Add up your car costs

How to read the answer

The calculator splits your total into two halves, and the split matters more than the total.

• Standing costs are what the car costs you for existing: insurance, tax, MOT, breakdown cover, finance interest and depreciation. You pay these whether you drive to Cornwall or leave it on the drive all year. If this half is large, your problem is the car itself — it is too new, too expensive to insure, or too valuable.
• Running costs are what each mile costs: fuel, and the share of servicing, tyres and repairs that wear with use. If this half is large, your problem is mileage — and every mile you remove is money back.

The UK average, for reference, is about £3,580 a year and 47p a mile. Coming in far below that usually means an older car, low mileage, or both. Coming in far above it usually means depreciation — which is invisible until you put it in a box like the one above.

Getting the depreciation number right

This is the figure people guess at, and it is often the largest single line. Two honest ways to fill it in:

1. Look it up. Search the classifieds for your exact car, then for the same model three years older with roughly three years’ more mileage. The gap between the two prices is your three-year depreciation.
2. Use a rule of thumb. A car in the first three years of life loses roughly 15–20% of its value a year. Between about four and eight years old, closer to 10%. Past ten years, often 5% or less — which is exactly why old cars are cheap to own even when they need repairs.