Vehicle Cost Per Mile Calculator

What does owning and driving this vehicle cost for every mile? Include fuel, upkeep, fixed costs and loss in value.

Use your own estimates. The defaults are an example, not a forecast. Annualized ownership cost is different from cash spent on an extra trip.

Driving

Annual miles driven

Trip / commute distance (total miles)

Optional: total miles for the entire drive you want priced. No automatic round-trip doubling.

Fuel

Fuel economy (MPG)

Fuel price ($ / gallon)

Maintenance and operating costs

Annual maintenance & repairs ($)

Annual tire cost ($)

Annualize irregular expenses: if a $1,000 set lasts four years, enter about $250 per year.

Other annual operating costs ($)

Parking, toll subscriptions, inspections, car washes or roadside plans. Exclude fuel and costs entered elsewhere.

Fixed ownership costs

Annual insurance ($)

Annual registration / taxes / fees ($)

Other fixed annual costs ($)

Enter only costs not already counted in another section.

Depreciation

Current / purchase vehicle value ($)

Expected resale value ($)

Ownership period (years)

Depreciation is the estimated loss in vehicle value spread across this period.

Financing / interest (optional)

Annual loan interest / financing cost ($)

Enter estimated annual interest/financing cost only. Do not enter the full loan payment: principal is not an additional expense when depreciation is already counted.

Your true vehicle cost

per mile

¢ per mile

per month

per year

Fuel alone: / mile
Non-fuel ownership / operating cost: / mile
Annual fuel gallons: gallons

What drives your cost?

Annual ownership and driving cost breakdown
Category	Annual	Per mile	% of total
Total

Download the current results and inputs. Display values are rounded; calculations and CSV numbers retain unrounded values.

What does cost per mile include?

Fuel is only one part of car ownership cost. This driving cost calculator adds maintenance, repairs, tires, insurance, registration/taxes/fees, depreciation, optional interest and other costs. Divide the annual total by your annual miles to estimate cost per mile. Annual costs are assumed representative of the same ownership period; avoid counting an expense twice.

What is depreciation?

Depreciation is estimated loss in vehicle value: (current or purchase value − expected resale value) ÷ ownership years. This is a simple straight-line estimate, not a depreciation curve or resale forecast. Use values and a period that refer to the same starting point.

Why isn't my full car payment included?

A loan payment contains principal and interest. Principal largely pays for the vehicle itself. Because this calculator separately estimates depreciation/value loss, entering the entire loan payment would double count much of the vehicle's cost. Enter estimated annual interest/financing expense only. This is an ownership-cost estimate, not a cash-flow or loan-payment calculator.

What does trip cost mean?

Fuel-only cost estimates fuel expense for the entered drive. True allocated trip cost assigns a share of annual ownership and operating costs to those miles; it is not a prediction of extra cash expense. For fuel-focused trip planning, use the Road Trip Fuel Cost Calculator.

Understanding the estimate

Costs, fuel economy, mileage and resale value can change. Estimates omit expenses you do not enter and do not predict maintenance events, taxes, interest schedules or future vehicle value. Annualizing costs assumes representative mileage and spending. Zero total costs produce zero category shares because no cost composition exists.