True Cost of Car Ownership Calculator: Keep or Replace Your Car?
Is keeping your current car actually cheaper than buying a newer one? Our free Car Ownership Cost Calculator helps you compare the true cost of driving over the next one to five years. Factor in fuel, insurance, maintenance, repairs, depreciation, and financing to see how much each option could really cost. You can also explore changing gas prices, compare yearly expenses, and discover whether replacing your car makes financial sense.
Keep your car — or replace it? Let’s do the math.
See what driving really costs over the next one to five years. Compare depreciation, fuel, repairs, insurance and financing — without confusing loan payments with ownership cost.
Your driving situation
Try a fictional example or enter the numbers that apply to you. Prices aren’t pulled from dealerships.
Your current car vs. a replacement
Current-car depreciation starts from what it’s worth today, not what you originally paid. Both cars use the same annual driving distance.
Keep your car
Optional: existing loan interest
Enter interest only, not loan principal or the full monthly payment. Your current loan payment schedule is not modeled.
Replace your car
💳 Purchase fees and financing
Sale proceeds offset the replacement purchase. Financing interest is included in ownership cost; loan principal is not counted twice. Any outstanding loan on your current car is not automatically netted from its sale proceeds.
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Where the money goes
Estimated economic ownership costs over your selected period. Depreciation isn’t a monthly bill, but it is a real loss of vehicle value.
| Cost type | Keep | Replace |
|---|
Comparison includes current-car market value today, future resale estimates, operating costs, replacement purchase fees, financing interest, and any difference between market value and actual sale proceeds.
Year-by-year outlook
A planning illustration, not a guaranteed depreciation curve. Vehicle value decline and current-car interest are spread evenly across the years.
| Year | Keep cumulative | Replace cumulative | Cheaper so far |
|---|
Fuel price stress test
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A low upfront payment doesn’t make a car inexpensive to own. Any loan balance remaining after the selected horizon is a real obligation, not an additional line in the ownership-cost total.
Before you decide on your next car
Ownership costs aren’t the only consideration. A safe, reliable car that fits your life can be worth more than the lowest projected dollar figure.
How these calculations work
Keeping: current market value minus future resale value, plus yearly fuel and other running expenses and any existing-loan interest you enter. Replacing: replacement purchase price minus future resale value, plus operating expenses, transaction costs, and interest paid on the replacement loan during the selected period. A difference between your current car’s market value and actual sale/trade-in proceeds also affects the replacement comparison.
Fuel: yearly miles ÷ MPG × your estimated gas price. New loan: regular monthly amortization, assuming constant APR and on-time payments. Does not include: inflation, investment returns on cash, future unplanned repairs, sales tax beyond the entered fees, insurance changes, current-car principal payments, or negative-equity rollovers.
Important: This is an illustrative planning tool, not financial advice or a vehicle safety assessment. If your current car has an outstanding loan, confirm its payoff balance and selling costs separately before making a decision. Real resale prices and repairs can vary substantially.