Hawaii and California Most Expensive States to Own a Car While New Hampshire and South Dakota Least Expensive, According to Edmunds.com
Hawaii and California Most Expensive States to Own a Car While New Hampshire and South Dakota Least Expensive, According to Edmunds.com
SANTA MONICA, Calif. — May 4, 2010 — A study by Edmunds.com, the premier resource for automotive information, shows that owning a vehicle in Alaska, California or Hawaii over a five-year period is about $10,000 more expensive than owning the same vehicle in New Hampshire, South Dakota or South Carolina for the same duration.
This study employs data from Edmunds.com's True Cost to Own® tool that projects model-specific, regional average vehicle five-year ownership costs, consisting of depreciation, financing, taxes, fees, insurance premiums, fuel costs, maintenance and repairs for new and used vehicles. The tool is available at no charge to Web site visitors, and provides ownership cost information for both new and used vehicles.
"Many new car buyers neglect to think about the fact that choosing a more expensive vehicle is likely to cause them to pay higher sales tax and more interest on their loans, which may drain their household budget more than expected," said Karl Brauer, Editor at Large and Senior Analyst for Edmunds.com. "People are also often surprised by differences in car insurance, fuel and maintenance costs when they change vehicles. It's always a good idea to carefully consider all aspects of vehicle ownership before making a final decision on a new car."
The following states have the lowest average vehicle ownership costs in the country:
| States with Lowest Average Five-Year Vehicle Ownership Costs* | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| State | Taxes and Fees | Depreciation | Finance & Interest | Insurance | Fuel Costs | Maintenance | Repairs | Total True Cost to Own® |
| New Hampshire | $221 | $16,359 | $3,998 | $5,739 | $9,760 | $2,310 | $754 | $39,136 |
| South Dakota | $1,693 | $16,417 | $4,328 | $4,819 | $9,892 | $2,549 | $831 | $40,524 |
| South Carolina | $378 | $16,329 | $4,039 | $7,577 | $9,217 | $2,451 | $777 | $40,763 |
| Wisconsin | $1,835 | $16,423 | $4,202 | $5,182 | $9,899 | $2,855 | $966 | $41,358 |
| North Dakota | $1,896 | $16,416 | $4,086 | $5,694 | $10,026 | $2,464 | $793 | $41,371 |
The following the states have the highest average vehicle ownership costs in the country:
| States with Highest Average Five-Year Vehicle Ownership Costs* | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| State | Taxes and Fees | Depreciation | Finance & Interest | Insurance | Fuel Costs | Maintenance | Repairs | Total True Cost to Own® |
| Hawaii | $1,787 | $17,252 | $5,423 | $11,078 | $12,250 | $2,592 | $855 | $51,233 |
| California | $3,430 | $16,355 | $5,239 | $10,242 | $11,180 | $3,018 | $1,020 | $50,480 |
| Alaska | $503 | $17,136 | $4,532 | $11,772 | $12,320 | $2,838 | $981 | $50.078 |
| Nevada | $3,805 | $16,455 | $4,983 | $9,325 | $10,286 | $2,914 | $981 | $48.745 |
| Connecticut | $2,004 | $16.375 | $4,761 | $10,572 | $10,481 | $2,844 | $958 | $47,990 |
*As of April 22, 2010. Additional data is available upon request.
The True Cost to Own® calculations use the following assumptions:
- Ownership expenses are for a five-year time span
- Vehicles are driven an average of 15,000 miles per year
- Vehicles are financed using traditional financing and not leased
- Buyers are paying 10 percent down on the vehicle
- Buyers are in the "Gold" credit tier for the purpose of determining the finance rate
- The loan term is 60 months
- Buyers represent the average demographic for insurance rates
About Edmunds
Edmunds publishes four Web sites that empower, engage and educate automotive consumers, enthusiasts and insiders. Edmunds.com, the premier online resource for automotive consumer information, launched in 1995 as the first automotive information Web site. Its most popular feature, the Edmunds.com True Market Value®, is relied upon by millions of people seeking current transaction prices for new and used vehicles. Edmunds.com was named "Best Car Research Site" by Forbes ASAP, has been selected by consumers as the "Most Useful Web Site" according to every J.D. Power and Associates New Autoshopper.com Study(SM), was ranked first in the Survey of Car-Shopping Web Sites by The Wall Street Journal and was rated "#1" in Keynote's study of third-party automotive Web sites. Edmunds is headquartered in Santa Monica, California, and maintains a satellite office in suburban Detroit.
