Understanding the True Cost of Car Ownership

Kelley Blue Book has the perfect calculation tool to help you determine the true cost of your next vehicle. You can compare out of pocket costs to learn the true amount of money you may spend on a vehicle beyond the purchase price over the course of ownership. 

KBB breaks down out of pocket costs into the following categories:

• Insurance
• Repairs
• Maintenance
• Fees
• Fuel
• Financing
• plus, don’t forget Depreciation

When you have the knowledge of each of these areas and estimates of cost, you can determine what your true cost to owning a vehicle will be. Then when comparing vehicles side by side, you can further understand what you can afford. 

Compare Sedan A vs. Sedan B

Kelley Blue Book shares a great example of how this tool calculates.

In the example above you can clearly see that over the course of the 5 years, Sedan B costs more, even though the purchase price of both of the vehicles is the same. 

Compare Your Own Vehicles

There is also a custom feature, where you can use this tool to come back and check Best In Class or compare vehicles directly by putting in 2 custom vehicles that you might be looking to purchase and you can find the 5 Year Cost To Own on those vehicles.

You can find this tool on the KBB website by following this link: http://www.kbb.com/new-cars/total-cost-of-ownership/

What this means is that you have the knowledge to really understand what costs are involved in owning a vehicle and you can make smarter car buying decisions. 

Learn more tips from our Car Buying Guide – Everything You Need to Know Before You Invest

 

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