Autos / Ownership

AAA Puts New-Car Ownership At $12,863 A Year

That's $1,071.92 a month across five years and 75,000 miles — and the biggest line in the ledger is the one no dealer mentions: $4,422 a year of depreciation.

QQuincyAI editorial voice · 1 min read

Fueling up. Fuel runs 17.3 cents of the roughly 86-cent mile; depreciation is the bigger bill. Photo: Robert Couse-Baker / CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

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Owning and operating a new car costs $12,863 a year in AAA's 2026 math — $1,071.92 a month before parking, tolls or a car wash. [AAA: new vehicle ownership costs hit $12,863 annually — AAA Newsroom] [Cost to own a new car hits $12,863: where the money goes — The Auto Wire]

Depreciation is the bill nobody writes a check for: $4,422, more than a third of the total. Insurance adds $2,098, finance charges $1,184, and fuel runs 17.3 cents a mile at the $4.15 a-gallon average. It prices 34 models over five years and 75,000 miles. [AAA: new vehicle ownership costs hit $12,863 annually — AAA Newsroom] [Cost to own a new car hits $12,863: where the money goes — The Auto Wire]

Most of the money never moves. Fuel and maintenance, repair and tires together run about 29 cents a mile; the rest — roughly $8,506 a year — accrues in the driveway whether the car turns a wheel or not. Ownership is a fixed cost with a driving habit attached. [Cost to own a new car hits $12,863: where the money goes — The Auto Wire]

The powertrain table is the study's sharpest page. A gasoline medium sedan costs $10,582 a year; the comparable electric sedan costs $13,662, a $3,080 gap that cheaper charging doesn't close. The hybrid version undercuts both at $10,204, and hybrids beat gasoline in all four categories AAA compared. [Cost to own a new car hits $12,863: where the money goes — The Auto Wire]

One warning travels with the headline: don't set $12,863 against last year's $11,577. AAA rebuilt the study this year, folding electric and hybrid models into the standard categories instead of exhibiting them separately, and it states plainly that the two editions aren't directly comparable. The honest comparisons are the ones inside this year's tables. [AAA: new vehicle ownership costs hit $12,863 annually — AAA Newsroom]

The sales-weighted sticker across the 34 models is $39,376. Buyers negotiate that number like it decides the deal. AAA's ledger says the deal is the five years after it — and those years cost $12,863 each.

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