Total Cost of Ownership Comparison

For each car, the tool calculates total miles = annual mileage × years. It then estimates financing cost from the purchase price, down payment, APR, and loan term (only counting payments that fall within the ownership horizon), plus energy costs from your drivetrain efficiency and local price, insurance, and mileage-based maintenance/consumables. Depreciation is approximated as purchase price − residual value at the horizon, and all categories are summed to get Total Cost of Ownership and cost per mile.

At higher annual mileage, fuel/charging and maintenance usually dominate the decision—small efficiency differences can outweigh a big purchase-price gap. Depreciation assumptions (your residual value input) strongly affect whether a cheaper car stays cheaper; if you enter an optimistic resale value, the model may understate the risk of higher real-world resale loss. Insurance and energy prices are treated as constant over the horizon, so your results are only as realistic as those inputs.

If financing is disabled, the calculator ignores loan-related inputs and sets financing cost to zero for both cars. If your ownership horizon is shorter than the loan term, only payments made during the horizon are counted; if longer, the full loan is counted and no payments are added after payoff. If the total TCO difference is under 5% of the higher-cost car, the calculator labels it “effectively tied” to reflect model uncertainty and assumptions.

This tool is a simplified TCO model: it does not include sales tax, registration, tolls, parking, incentives/rebates, warranty coverage details, or financing fees, and it does not account for taxes or the opportunity cost of cash. Maintenance, tires, and brakes are approximations using your mileage-based rate rather than vehicle-specific repair history. Treat the result as a directional comparison—great for shopping decisions, not a guaranteed forecast.