The Most And Least Affordable Cars To Run In The USA

When we talk about cars being affordable or pricey, we’re talking about more than just the sticker price. You might be able to drive it home after putting down the money you budgeted for it, but what if it costs you a few hundred dollars monthly in fuel, insurance, and maintenance? On the flipside, a brand-new car like a Tesla Model Y may come with a steep price tag but, theoretically, your monthly cost of ownership is supposed to be lower due to fuel savings. Right?

It’s not always easy to tell which models will be more or less expensive to run in the long-term – and you can’t simply claim that all EVs are cheaper to run. So when is it worth spending a little more now to spend a lot less later? Self Financial recently published results of a study on the fifty top-selling cars in the US, determining which models are the most, and least, affordable to drive year after year. Here’s what the study turned up.

The Average Top-Seller Will Cost You Between $5,485 And $6,544 Per Year

The Self Financial study on cost of ownership is based on the fifty top-selling models across all segments in the US from 2022 to 2024. The key factors taken into account for the study include:

• Fuel costs
• Maintenance costs
• Insurance rates
• Various fees and taxes

Outright purchase price wasn’t included as a factor; the numbers here can be assumed to account for your total ownership cost only after the loan is paid off.

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The broad averages to run a best-selling car (more on that later), according to the Self Financial study, look like this:

Variances occur depending on fuel type and powertrain type, however. Breaking it down by segment gives us the following numbers:

It’s interesting to note that hybrids are the most affordable segment to run, according to this study, specifically because of the cost to insure electric vehicles. While electric vehicles have fewer components that can break down and need replacing, insurance companies don’t like the fact that, when something does break in an EV, it’s usually pretty expensive to fix and may even require replacement instead.

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Expensive body work for outliers like the Tesla Cybertruck and the Rivian R1T don’t help matters either, skewing the average cost of individual repairs upwards, and the simple fact that electric vehicles rank among the most expensive on the market means they’re going to be more expensive to insure regardless of any other factors.

A key takeaway here is that fuel makes up more than a third of the total cost of ownership, on average, meaning that bringing your fuel prices down may be the single most important thing you can do to save money as a car owner.

The Most Affordable Top-Selling Cars To Run

While the average cost of ownership favors hybrids, Self Financial’s pick for the most affordable car is actually the Tesla Model 3, with the study citing an annual running cost of $5,061 for the EV. Only one hybrid actually makes the top ten, alongside two EVs and seven gas-powered cars. In other words, when you’re ready to buy a new vehicle, it makes more sense to look at the ownership costs of each individual car, truck, or SUV, rather than worry too much about segment averages.

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The following models make up the study’s top ten, ranked first to last.

One of the most unsurprising discoveries here would be Honda’s claim to three of the ten most affordable vehicles in America. There’s not much you can get the car community to agree on, but you won’t find many people calling Hondas unreliable gas-guzzlers.

The Most Expensive Top-Selling Cars To Run

Self Financial marked the seven-seat, three-row Chevy Tahoe as the most expensive vehicle in the US to run, at an annual cost of $8,046, which comes out to $1,584 more than the $6,462 study average. This has a lot to do with the vehicle’s steep gas expenses, averaging more than three thousand dollars a year to refuel.

The following are the ten most expensive cars to run, according to Self Financial, ranked from most to least expensive.

It’s no surprise to see all the full-size trucks and SUVs making the list. But, it should be noted that when you see something like the F-Series listed, it includes everything from the 2.7-liter EcoBoost models, averaging a combined twenty miles to the gallon, to the Super Duty V8 models that are lucky to average half that. If you’re buying an F-150, a Ram 1500, or a Silverado 1500, expect your running costs to skew a little cheaper than what you see listed here.

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Broad Averages Can Only Tell Us So Much

Studies like this one can go a long way to pointing buyers in the right direction. Getting a steep discount on a Chevy Traverse might seem like a deal that’s too good to pass up, but when you’re spending $620 a month to keep it running, before you take your payment plan into account, you might not be saving as much money as you thought you’d be saving. But, remember that ownership costs vary wildly from owner to owner, even if they’re driving the exact same car. Here are a few easy ways to keep those numbers nice and low:

• Learn to do basic maintenance yourself. Basic tasks like tire rotations, air filter replacements, and oil changes are fairly easy to do in your own driveway, and doing it yourself can save you hundreds of dollars a year.
• Review your car insurance. Know what you’re paying for, and know that you can switch providers anytime you like if you can find a better deal.
• Maximize your fuel efficiency. Keep your car free of clutter, plan routes in advance for efficiency, and consider walking when it’s a short trip.

Five dollars saved here, ten there, might not seem like much, but over the course of a year, five years, ten years, it can add up to several thousand in savings, as the data provided above should go to prove. Any little thing you can do to keep those costs down is usually worth the effort.

Sources: Self Financial, EPA