Cost guide

How much does it cost to own a car per month?

Across the 53 UK vehicles 73 Auto has analysed, the estimated cost of owning a car ranges from £357 to £804 a month, with a median of £461 a month. That covers depreciation, fuel or electricity, insurance, servicing, repairs, tyres, road tax and finance at 7,400 miles a year over a 3-year ownership. It describes 73 Auto's own worked examples, not a UK-wide average, and your own car's figure depends on the car and how you use it.

Check what a specific car really costs to own

Published 2026-09-28 · Publisher: 73 Auto

At a glance

Monthly ownership cost across the vehicles 73 Auto has analysed
Figure	Value	Basis
Median monthly cost	£461	n = 53 vehicles analysed by 73 Auto
Average monthly cost	£481	n = 53
Middle half of examples	£401 – £499	25th to 75th percentile, n = 53
Cheapest to most expensive	£357 – £804	n = 53

Work out the monthly cost of your car

Enter a UK registration to see what that exact car is likely to cost you each month. Your first check is free and shows the vehicle summary and its headline ownership cost. The category-by-category breakdown is part of a paid check.

UK number plate or 17-character VIN

The monthly payment is not the monthly cost

A finance quote tells you what you'll repay each month. It doesn't tell you what the car costs to own. Part of each repayment pays for the car itself, which then loses value while you have it, and on top of that come fuel or charging, insurance, servicing, repairs, tyres and tax, whether you paid cash or not.

73 Auto counts the loss in value as depreciation and, for a financed car, only the interest and fees as the finance cost, so the part of each repayment that buys the car is not counted twice. The monthly figure is the full total for the ownership period divided by the number of months.

Monthly cost by fuel type

Median monthly ownership cost for each fuel type, under the same scenario.

Only fuel types with at least 5 examples are summarised.

Monthly cost by fuel type
Fuel type	Median per month	Examples
Electric	£438	10
Petrol	£442	24
Diesel	£481	16

Not summarised because the sample is too small: hybrid (3 examples).

For the full electric versus petrol and diesel comparison, including its data gaps, see 73 Auto's electric vs petrol and diesel study.

What moves the monthly figure most

The car's value and age. A newer, pricier car has more value to lose each month; see the depreciation calculator.
How you pay. Borrowing adds interest and fees that a cash purchase doesn't have.
Who drives it and where it lives. Insurance follows the driver, the postcode and the car; see car insurance cost.
Mileage. Fuel, tyres and wear rise with miles driven; see cost per mile.

Cheapest and most expensive examples per month

The three lowest and three highest monthly figures among 73 Auto's worked examples.

Cheapest and most expensive examples per month
Vehicle	Fuel	Per month	Per year
Ford Fiesta 2010	Diesel	£357	£4,284
Volkswagen Polo 2013	Petrol	£368	£4,411
Vauxhall Corsa 2015	Petrol	£369	£4,424
Porsche Cayenne 2022	Hybrid Electric	£798	£9,582
Jaguar F-Type 2014	Petrol	£802	£9,623
Audi RS 3 TFSI quattro 2024	Petrol	£804	£9,650

About these examples. All 53 were calculated under one standard scenario: 7,400 miles a year, 3-year ownership, finance purchase. They describe the specific vehicles 73 Auto has analysed, not every car of that type in the UK. They were calculated on 21 Jul 2026. Since then, 73 Auto has rebuilt its fuel prices and VED rules, tyres, servicing, repairs and maintenance, depreciation and insurance models, so a new report for the same car today can give different figures from its example.

Limitations

These are 73 Auto's modelled estimates for 53 specific vehicles under one scenario, not official statistics and not a national average. A sample this size can't represent every car on UK roads. For your own figure, run your car's registration with your own mileage and details.

How 73 Auto works this out

Every category is explained in the methodology, and the data sources page lists which inputs are official data and which are 73 Auto estimates. How pages are written and kept up to date is set out in the editorial policy; to report a factual error, see corrections.