The study was based on data on more than 801,000 vehicles representing 306 models. For these cars, 1.6 million work orders were issued for maintenance, software updates, and repair work in various service workshops (while fuel and insurance costs were not taken into account). The results of this analysis were as follows.
The most economical cars to maintain
Experts divided all cars into two classes: regular (non-premium) and luxury passenger cars. In the first group, the average maintenance costs across all brands reached $33, in the second — $69.
Among non-premium cars, Honda became the leader in low maintenance costs, with expenses of only $21. Hyundai was slightly more expensive at $22, while Buick and Toyota showed the same result of $24. Also below the average level were costs for Subaru, Mazda, Nissan, Kia, Volkswagen, and Chrysler.
When it comes to the most expensive options, the anti-rating was led by Jeep, Ram, Dodge, Mini, Ford, and Chevrolet — their maintenance cost from $42 and above. The worst indicator was demonstrated by GMC, reaching as much as $132!
In the premium segment, the most affordable cars to maintain are Acura and Lexus, both brands requiring similar investments of about $30. Good positions were also taken by Infiniti, Volvo, Genesis, and Audi. At the same time, Lincoln, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Land Rover, and Cadillac turned out to be costly (from $91 and above), and the most extravagant among them was recognized as Porsche — on average, its owners spent $167.
In addition, analysts identified the most economical models in each class. In the category of inexpensive cars, the list looks like this:
- Compact car – Honda Civic
- Subcompact car – Chevrolet Spark
- Mid-size car – Honda Accord
- Full-size car – Chrysler 300
- Compact crossover – Ford EcoSport
- Mid-size crossover – Nissan Murano
- Full-size crossover – Toyota Sequoia
- Minivan – Kia Sedona
- Compact premium crossover – Lexus UX
- Mid-size premium crossover – Lexus GX
- Full-size premium crossover – Infiniti QX80
- Mid-size pickup – Ford Ranger
- Full-size pickup – Ram 1500
- Heavy-duty pickup – Ford F-250
- Electric car – Chevrolet Bolt (followed by Nissan Leaf and Kia Niro)
- Premium electric car – Audi e-tron (followed by Audi e-tron Sportback and Tesla Model 3).
It is worth noting that electric vehicles in general turned out to be more extravagant in maintenance compared to gasoline and diesel counterparts: over three months, their maintenance costs on average $55, while for cars with internal combustion engines this figure is only $25.
