The AAA recently decreed that the cost of owning and operating a motor vehicle in the U.S. rose just 1.9% in its 2012 Driving Your Costs Study.
Actually that was the increase rate for the "average" sedan. The numbers are a bit higher for minivans and SUVs. And lower for “small sedans” and “medium sedans.”
The “average sedan” cost Americans an average of $8,946 annually or 59.6 cents per mile. Small sedans rated $6,735 in annual cost or 44.9 cents per mile, while medium sedans cost $8,780/58.5 cents per mile and large sedans ran $11,324/75.5 cents per mile.
SUVs posted a monstrous $11,360 per year or 75.7 cents per mile, and mom’s minivan was good for $9,504 per year of 63.4 cents per mile.
Those expense figures were based on driving 15,000 miles annually. Now, with Americans driving less, few people will actually hit 15K on the odometer, so those costs will vary.
Of course, tires get some of the blame here. “The average driving cost for 2012 is up due to relatively large increases in fuel and tire costs, and more moderate increases in other areas," according to AAA’s John Nielsen. "Those increases were offset by a decrease in depreciation."
Specifically, rising fuel costs added 14.8% to driving costs, maintenance added 0.7%, and insurance added 3.4%. Tires thanks to more than 100 price increases last year added 4.2% to the tab.