Frugal folks know that buying a good, dependable car is one of the best ways to lower your overall costs. If you buy the wrong vehicle, you might end up needlessly paying hundreds or even thousands of dollars in extra maintenance costs.
But which cars are the best — and worst — buys for such cost-conscious folks?
Recently, Consumer Reports surveyed its members and asked them how much they paid out of pocket in total car maintenance costs over the past 12 months.
Such costs include things like:
- Oil changes
- Tires
- Repairs
On the other hand, collision repair costs and some other costs related to inflation and tariffs were not included.
Consumer Reports notes that figuring out which cars have the highest and lowest car repair costs can be tricky because manufacturers such as BMW, Nissan and Toyota all offer free maintenance to buyers over specific periods.
In addition, cars generally need more maintenance and repairs as they age. That means newer cars don’t need much work. And even if a newer car bucks the trend and requires a trip to the shop, Consumer Reports notes that the vast majority of new-car warranties last for at least three years.
With all that in mind, it can still pay off if you do the hard work of determining which vehicles are likely to have the lowest repair costs. In a summary of the Consumer Reports findings, Steven Elek, who oversees auto data analytics, says:
“The difference to maintain a car, on average, between some brands can be thousands of dollars over a 10-year time frame. In particular, expensive luxury vehicles are often quite expensive to maintain over time.”
Over a 10-year period, these are the cars that have the highest maintenance and repair costs on average:
- Land Rover: $19,460
- Porsche: $17,900
- Mercedes-Benz: $12,630
- Audi: $11,350
- BMW: $11,000
- Volvo: $10,330
- Mini: $10,200
- Infiniti: $10,020
- Ram: $8,650
- Subaru: $7,920
On the other hand, these three brands have the lowest repair costs on average over 10 years:
- Buick: $5,260
- Lincoln: $5,620
- Toyota: $5,950
In the summary of the Consumer Reports findings, Elek notes that domestic automakers often have less expensive parts, which often means lower repair costs.
He also emphasizes the need to check predicted reliability before purchasing a car, as well as researching how much it will cost to insure the vehicle.
If you end up buying a new ride, make sure to shop around for car insurance. There are now free online comparison tools that make it quick and easy to find the best rate.
Read the full article here
