Ranked: The Cheapest Car Brands to Own and Maintain in the U.S.

Marcus Lu
2025-03-29 08:10:00
www.visualcapitalist.com

Ranked: The Cheapest Car Brands to Own and Maintain

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When buying a car, the sticker price is just the beginning. Over a 10-year period, maintenance and repairs can add up, sometimes significantly more than expected.

To help guide your next car purchase, we’ve ranked the cheapest car brands to own and maintain in the U.S., based on owner-reported data compiled by Consumer Reports.

Data and Highlights

To compile this data, Consumer Reports asked its members to report how much they paid out of pocket for their total maintenance and repairs, excluding costs associated with collision repair.

Brand	First 5 Yrs	Next 5 Yrs	Total 10 Yr Cost
Tesla	$730	$4,320	$5,050
Lincoln	$850	$4,350	$5,200
Buick	$1,000	$4,300	$5,300
Toyota	$1,100	$4,200	$5,300
Hyundai	$1,130	$4,550	$5,680
Nissan	$1,340	$4,595	$5,935
Ford	$1,100	$4,850	$5,950
Mazda	$1,500	$4,520	$6,020
Chevrolet	$1,200	$4,850	$6,050
Honda	$1,545	$4,585	$6,130
Jeep	$1,220	$5,250	$6,470
Kia	$1,700	$4,800	$6,500
Volkswagen	$1,200	$5,440	$6,640
Lexus	$1,750	$4,895	$6,645
Chrysler	$1,595	$5,150	$6,745
Cadillac	$1,175	$5,700	$6,875
Subaru	$1,750	$5,520	$7,270
GMC	$1,500	$5,850	$7,350
Ram	$1,550	$6,055	$7,605
Acura	$1,845	$5,900	$7,745
Mini	$1,175	$6,700	$7,875
Infiniti	$2,120	$6,300	$8,420
BMW	$1,700	$8,100	$9,800
Volvo	$1,775	$8,050	$9,825
Audi	$2,050	$9,000	$11,050
Mercedes-Benz	$3,500	$9,600	$13,100
Porsche	$5,000	$11,000	$16,000
Land Rover	$3,700	$13,750	$17,450

The Cheapest Car Brands to Own

According to this dataset, Tesla is the cheapest brand to own over a 10-year period, costing owners an average of $5,050 in repairs and maintenance.

Past analysis has shown that EVs are generally cheaper to own because of lower energy costs (outside the scope of this study) and less maintenance expenses (significantly fewer components compared to an internal combustion engine).

Despite this advantage, several brands came close to Tesla’s 10-year cost, including Lincoln ($5,200), Buick ($5,300), and Toyota ($5,300).

Lincoln and Buick are both domestic U.S. brands which likely helps to keep repair costs lower. Buick also came second in J.D. Power’s ranking of the most reliable U.S. car brands for 2025.

The Most Expensive Car Brands to Own

At the top of this list are Audi, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, and Land Rover, which stand out as the only brands with a total maintenance and repair cost of over $10,000.

While commonly viewed as a status symbol, Land Rovers have historically faced reliability challenges. For instance, in a UK survey conducted by Which?, the Range Rover Evoque was rated as Britain’s least-loved car. The survey found that the Evoque spent 21 days of a year getting repairs, prompting one owner to call it “the most frustrating that I have ever owned”.

Learn More on the Voronoi App

If you enjoyed this post, check out our graphic comparing the most satisfying vs most reliable car brands in 2024.

The post Ranked: The Cheapest Car Brands to Own and Maintain in the U.S. appeared first on Visual Capitalist.

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