SUV Costs & Maintenance: How Much Will You Have to Spend?

For most SUV buyers, vehicle price and monthly payment are important factors to consider when choosing a vehicle. But the total cost of SUV ownership includes other expenses — like fuel, maintenance and insurance — that you’ll want to include in your monthly vehicle budget.

How to estimate an SUV’s total cost of ownership

Because SUVs range from small subcompacts to full size, truck-like vehicles, costs can vary greatly. When you’re shopping for SUVs, gathering cost estimates can help you compare and choose a model that fits your budget.

Regardless of the SUV you drive, you’re likely to have these expenses on a regular basis:

• Fuel

• Maintenance

• Insurance

• Registration, fees and taxes

• Car payment (including finance charges)

When you have actual or estimated numbers for these categories, you can enter them into our total cost of SUV ownership calculator to get an idea of your total monthly expense.

*Note: The total cost of SUV ownership calculator is pre-populated with estimates based on data from AAA and Experian. See our methodology below.

Finding SUV ownership cost estimates

Here are some options for finding cost estimates you’ll need — from getting actual costs to simply using car ownership averages.

Fuel

Your actual monthly fuel cost: Find the SUV’s estimated fuel economy rating, or mpg, available at fueleconomy.gov or on the vehicle’s window sticker. You’ll also need the number of miles you drive monthly and your average price paid for a gallon of gasoline. Divide the number of miles by the mpg number and multiply by the price per gallon of gas for your monthly fuel cost.

AAA SUV fuel averages based on 15,000 annual miles:

• Subcompact SUV - 13.37 cents per mile or $167 monthly.

• Compact SUV (FWD) - 12.7 cents per mile or $158 monthly.

• Medium SUV (4WD) - 16.46 cents per mile or $205 monthly.

Maintenance

Your actual monthly maintenance cost: Many auto manufacturers have owner’s manuals online, so you can find an SUV’s routine maintenance schedule and apply what you would pay locally for services. You can also use the Edmunds Car Maintenance Guide to find the recommended maintenance schedule for any SUV.

AAA SUV maintenance averages based on 15,000 annual miles:

• Subcompact SUV - 10.06 cents per mile or $126 monthly.

• Compact SUV (FWD) - 10.87 cents per mile or $136 monthly.

• Medium SUV (4WD) - 11.1 cents per mile or $139 monthly.

Registration, taxes and fees

Your actual monthly cost: Where you live and the type of fees you have to pay will determine your expense for this category. You can get an estimate for the SUVs you’re considering directly from your local department of motor vehicles. Some DMVs also have calculators on their websites to provide an estimate. Other miscellaneous fees, like parking costs, can be included in this category.

AAA SUV license, registration and fee averages:

• Subcompact SUV - $609 annually or $51 monthly.

• Compact SUV (FWD) - $652 annually or $54 monthly.

• Medium SUV (4WD) - $827 annually or $69 monthly.

Insurance

Your actual monthly cost: Your cost of insurance is affected by several factors, including the selected coverage, the type of SUV, your age, your driving record and your location. To estimate insurance cost, compare auto insurance companies and find the best quote for the SUV you’re considering.

AAA SUV full-coverage insurance average:

• Subcompact SUV - $1,684 annually or $140 monthly.

• Compact SUV (FWD) - $1,723 annually or $144 monthly.

• Medium SUV (4WD) - $1,831 annually or $153 monthly.

Monthly payment

Your actual monthly cost: Unless you pay cash, you’ll need to include your monthly cost for financing. To estimate your monthly payment, input the vehicle price, interest rate and loan length into an auto loan calculator. You can find average auto loan interest rates by credit score to use. Another option is to apply to lenders that offer auto loan pre-qualification with a soft credit check. That way you’ll see interest rate and payment estimates without affecting your credit scores.

Experian average monthly payment (not specific to SUVs):

• New vehicle - $737

• Used vehicle - $520

Depreciation

Vehicles lose their value, or depreciate, over time. This loss usually amounts to about 15% to 20% in the first year and around 15% annually in the next four years. Even though you aren’t making an actual payment toward depreciation, you’ll get less if you sell or trade the car, which affects your overall cost of ownership.

Depreciation isn’t included in the SUV total cost of ownership calculator, but it’s good to be aware that some vehicles hold their value longer when you’re researching which SUV to buy.

What’s the cheapest SUV to maintain?

In our efforts to find the best crossover SUVs in 2024, we compared the five-year cost of ownership provided by AAA and Vincentric, an automotive data compilation and analysis firm. This cost of ownership takes into account financing, fees, fuel, insurance, maintenance and depreciation. We used the national average for a new, base-model vehicle driven 15,000 miles annually, with equal amounts of city and highway driving, and a gas price of 3.346 cents per gallon.

Among the SUVs we considered, certain Subaru, Volkswagen and Honda vehicles had the lowest five-year ownership cost. In the subcompact category, the Subaru Crosstrek cost was $43,950, edged out slightly by the Volkswagen Taos at $43,788.

For compact SUVs, the Subaru Forester was the lowest at $47,853, followed by the Honda CR-V at $48,602. And in the midsize category, where most SUVs had a cost of ownership in the upper $50,000s to lower $60,000s, the Subaru Outback came in at $49,018. These figures will vary based on factors such as where a car owner lives.

Using your SUV total ownership amount

The total ownership amount you arrive at can help you in several ways. If you’re comparing similar SUVs, you might choose one over the other based on a lower cost of ownership. You can also calculate whether an SUV’s monthly expenses would stretch your budget.