2013 Cost Of Car Ownership Up 2 percent - AAA

Unfortunately, according to an AAA study, owning and maintaining a new sedan will rise in the U.S. by 2 percent – 1.17 cents per mile – in 2013. The leading cost increase is maintenance.  

2013 Cost of Car Ownership up 2 percent - AAA

A new AAA study has found 2013 total car ownership costs will rise by 2 percent.

Each year, AAA collects real-world data to determine the 5-year (75,000) cost of driving a new car. The study looks at a variety of factors like “annual cost of fuel, vehicle repairs, insurance rates, taxes, license fees, rates of depreciation and average finance charges,” according to a Kickingtires.com story.

“Many factors go into the cost calculation of owning and operating a vehicle. This year, changes in maintenance, fuel and insurance costs resulted in the increase to just over 60 cents a mile,” John Nielsen, AAA director of automotive engineering and repair, said in a statement.

AAA breaks down the cost increases into these categories:

  • Maintenance costs up 11.26 percent. This includes the agency’s estimated labor, parts and extended warranty expenses.
  • Insurance costs up 2.76 percent. The study looked at the rates for “a low-risk driver with a clean driving record; the agency cautions that rates vary greatly based on the driver and where they live. For this study, it used prices from five insurance companies across seven states.”
  • Fuel costs up 1.93 percent. Even with more fuel efficient cars, the rising cost per gallon created an increase in fuel costs.

Putting this into perspective, it now costs 60.8 cents per mile to operate a car or $9,122. Compare this to the first study done in 1950 where the average cost was 9 cents per mile.