How Much Does Service At 80,000 Miles Or 8 Years Cost?

How Much Do Car Maintenance Costs Increase with Mileage?

The boilerplate car costs $1,400 to maintain up to 25,000 miles, then costs rise rapidly until 100,000 miles. Toyota wins equally the cheapest car to maintain.

by Maddy Martin on

July 21, 2016

The boilerplate American depends on a car for 37 miles of transportation per day. Commuters spend around ane hr in their car every day. Long commutes can exist a bummer, simply breaking down is worse.

Drivers need to know which cars tin can get the distance and which will leave them stranded on the side of the road.

At YourMechanic, we take a huge dataset that includes the brand, model, and mileage of the cars we accept serviced. Previously, nosotros used this data to explore how cars concord up as they age. For this article, we examined how cars stand upward to usage. In other words, which cars have the least maintenance costs as the miles add together up? We as well looked at which types of maintenance go more than mutual with increased mileage.

We began our current analysis past asking how much more information technology costs to maintain the average car for the kickoff 25,000 miles compared to the next 25,000 miles. (In order to estimate maintenance costs by distance, we took the total cost of maintenance for cars in this mileage category and divided information technology by the number of oil changes. Assuming 5,000 miles per oil change, this gives us the cost of maintenance required per mile).

How Do Maintenance Costs Vary With Mileage?
Based on Maintenance Performed by YourMechanic
Mileage	Full Maintenance Costs per 25k Miles
0- 25,000	$1,400
25,000 - 50,000	$two,200
50,000 - 75,000	$iii,000
75,000 - 100,000	$three,900
100,000 - 125,000	$four,100
125,000 - 150,000	$4,400
150,000 - 175,000	$four,800
175,000 - 200,000	$5,000

The average car costs $1,400 to maintain for the showtime 25,000 miles, and the costs increase from at that place. Costs increase dramatically until the 100,000 mile mark, and less intensely after 100,000 miles. A car'due south maintenance costs may top out, or it could be that drivers scrap their cars in one case maintenance costs trump the car'south value.

Which types of cars are the cheapest to maintain? Get-go, we looked at which makes (brands) are cheapest to maintain for the first 75,000 miles.

Which Makes Start Out the Least Expensive?
Based On Maintenance Costs for the Fist 75,000 Miles for All Pop Makes
Rank	Make	Cost First 75k Miles
i	Hyundai	$four,000
2	Kia	$4,000
3	Toyota	$iv,300
4	Nissan	$four,600
5	Subaru	$iv,700
6	Scion	$4,800
seven	Mazda	$4,900
8	Honda	$iv,900
9	Volkswagen	$v,600
10	Acura	$v,700
11	Lexus	$v,800
12	Infiniti	$5,800
13	Jeep	$6,500
14	Mini	$half dozen,500
15	GMC	$6,600
16	Dodge	$6,700
17	Mitsubishi	$7,000
18	Chevrolet	$7,100
19	Ford	$vii,900
xx	Buick	$8,100
21	Chrysler	$eight,400
22	Volvo	$eight,700
23	Audi	$8,800
24	Lincoln	$10,300
25	Saturn	$11,000
26	Cadillac	$11,000
27	Mercedes-Benz	$xi,000
28	Pontiac	$eleven,300
29	BMW	$13,300

There are few surprises here. Entry-level carmakers such equally Hyundai and Kia rank as the least expensive. On the other hand, premium models, such as Mercedes-Benz and BMW, are the most expensive. For the showtime 75,000 miles, these high-end makes are nigh three times as expensive to maintain than the to the lowest degree expensive options. Maintaining loftier-performance vehicles isn't cheap.

But which makes stayed cheap with high mileage? We grouped the data by make and compared maintenance costs across the first 150,000 miles traveled.

Which Makes Require the Least Maintenance in the Long Run?
Based On Maintenance Costs for the Fist 150,000 Miles for All Popular Makes
Rank	Make	Cost Commencement 150k Miles
1	Scion	$10,400
2	Toyota	$11,100
3	Honda	$14,300
4	Subaru	$14,400
5	Lexus	$xiv,700
6	Hyundai	$15,000
7	Nissan	$15,000
8	Mazda	$15,100
nine	Kia	$15,100
10	Volkswagen	$fifteen,300
11	Infiniti	$16,900
12	Mini	$17,500
13	GMC	$18,100
fourteen	Chevrolet	$xviii,900
15	Acura	$19,000
16	Mitsubishi	$19,000
17	Jeep	$19,400
18	Audi	$21,200
19	Ford	$21,700
20	Buick	$22,300
21	Volvo	$22,600
22	Contrivance	$22,900
23	Chrysler	$23,000
24	Mercedes-Benz	$23,600
25	Saturn	$26,100
26	Pontiac	$24,200
27	Cadillac	$25,700
28	Lincoln	$28,100
29	BMW	$28,600

Cars that initially seem inexpensive don't always remain a bargain. Entry-level makes Hyundai and Kia require the to the lowest degree expensive maintenance for the commencement 75,000 miles, only drib to 6th and 9th place over 150,000 miles.

High-end makes such as Mercedes-Benz and BMW offset out expensive (nearly $11,000 or more for the first 75,000 miles) and stay just near equally expensive as mileage increases. Mid-range car brands are a mixed bag. Dodge drops from 16th to 22nd place due to maintenance costs rising with increased mileage, but Subaru moves from fifth place to 4th place. Subaru keep costs downward even as miles accumulate.

Toyota (and its brand Scion) is the clear winner.

Beyond looking at the make of car, we were curious about which models have the most longevity. The following table shows the specific models which are well-nigh and least expensive over the kickoff 75,000 miles. We list merely the top ten most and least expensive because there are and so many models.

Which Models Start Out Most/Least Expensive?
Based On Maintenance Costs for the Fist 75,000 Miles
Well-nigh Expensive
Rank	Make	Model	Toll Start 75k Miles
1	BMW	328i	$11,800
2	Ford	Mustang	$10,200
iii	Ford	F-150	$viii,900
4	Dodge	Thou Caravan	$8,100
5	Mazda	half dozen	$7,900
6	Jeep	Yard Cherokee	$seven,900
7	Ford	Explorer	$vii,800
8	Acura	TL	$vii,700
9	Audi	A4	$7,400
x	Audi	A4 Quattro	$7,400
Least Expensive
Rank	Make	Model	Price Kickoff 75k Miles
1	Toyota	Prius	$2,800
ii	Nissan	Versa	$3,300
3	Chevrolet	Tahoe	$three,400
4	Hyundai	Sonata	$3,600
v	Honda	Fit	$3,600
6	Lexus	IS250	$3,600
vii	Hyundai	Elantra	$3,900
viii	Ford	Fusion	$3,900
ix	Toyota	Yaris	$3,900
ten	Toyota	Corolla	$3,900

Toyota'southward Prius, which costs merely $two,800 in maintenance for the first 75,000 miles, is the articulate winner. Nissan's Versa and Chevrolet'southward Tahoe likewise make strong showings. Overall, smaller cars from Honda, Hyundai, Nissan, and Toyota are quite inexpensive to maintain.

Simply which of these models remain a bargain as the odometer climbs from 75,000 to 150,000?

Which Models Require the Most/To the lowest degree Maintenance in the Long Run?
Based On Maintenance Costs for the Fist 150,000 Miles
Most Expensive
Rank	Make	Model	Price Commencement 150k Miles
1	Ford	Mustang	$27,100
2	BMW	328i	$25,100
3	Ford	Explorer	$23,100
4	Jeep	Chiliad Cherokee	$22,900
5	Acura	TL	$22,900
6	Contrivance	Grand Caravan	$21,700
7	Ford	Focus	$21,600
8	Audi	A4 Quattro	$20,500
ix	Hyundai	Santa Iron	$20,000
10	Acura	MDX	$19,700
Least Expensive
Rank	Make	Model	Cost Offset 150k Miles
ane	Toyota	Prius	$6,700
2	Nissan	Versa	$8,500
3	Honda	Fit	$10,000
4	Toyota	Yaris	$10,300
5	Toyota	Corolla	$10,300
six	Scion	xB	$10,400
vii	Lexus	IS250	$10,400
8	Toyota	Tacoma	$10,900
9	Ford	Fusion	$10,900
10	Toyota	Highlander	$11,200

Toyota's Prius is the least expensive model to maintain at both low and loftier mileages; maintenance costs a meager $6,700 over 150,000 miles. The next best choice, Nissan's Versa, which costs an average of $8,500 in maintenance over $150,000 miles, still costs owners over 25% more than the Prius does.

The other high performers are mainly coupes and sedans. Yet Toyota gets its SUV (Highlander) and truck (Tacoma) on the list.

Which issues are most likely to affect these maintenance costs?

We looked at the most common issues and their probability of occurring. For example, if one out of ten cars gets its restriction pads replaced between 25,000 and 30,000 miles, and so cars of that mileage accept a 10% chance of needing to supervene upon their brake pads per 5,000 miles. Conversely, if i in four cars that has betwixt 100,000 and 105,000 miles on its odometer gets its restriction pads replaced, that aforementioned probability would exist 25%.

Which repairs are needed the most and when?

The nearly common problems are that the car won't start or that the Cheque Engine Low-cal is on. Brake pads, spark plugs, and batteries also require frequent repair.

Drivers need to check the engine light and deal with a motorcar that refuses to showtime more often equally their mileage increases. In contrast, problems with brake pads max out at 50,000 miles and spark plug issues max out at 100,000 miles. Drivers consistently deal with bad batteries for their machine'due south unabridged lifespan.

When buying a used automobile or maintaining their current vehicle, consumers need to know which cars cost the to the lowest degree in maintenance as mileage increases. We've analyzed our data using multiple impact variables, as numerous factors - from the status of the road surfaces most driven upon to the frequency of regular maintenance appointments - affect these costs.

The statements expressed above are only for informational purposes and should be independently verified. Please see our terms of service for more details

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