with speed, load, weather and traffic, and the frequency scenario holds your resale estimate and annual costs constant. This is a private ownership cost estimate, not tax depreciation, a business mileage rate, a vehicle valuation or financial advice.
The pump is only part of the bill.
You can fill the tank and know what you've spent before you've even left the petrol station. The trickier part of owning a car is the money that slips past without a receipt for every journey.
There's the insurance renewal, registration, tyres and the occasional repair. And somewhere in the background, your car may be worth a little less than it was before. Those costs don't show up on the dashboard, but they're part of what it takes to have the car ready when you need it.
That's why a short drive can look cheap at the pump and expensive when you divide the whole cost of ownership by the trips you actually make. This calculator combines your estimated resale value, running expenses and driving habits so you can see both sides: what owning the car costs overall, and what an extra journey costs you directly.
It won't tell you whether the freedom of having a car is worth it. It will show you the price tag that is usually hiding behind the fuel gauge.
Weird little truths about your car bill
🅿️ Your parked car still gets a price tag
Lose $15,000 of estimated value over five years and that's about $8.22 a day of allocated depreciation — including days when the car doesn't move an inch. It isn't a charge you pay every morning. It's what the total value loss looks like when you spread it across the calendar.
⛽ A cheaper tank doesn't always mean a cheaper car
Two hypothetical cars could use exactly the same fuel on every trip. But if one loses another $10,000 in value over five years and both make 2,600 trips, that's about $3.85 more per trip before their other bills even enter the picture.
🎯 A 20-cent pump discount does less than you might think
Drive 10,400 km a year in a car using 7.5 L/100 km and you'll buy about 780 litres. Cutting the price by 20 cents a litre saves $156 a year. Good news — but it won't cancel out a $3,000 annual slice of depreciation.
🧮 Fewer trips can make each trip look surprisingly expensive
With $6,200 a year of depreciation and fixed bills, 10 trips a week spread those costs over 520 trips. Drop to five a week and those same fixed costs are divided across just 260 — $23.85 per trip before fuel. Driving less still reduces variable spending; the higher average per-trip figure is not a reason to make unnecessary journeys.
🏷️ Selling for just $2,000 more can change every trip in hindsight
Make 2,600 trips while you own a car and get an extra $2,000 when you eventually sell it: your average ownership cost was around 77 cents less per trip. Not because the petrol changed — because the resale price did.
These are illustrative sums at the prices printed beside them, not average car-market figures or a forecast of what any particular car will be worth.
How does this car cost per use calculator work?
Two ideas do most of the work: the value the car loses while you own it, and the bills that arrive whether you drive or not. Everything else is about spreading those numbers across the trips you actually make.
The value the car loses
Estimated depreciation = starting vehicle value − effective resale value (age-based estimate or your entry)
This is the total estimated value lost over the period. In the default Estimate for me mode the ending value comes from an age-based retained-value benchmark; in Enter my own resale value mode it is your figure. It works for someone planning to buy and for someone entering today's market value of a car they already own.
Automatic example: a new $30,000 car has an illustrative five-year retained value of 45%. Estimated resale is $30,000 × 0.45 = $13,500, so estimated depreciation is $30,000 − $13,500 = $16,500.
Manual example: if you enter $15,000, depreciation is $30,000 − $15,000 = $15,000. That arithmetic is just as valid — it simply isn't the automatic default.
How the age-based resale estimate works
You don't have to guess your car's resale value. Choose its model year and how much longer you'll keep it, and the calculator makes a rough estimate from a broad new-car depreciation benchmark. Newer cars tend to lose value faster; an already-used car starts from what it's worth today, so earlier depreciation isn't counted again.
Estimated resale = value today × (retained-value index at sale age ÷ retained-value index today)
Estimated depreciation = value today − estimated resale
Used-car example: a car worth $30,000 today at age two, held for three more years until age five, has an estimated resale of $30,000 × (0.45 ÷ 0.72) = $18,750. The additional depreciation is $11,250. Taking 45% of today's value would charge the car for its first two years all over again.
The 0–5-year index — 100%, 84%, 72%, 61%, 52%, 45% — comes from Kelley Blue Book's general US new-car retained-value table. After year five, this page assumes 8% annual depreciation through year 10 and 5% a year after that, because the cited table stops at year five. Those later rates are CozyCalcs' own illustrative assumptions, not KBB, RACV or RedBook averages.
Trips and distance
Trips per year = trips per week × 52
Annual distance = trips per year × average distance per trip
Total trips = trips per year × ownership years
Total distance = annual distance × ownership years
Example: 10 × 52 = 520 trips a year; 520 × 20 km = 10,400 km a year; 520 × 5 = 2,600 trips; 10,400 × 5 = 52,000 km.
The 52-week year is an annualising convention, not a dated trip schedule. A trip is one use as you count it, so enter the full distance of a return journey if that is what you call one trip.
Fuel
Fuel used (litres) = kilometres driven × (litres per 100 km ÷ 100)
Fuel spending = litres used × fuel price per litre
Example: 52,000 × 7.5 ÷ 100 = 3,900 L; 3,900 × $1.90 = $7,410 over five years.
If you enter miles, km/L, US MPG, UK MPG or a price per gallon, the calculator converts through the exact standard constants to kilometres, litres per 100 km and money per litre first. The two gallon sizes are different: 1 US gallon is 3.785411784 L and 1 UK gallon is 4.54609 L.
Annual ownership bills
Total recurring bills = (insurance + registration + servicing/repairs + tyres + other) × ownership years
Example: ($1,200 + $800 + $900 + $300) × 5 = $16,000. Tolls and parking are not annual bills: they are entered per trip and multiplied by the trips you make.
Total cost of ownership
Total ownership cost = depreciation + recurring bills + fuel + per-trip extras + optional finance interest and fees
Automatic default: $16,500 + $16,000 + $7,410 + $0 + $0 = $39,910. Manual mode with a $15,000 resale gives the original $38,410.
The purchase price is not added again. Once the value lost — purchase minus resale — is counted, adding the whole purchase price would count the same asset twice. Loan principal is not added either: that money pays for the car. Only interest and separately charged fees belong in the optional finance box.
Four ways to read the same total
Average full cost per trip = total ownership cost ÷ total trips
Average full cost per km = total ownership cost ÷ total distance
Average cost per year = total ownership cost ÷ ownership years
Average cost per month = annual cost ÷ 12
- $39,910 ÷ 2,600 = $15.35 per trip
- $39,910 ÷ 52,000 = $0.7675 → $0.77 per km
- $39,910 ÷ 5 = $7,982 a year
- $39,910 ÷ 60 = $665.1666… → $665.17 a month
No intermediate figure is rounded; the displayed totals come from the full-precision values, which is why adding the rounded breakdown labels can occasionally differ by a cent.
All-in cost versus extra-trip cost
The all-in cost spreads the car's value loss and ongoing bills across the journeys you expect to make. The direct extra-trip estimate counts fuel and whatever tolls or parking you've entered for that journey:
Fuel per trip = distance per trip × (L/100 km ÷ 100) × price per litre
Direct trip estimate = fuel per trip + tolls and parking per trip
For the default car: 20 × 7.5 ÷ 100 = 1.5 L, × $1.90 = $2.85 of fuel per trip. Some wear, maintenance and mileage-related depreciation also increase with driving, but this simplified model does not forecast them — which is why the two figures are kept apart.
Assumptions worth knowing
- The age-based resale figure is a generic model, not a market appraisal. Its 0–5 table is US new-car data and its later rates are CozyCalcs assumptions; different models, countries, market conditions and mileages can produce very different outcomes.
- Model year is only a rough age proxy. Kilometres, make, model, trim, condition and local demand are not in the estimate — use your own resale figure when you have researched one.
- More distance can affect resale, tyres, repairs and future replacement. The frequency slider holds your entered resale estimate and annual costs fixed for interpretability.
- Fuel consumption varies with speed, driving style, road conditions, temperature, load and stop-start travel.
- The annual costs are flat: insurance changes, fuel-price changes, inflation and unusual repairs are not forecast.
- Taxes, permits, finance costs, parking, tolls, charging losses and other expenses are only included if you enter them.
- It is a private ownership cost estimate — not tax depreciation, a business mileage reimbursement, a vehicle valuation or financial advice.
- Non-financial benefits such as convenience, access and time saved are real, and they are not in the figure.
Sources for the cost categories and depreciation
- Kelley Blue Book — Average New Car Depreciation (the 0–5-year retained-value table; general US data, not model-specific)
- RACV — New vs used car (steep early loss and large vehicle-to-vehicle variation)
- Consumer Affairs Victoria — running costs and depreciation
- RACV — Car Running Costs Survey (methodology and cost categories)
- RACV — Car Match FAQs (resale and running-cost limitations)
- RedBook — vehicle-specific valuations (an example of the kind of appraisal this page does not connect to)
- iSeeCars — cars that hold their value (shows how much model and segment matter; not used as the curve)
These links are background sources, not data feeds. No historical survey figure is used as a default or presented as a current price, and no vehicle-specific valuation service is connected to this page.
Car cost per use FAQs
How do I calculate the real cost of each trip in my car?
Add the estimated value the car loses while you own it to the fuel, insurance, registration, maintenance, tyres and other costs you'll pay. Divide that total by the number of trips you expect to make over the same period. The result is your average all-in cost per trip, not necessarily the cash cost of one extra drive.
How is depreciation included?
You can let the calculator estimate a future resale value from the car's age, or enter your own resale figure. It subtracts that ending value from what the car is worth at the start of the period. For example, a $30,000 car sold for $15,000 has lost $15,000 over that period. The age-based estimate is only a general scenario, not a vehicle appraisal.
Should I enter what I originally paid if I already own the car?
If you want to estimate the cost of keeping the car from today onwards, use its approximate market value today rather than what you paid years ago. The earlier drop in value has already happened. If you want a retrospective lifetime ownership calculation, use the original purchase value, actual costs and an ending resale value covering that full period instead.
Is the cost per trip the amount I save when I don't drive?
No. Your insurance, registration and much of the car's depreciation can continue even if you skip today's journey. The fuel and trip-specific tolls or parking are closer to the direct costs you avoid, while extra tyre wear, mileage-related repairs and changes in future resale value may add more. That's why the results show both figures separately.
Does this include car loan repayments?
Not as full repayments. The principal part of a loan pays for the car, and the vehicle's cost is already reflected in its starting value minus eventual resale value. If you want to include financing, add only the loan interest and separately charged fees not already counted, or you could count the same vehicle twice.
Why does my cost per trip increase if I drive less?
Because some of the costs of having a car don't fall in proportion to how often you use it. Insurance, registration and the assumed total value loss are spread across fewer trips. Your total spending may still decrease when you drive less because you buy less fuel. A higher average cost per trip isn't an instruction to drive more.
Can I use this for miles and US dollars?
Yes, if you select miles and a supported currency. The calculator converts distances internally and labels fuel economy and volume units clearly. Choosing a different currency changes the symbol and formatting; it doesn't convert money at a foreign-exchange rate.
How accurate is the resale estimate?
The automatic value comes from a broad age-based benchmark, not a live price lookup for your exact car. It considers estimated age and ownership years, but not your particular model, condition, mileage or local demand. You can enter your own expected resale price and use the sensitivity slider to see how the results change.
Can I use this if my car is already several years old?
Yes. Enter what the car is worth today, its current model year or approximate age, and how many more years you expect to keep it. The estimate starts with today's value and models only the depreciation that might occur from now onwards. It doesn't charge you again for earlier years.
Where do the default depreciation percentages come from?
The initial age-by-age guide uses Kelley Blue Book's broad US new-car retained-value table through age five. Beyond that, the calculator uses clearly labelled illustrative annual assumptions. They aren't a guaranteed resale quote or Australian market averages. A specific vehicle valuation can give you a better starting point.
Do electric, luxury and popular resale models lose value at the same rate?
No. Vehicle segment, model, market conditions, condition and kilometres can have a major effect. A single age-based average cannot know whether your car holds value unusually well or poorly. Change to manual resale mode when you've researched a more realistic value for your exact car.
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