How Much Does It Cost You to Drive?

How Much Does It Cost You to Drive?

Do you know how much it costs you to drive your car each year?  Probably more than you thought.

The Automobile Association of America has come up with a figure: $8,588.

Excluding loan payments - no small consideration - that is how much you can anticipate spending to drive a medium sedan 15,000 miles a year.

GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST

In coming up with that figure, and those listed below, AAA figured in fuel; maintenance; tires; insurance; license and registration; loan finance charges; and depreciation costs.  Fuel prices are based on late 2010 national averages, so even that $8,568 ticket may have gone up by now.

AAA has been conducting this annual analysis since 1950.  Way back then, driving a car 10,000 miles annually cost nine cents a mile, and gasoline was 27 cents a gallon.  The composite cost per mile for 2010: 58.5 cents.

See the chart below for how your car sizes up, with a brief key as to which are the comparable models.

How Much Does It Cost to Drive? 2010 Vehicle 10,000 Miles/Year 15,000 Miles/Year 20,000 Miles/Year Small Sedan 58.6 cents 45.1 cents 38.1 cents Med. Sedan 73.9 cents 57.3 cents 48.6 cents Large Sedan 96.4 cents 73.2 cents 61.2 cents 4WD Sport Utility Vehicle 98.2 cents 75.9 cents 63.0 cents Minivan 82.0 cents 63.3 cents 53.6 cents Fuel costs based on the late-2010 average price of $2.880 per gallon Small Sedan - Chevrolet Cobalt, Ford Focus, Honda Civic, Nissan Sentra and Toyota Corolla. Medium Sedan - Chevrolet Impala, Ford Fusion, Honda Accord, Nissan Altima and Toyota Camry. Large Sedan - Buick Lucerne, Chrylser 300, Ford Taurus, Nissan Maxima and Toyota Avalon. 4WD Sport Utility Vehicle - Chevrolet TrailBlazer, Ford Explorer, Jeep Grand Cherokee, Nissan Pathfinder and Toyota 4Runner. Minivans - Nissan Quest, Dodge Grand Caravan, Kia Sedona, Honda Odyssey and Toyota Sienna.