--- title: Owning a Car Now Costs Over $1,000 a Month, on Average description: The total cost of car ownership — including auto insurance, car loans, gas prices, depreciation and more — is now over $1,000 a month. authors: - name: Pete Grieve role: Lead News Reporter url: https://money.com/author/pete-grieve/ bio: Pete Grieve is a personal finance reporter at Money who frequently writes about news and trends related to car buying, auto insurance and gas prices. education: University of Chicago, BA Political Science at_money_since: 2022 articles: 602 covers: - Personal Finance - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Debt - Economy and Politics - Education - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes social: - https://twitter.com/pete_grieve - https://linkedin.com/in/pete-grieve-b5aa02138 - https://www.facebook.com/petegrieve4 editors: - name: Brad Tuttle role: Senior Editor url: https://money.com/author/brad-tuttle/ bio: Brad Tuttle is a former senior editor at Money with over 10 years’ experience covering a vast number of personal finance topics, including careers, cars, travel, budgeting, investing, insurance, credit cards, consumer psychology, real estate, banking, and shopping and deals. education: Columbia University School of Journalism, MS at_money_since: 2014 articles: 366 covers: - Personal Finance - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Economy and Politics - Education - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Pets - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes - Technology social: - https://twitter.com/bradrtuttle - https://linkedin.com/in/brad-tuttle-834b225 former_staff: true published: '2023-08-30T20:25:51.000Z' modified: '2023-08-30T20:25:51.000Z' section: Personal Finance tags: - cars - News word_count: 476 canonical: https://money.com/owning-new-car-cost-total-2023/ type: NewsArticle source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![Photo-illustration of car keys with a price tag.](https://img.money.com/2023/08/News-Cost-Owning-Car.jpg) The annual cost of owning a new car now adds up to more than $12,000 as prices related to [insurance](https://money.com/best-auto-insurance/), [auto loans](https://money.com/best-auto-loan-rates/) and the vehicles themselves have all edged higher. AAA found in a [new report](https://newsroom.aaa.com/2023/08/annual-new-car-ownership-costs-boil-over-12k/) that the average monthly cost of owning and operating a new vehicle increased from $894 per month in 2022 to $1,015 in 2023. That's an increase of $1,454 over the course of a year. New car prices are finally leveling out, but the damage is done. The [average transaction price](https://money.com/buy-car-under-20000-dollars/) of a new car is currently over $48,000, up from about $46,400 at the start of 2022. "Due to global supply chain issues and constrained inventory of new vehicles, car prices rose dramatically in 2022. And while the situation continues to improve, the spillover effects are keeping prices high," Greg Brannon, director of automotive research at AAA, said in the report. Annual operating costs (fuel and maintenance) are $3,864 on average in 2023, while ownership costs (depreciation, finance charges, insurance and fees) total $8,318. The analysis is based on 15,000 miles per year of driving. ## An Extended Car Warranty lets you drive with confidence ### Get the best vehicle protection plan available by clicking on your state! [See Details](https://money.com/pr/i939a4cde9d1?ap_referrer=%2Fowning-new-car-cost-total-2023%2F) ## What the research says Ownership costs soared from 2022 to 2023 as vehicle prices, car insurance premiums and auto loan rates increased. - Annual vehicle depreciation rose by $882, shooting up from an average last year of $3,656 to $4,538 this year. (That figure is based on expected depreciation over five years.) - Meanwhile, finance charges nearly doubled, increasing from $658 per year in 2022 to $1,253 in 2023. Auto loan interest rates are at the [highest levels since 2007](https://www.edmunds.com/industry/press/car-shoppers-feel-the-heat-from-scorching-financing-costs-in-q2-according-to-edmunds.html) thanks to the Federal Reserve’s rate hikes aimed at controlling inflation. - And while inflation has cooled down, recent consumer price index readings have shown that [car insurance](https://money.com/best-auto-insurance/) prices are [rising faster](https://money.com/car-insurance-inflation-2023/) than just about anything else in the economy. According to AAA, the annual cost of insurance increased by $177, rising from $1,588 in 2022 to $1,765 in 2023. - For the past two years, higher gas prices made vehicle ownership much more expensive. Gas has been cheaper in 2023 so far, but the average gallon of gas now costs $3.83 per gallon, according to AAA. That price is basically the same — within a couple cents — of the price this time last year. ## Bottom line [New cars](https://money.com/best-autos/) can end up costing a lot more than you might expect. For example, [full-size pickup trucks](https://money.com/best-large-pickup-trucks/) now cost more than $15,000 per year to own and operate on average, which is more than $1 per mile, according to AAA. As you're budgeting for a new vehicle purchase, it's important to keep in mind that the total cost of car ownership is a lot higher than just your monthly payment. ## An Extended Car Warranty can protect you against costly repairs ### Endurance offers extended warranties that protect your vehicle for up to 250,000 miles. For a free quote, click below and get started. [See Details](https://money.com/pr/f84a6a706c21?ap_referrer=%2Fowning-new-car-cost-total-2023%2F) ![](https://s3.consumersadvocate.org/prd/image/image/28507/medium_82a472ac-9432-404d-b735-47a81fc9fc31.webp) Stop paying for costly car repairs and get an Extended Car Warranty! [See Details](https://money.com/pr/ub9375bc33e8?ap_referrer=%2Fowning-new-car-cost-total-2023%2F) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/owning-new-car-cost-total-2023/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Personal Finance", "item": "https://money.com/personal-finance/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "News", "item": "https://money.com/tag/news/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Owning a Car Now Costs Over $1,000 a Month, on Average" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://money.com/#website", "url": "https://money.com", "name": "Money", "publisher": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } }, { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://money.com/owning-new-car-cost-total-2023/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/owning-new-car-cost-total-2023/", "name": "Owning a Car Now Costs Over $1,000 a Month, on Average", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2023-08-30T20:25:51.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/owning-new-car-cost-total-2023/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/owning-new-car-cost-total-2023/#breadcrumb" }, "dateModified": "2023-08-30T20:25:51.000Z" }, { "@type": "NewsArticle", "headline": "Owning a Car Now Costs Over $1,000 a Month, on Average", "articleSection": "Personal Finance", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2023/08/News-Cost-Owning-Car.jpg", "width": 2880, "height": 1920, "caption": "News-Cost-Owning-Car" } ], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Pete Grieve", "url": "https://money.com/author/pete-grieve/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/pete-grieve/#author", "description": "Pete Grieve is a personal finance reporter at Money who frequently writes about news and trends related to car buying, auto insurance and gas prices.", "image": "https://img.money.com/2023/02/peter.png?w=350&h=430&crop=1", "email": "peter.grieve@money.com", "jobTitle": "Lead News Reporter", "alumniOf": "University of Chicago, BA Political Science", "sameAs": [ "https://twitter.com/pete_grieve", "https://linkedin.com/in/pete-grieve-b5aa02138", "https://www.facebook.com/petegrieve4" ], "worksFor": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } } ], "publisher": "https://money.com/#organization", "datePublished": "2023-08-30T20:25:51.000Z", "description": "The total cost of car ownership — including auto insurance, car loans, gas prices, depreciation and more — is now over $1,000 a month.", "abstract": "The total cost of car ownership — including auto insurance, car loans, gas prices, depreciation and more — is now over $1,000 a month.", "@id": "https://money.com/owning-new-car-cost-total-2023/", "inLanguage": "en-US", "dateModified": "2023-08-30T20:25:51.000Z", "editor": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Brad Tuttle", "url": "https://money.com/author/brad-tuttle/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/brad-tuttle/#author", "description": "Brad Tuttle is a former senior editor at Money with over 10 years’ experience covering a vast number of personal finance topics, including careers, cars, travel, budgeting, investing, insurance, credit cards, consumer psychology, real estate, banking, and shopping and deals.\r\n\r\n", "image": "https://img.money.com/2014/01/Brad-Tuttle.png?w=226&h=247&crop=1", "alumniOf": "Columbia University School of Journalism, MS", "sameAs": [ "https://twitter.com/bradrtuttle", "https://linkedin.com/in/brad-tuttle-834b225" ] } ], "wordCount": 476, "keywords": [ "cars", "News" ], "about": [ { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Personal finance", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_finance" ] }, { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Vehicle", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle" ] }, { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Vehicle insurance", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle_insurance" ] } ] } ] } ```