How much does your car cost you?

What does a car cost on average per year? Cars are not cheap, especially when you own one. But how much on average do we in the Netherlands spend on a car every year? And what is the difference in cost between having a used and a new car?

Today we dive into the sometimes complicated world of all the different car costs: we show you how these costs are built up and discuss the difference between costs for old and new cars. You’ll also find a tool where you can easily calculate your own car expenses. Used cars always seem cheaper, but then is cheap really expensive?

Annual car expenses

A car will cost you the purchase price once, and in addition you will spend money on your car monthly and therefore annually. Every year you spend money on maintenance costs, MOT and depreciation. The amount of your depreciation costs varies greatly. It depends on the type of car you drive, whether it is a new car or a used car, and in addition, how long you have had the car.

The cost of having a used car is generally lower than the cost of having a new car. Therefore, it is much better for your wallet to buy a used car. This has everything to do with depreciation. A brand new car already loses about 5% of its value when you drive it out of the showroom, and after a year it has depreciated by as much as 20%.

After that, the value drops an average of about 10% each year. Simple arithmetic tells us that a car will then have lost about half its value after five years. So if you buy a new €30,000 car, you will lose €15,000 on it during the first five years. That’s 3,000 euros a year. However, if you buy it after five years, then it will be worth 9000 again five years later and thus cost “only” 6000 euros in depreciation (1200 euros per year). That’s a difference of 1,800 euros.

Monthly car expenses

On a monthly basis, in addition to road tax, you obviously pay premiums for your car insurance. This can vary in amount by the amount of your coverage, the number of claim-free years and the type of car you drive. Don’t forget fuel costs, fuel prices lately have not been to be enjoyed and therefore important to understand.

By knowing the consumption of your car and the number of miles you drive per month times the current gasoline or diesel prices. That way you know how much you are spending on your fuel. In addition, you also spend money on maintenance costs and every now and then you need to change your car’s oil, replace your windshield wipers and especially if you love to tear up occasionally your brake pads. It is wise to set aside a monthly amount to cover these costs.

Are you curious about the cost of your car?

All these variables can sometimes seem complicated. Therefore, most do not have insight into what they actually spend on their car. You can often estimate your fixed expenses but should you want to be sure, you can easily calculate it yourself. By specifying some of your expenses and the consumption of your car, for example, you can use Independer’s car cost calculator tool to