Most and Least Expensive Cars to Maintain
Auto repair

Most and Least Expensive Cars to Maintain

Luxury cars like BMWs are the most expensive, while Toyotas are the most economical. Driving style also affects the cost of car maintenance.

The most valuable thing most Americans have after home is their car. On average, Americans spend 5% of their income on buying a car. Another 5% goes towards ongoing maintenance and insurance costs.

But not every machine costs the same to keep it running. And different cars have different risks of sudden immobilization of drivers.

At AvtoTachki we have a huge dataset of the makes and models of vehicles we have serviced, as well as the types of service performed. We decided to use our data to understand which cars break down the most and have the highest maintenance costs. We also looked at what types of maintenance are most common for certain vehicles.

First, we looked at which big brands cost the most during the first 10 years of a car's life. We grouped all models of all model years by brand to calculate their median brand value. To estimate annual maintenance costs, we found the amount spent on every two oil changes (because an oil change is typically done every six months).

Which car brands cost the most to maintain?
Based on 10 year total vehicle maintenance estimates
RankBrand machinePrice
1BMW$17,800
2Mercedes-Benz$12,900
3Cadillac$12,500
4Volvo$12,500
5Audi$12,400
6Saturn$12,400
7mercury$12,000
8Pontiac$11,800
9Chrysler$10,600
10Evasion$10,600
11Acura$9,800
12Infiniti$9,300
13Ford$9,100
14Kia$8,800
15Land Rover$8,800
16Chevrolet$8,800
17Buick$8,600
18Jeep$8,300
19Subaru$8,200
20Hyundai$8,200
21GMC$7,800
22Volkswagen$7,800
23Nissan$7,600
24Mazda$7,500
25Mini$7,500
26Mitsubishi$7,400
27Honda$7,200
28Lexus$7,000
29Offspring$6,400
30Toyota$5,500

German luxury imports such as BMW and Mercedes-Benz, along with domestic luxury brand Cadillac, are the most expensive. Toyota costs about $10,000 less over 10 years, just in terms of maintenance.

Toyota is by far the most economical manufacturer. Scion and Lexus, the second and third cheapest brands, are subsidiaries of Toyota. Together, all three are 10% below the average cost.

Most domestic brands such as Ford and Dodge are in the middle.

While luxury cars require the most expensive maintenance, many budget cars rank relatively high. Kia, the entry-level brand, surprises with 1.3 times the average maintenance costs. In this case, sticker prices do not represent maintenance costs.

Knowing the relative maintenance costs of different brands can be informative, but it's also important to consider how a car's value changes with age. This chart shows the average annual maintenance costs across all brands.

Maintenance costs increase as a car ages. A stable, consistent increase in costs of $150 per year is observed from years 1 to 10. After that, there is a distinct jump between 11 and 12 years. After 13 years costs about $2,000 per year. This is probably due to the fact that people abandon their cars if the maintenance costs exceed their value.

Even within brands, not all cars are the same. How do specific models directly compare to each other? We delved deeper by dividing all cars by model to look at 10 year maintenance costs.

Which car models cost the most to maintain?
Based on total vehicle maintenance costs over 10 years
RankBrand machinePrice
1Chrysler Sebring$17,100
2BMW 328i$15,600
3Nissan Murano$14,700
4Mercedes-Benz E350$14,700
5Chevrolet Cobalt$14,500
6Dodge grand caravan$14,500
7Dodge Ram 1500$13,300
8Audi Quattro A4$12,800
9Mazda 6$12,700
10Subaru Forester$12,200
11Acura TL$12,100
12Nissan Maxima$12,000
13Chrysler 300$12,000
14Ford Mustang$11,900
15Audi A4$11,800
16Volkswagen Passat$11,600
17Ford Focus$11,600
18Chevrolet Impala$11,500
19Honda Pilot$11,200
20Mini Cooper$11,200

All of the top 20 most expensive car models in terms of maintenance cost require at least a staggering $11,000 in maintenance over 10 years. These estimates include expensive one-time costs, such as transmission repairs, which skew the average.

According to our data, the Chrysler Sebring is the most expensive car to maintain, which is likely one of the reasons Chrysler redesigned it in 2010. full-size models (such as the Audi A328 Quattro) are also quite expensive.

Now we know which cars are money pits. So which vehicles are the economical and reliable choice?

Which car models have the lowest maintenance cost?
Based on total vehicle maintenance costs over 10 years
RankBrand machinePrice
1Toyota Prius$4,300
2Kia Soul$4,700
3Toyota Camry$5,200
4Honda Fit$5,500
5Toyota Tacoma$5,800
6Toyota Corolla$5,800
7Nissan Versa$5,900
8Toyota Yaris$6,100
9Scion xB$6,300
10Kia Optima$6,400
11Lexus IS250$6,500
12Nissan Rogue$6,500
13Toyota Highlander$6,600
14Honda Civic$6,600
15H$6,600
16Volkswagen Jetta$6,800
17Lexus RX350$6,900
18Ford Fusion$7,000
19Nissan Sentra$7,200
20Subaru Impreza$7,500

Toyota and other Asian imports are the least expensive cars to maintain, and the Prius lives up to its renowned reputation for reliability. Along with many Toyota models, the Kia Soul and Honda Fit hold the Prius low cost lead. Toyota's Tacoma and Highlander are also on the low-end car list, though the list is dominated by compact and mid-sized sedans. Toyota completely avoids the list of the most expensive models.

So what exactly makes some brands more expensive than others? Some brands have a higher frequency of scheduled maintenance. But some cars tend to have the same problems over and over again.

We looked at which brands have maintenance requirements that occur unusually often for this particular brand. For each brand and issue, we compared the frequency to the average of all the vehicles we serviced.

Unusually common car problems
Based on issues found by AvtoTachki and comparison with an average car.
Brand machineCar releaseRelease frequency
mercury Replacing the fuel pump28x
Chrysler EGR/EGR valve replacement24x
Infiniti camshaft position sensor replacement21x
Cadillac intake manifold gasket replacement19x
jaguar Check Engine Light is under review19x
Pontiacintake manifold gasket replacement19x
EvasionEGR/EGR valve replacement19x
Plymouth Inspection does not start19x
Honda Valve clearance adjustment18x
BMW Replacing the window regulator18x
Ford PCV valve hose replacement18x
BMW Replacing the idler roller18x
Chrysler Superheat check17x
Saturn Replacing the wheel bearing17x
OldsmobileInspection does not start17x
Mitsubishi Timing Belt Replacement17x
BMW Replacing the drive belt tensioner16x
Chryslercamshaft position sensor replacement16x
jaguar Battery Service16x
Cadillac Leaking coolant16x
Jeep crankshaft position sensor replacement15x
Chrysler Replacing the engine mount15x
Mercedes-BenzCrankshaft position sensor15x

Mercury is the brand that chronically suffers the most from lack of design. In this case, Mercury vehicles most often had fuel pump problems (Mercury was discontinued by parent company Ford in 2011).

We can see that some issues are moving from brand to brand within the same manufacturer. For example, Dodge and Chrysler, which are part of the Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) conglomerate, can't seem to get their exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) valves to work properly. Their EGR needs to be set at about 20 times the national average.

But there's one issue that worries customers more than any other: what cars just won't start? We answer this question in the table below, which limits the comparison to vehicles over 10 years old.

Car brands most likely won't start
According to the AvtoTachki service and compared with the average model
RankBrand machineFrequency

The car will not start

1buzzer9x
2mercury6x
3Chrysler6x
4Saturn5x
5Evasion5x
6Mitsubishi4x
7BMW4x
8Suzuki4x
9Pontiac4x
10Buick4x
11Land Rover3x
12Mercedes-Benz3x
13Chevrolet3x
14Jeep3x
15Ford3x
16GMC3x
17Acura3x
18Cadillac2x
19Offspring2x
20Lincoln2x
21Nissan2x
22Mazda2x
23Volvo2x
24Infiniti2x
25Kia2x

While this may be a reflection of the diligence of some owners, and not just the build quality of the cars, the results of this list are quite convincing: three of the top five brands have been discontinued in the last few years.

In addition to the now defunct brands, this list includes the premium segment (such as Mercedes-Benz, Land Rover and BMW). The absence of many brands from the list of the least expensive is noteworthy: Toyota, Honda and Hyundai.

But the brand doesn't reveal everything about the car. We delved into specific models that do not launch with the highest frequency.

Car models most likely won't start
According to the AvtoTachki service and compared with the average model
RankCar modelFrequency

The car will not start

1Hyundai Tiburon26x
2Dodge Caravan26x
3Ford F-250 Super Duty21x
4Ford Taurus19x
5Chrysler PT Cruiser18x
6Cadillac DTS17x
7Hummer H311x
8Nissan Titan10x
9Chrysler Sebring10x
10Dodge Ram 150010x
11BMW 325i9x
12Mitsubishi Eclipse9x
13Dodge Charger8x
14Chevrolet Aveo8x
15Chevrolet Cobalt7x
16Mazda MH-5 Miata7x
17Mercedes-Benz ML3506x
18Chevrolet HHR6x
19Mitsubishi Galant6x
20Volvo S406x
21BMW X36x
22Pontiac G66x
23Dodge Caliber6x
24Nissan Pathfinder6x
25Saturn Ion6x

The worst cars didn't start 26 times more often than the median, which may explain why some of those models got the axe: the Hyundai Tiburon, Hummer H3, and Chrysler Sebring (all in the top 10) were discontinued. Some premium models also make the list of infamy, including BMWs and several Mercedes-Benz models.

For as long as there have been cars, Americans have been arguing about car ownership as well as cost and reliability. The data shows which companies are living up to their reputation for reliability (Toyota), which brands are sacrificing reliability for prestige (BMW and Mercedes-Benz), and which models deserve to be discontinued (Hummer 3).

However, car maintenance is much more than the average cost. Factors such as how well a car is maintained, how often it is driven, where it is driven, and how it is driven affect maintenance costs. Your mileage may vary.

Add a comment