$7,967 a year, or roughly 52.2 cents per mile. That's how much a person driving a new-model, medium-sized sedan such as a Toyota Camry 15,000 miles a year can expect to pay annually. And that doesn't even include loan payments.

In coming up with this estimate, the American Automobile Association figured in average fuel costs, routine maintenance, tires, insurance, license and registration, loan finance charges, and depreciation costs. AAA has been conducting the annual analysis since 1950, when driving a car 10,000 miles annually cost nine cents a mile, and gasoline sold for 27 cents per gallon.

Was AAA surprised by the results? “No, but we do think many consumers would be surprised to discover the full cost of owning and operating an automobile,” said Geoff Sundstrom, spokesperson for AAA. “That's why we publish the study.”

Recommended For You

Want to continue reading?
Become a Free PropertyCasualty360 Digital Reader

Your access to unlimited PropertyCasualty360 content isn’t changing.
Once you are an ALM digital member, you’ll receive:

  • Breaking insurance news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
  • Weekly Insurance Speak podcast featuring exclusive interviews with industry leaders
  • Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
  • Critical converage of the employee benefits and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, BenefitsPRO and ThinkAdvisor
NOT FOR REPRINT

© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.