Owning a car can be a pain in the wallet. To prove it, AAA has conducted a study that reveals just how much the average American pays for the privilege of having a car (or truck, or SUV, or minivan) in her driveway. There's good news and bad news to be found in the study. Let's get the bad out of...Read More»
When you're shopping for a new car, it's easy to fixate on sticker prices. But as we all know, buying a car involves more than just paying for it: if you're financing, there's interest to consider, and of course everyone has to shell out for registration and insurance. Most car-related costs can be...Read More»
Car commercials lie. They promise viewers that owning a vehicle is a series of romantic trips to the mountains, conveniently forgetting to mention that cars can be outrageously expensive, even after you've paid off the note. To prove that point, the website YourMechanic, which arranges house calls...Read More»
Owning a car isn't cheap. First, there's the price of the vehicle, which now hovers north of $30,000, on average. Then there's the cost of maintenance, which can be a real headache in some parts of the country. Tack on the price of insurance, fuel, and the occasional pair of fuzzy dice, and you've...Read More»
Opting for the fuel-efficient diesel version of some cars or trucks could save you a lot of money. Or not at all. Vincentric, a company that specializes in assessing total cost of ownership, just made those calculations, and found that diesels as a whole cost more over the long run (considering...Read More»
If you like the Lexus GS 350, but you feel compelled to ‘go green’ with a hybrid, picking the GS 450h hybrid version instead isn’t going to save you money. In fact, it’ll cost you an estimated $8,155 more to own over the course of five years. That’s because paying...Read More»
Cars are pricey these days -- and they're quickly getting pricier. But a new ride costs more than the sum printed on the window sticker, and sadly, many shoppers fail to consider the costs of car ownership when looking for their next vehicle. In some places, that's not such a big deal, but in...Read More»
Owning a car is a major financial responsibility. Apart from paying for it -- which often includes negotiating a loan, adding hundreds or thousands of dollars to the purchase price -- the ongoing expense of insurance, fuel, and maintenance can really eat away at owners' bank accounts. According to...Read More»
Toyota sells the passenger cars with the lowest operating costs, on a brand basis, while Audi offers the best value among luxury cars; meanwhile Chevrolet tops all other truck brands for value-conscious shoppers. ALSO SEE: Idaho & Wyoming Join Texas & Utah In The 80 MPH Club These are all...Read More»
What do the Nissan Leaf, Fiat 500e, and Smart Fortwo Electric Drive (ED) all have in common? Yes, they're all electric vehicles; but they're also among the models estimated by Kelley Blue Book to have the highest five-year depreciation, among all 2014 model-year vehicles. It's a potentially harsh...Read More»
We've been told time and time and time again that young people just aren't that into cars. Apparently, that's the good news. According to a study published by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials and the U.S. Department of Transportation (PDF), the U.S. population...Read More»
Back in August, Bankrate released a study of the costs of car ownership. After analyzing a range of factors -- including registration fees, fuel costs, and insurance -- the website revealed that Georgia is the most expensive state in which to own a vehicle. Only problem is, that's probably wrong...Read More»
It's no secret: buying a car is a major investment. Sadly, shoppers often become fixated on the purchase price of a vehicle, forgetting that the cost of ownership includes many other things, like insurance, maintenance, and fuel. Thankfully, the folks at Bankrate.com have gathered all those figures...Read More»
As you might have gathered through our extended coverage of the 2013 Audi Allroad, we're quite charmed by this rugged, luxurious wagon. It's sensibly sized, very versatile, perky performing, and surprisingly fuel-efficient. And it has us wondering: What if we actually owned this wagon, over the...Read More»
To a very small, select group of enthusiasts, diesel cars or utility vehicles have a lot of allure, with their strong, fuel-efficient engines and, for the most part, a great reputation for long-haul durability. Yet for the rest of us who don’t delight in ‘b5’ biodiesel pumps or...Read More»
Back in the 1980s, the Yugo GV sold for a base price of just $3,990. Even adjusted for inflation, from 1986 to 2013 (about $8,400 in today's money), that's a steal—and one that did indeed prove irresistible for more than 140,000 thrifty Americans. Yet for the most part, the GV—for...Read More»
Looking for a new car? You're probably taking a long hard look at window stickers, vetting rides based on their suggested retail prices. And that's all well and good, but don't forget the costs that follow: according to AAA, the average U.S. car owner now pays $8,946 a year on gas, tires...Read More»
It's easy to compare prices on new cars, but if you really want a clear picture of what a vehicle costs, you need to know more than what's on the window sticker. Kelley Blue Book has taken a range of additional expenses into account and created its first-ever Cost of Ownership Awards. In its...Read More»
