Attention, Cheapskates: Here Are the Most Affordable Cars to Own in Every Segment

There are few things sweeter in life than bragging to your friends and family about the good deal you just negotiated on a new car. They certainly won’t care, but the amount of self-satisfaction received from reminding yourself that you are a force to be reckoned with at the dealership is immeasurable.

Of course, the bargain in the driveway can turn into a money pit once you calculate all the costs associated with vehicle ownership. Fuel costs, financing, insurance, and depreciation can all add up — especially if you purchased the wrong model. So what’s a thrift-obsessed shopper to do, calculate the total cost of ownership on every model in every segment over a five-year period to determine which is the best value overall?

Don’t be ridiculous, someone has already done that.

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  • THX1136 That's so cool. This one is close to what I had accumulated with the 84 Shelby Charger I owned. Since it only had a 5 digit odo no one would know it had over 406k. I kept track of everyplace it turned over with only 2 still lodged in my 71 yo brain. If I had taken care of it cosmetically as well as I did mechanically I still think I could have gotten to 500k which was a goal I set for myself. The Toyota mentioned is quite impressive at over 900k. Thanks for the write up, Murilee!
  • Kwik_Shift_Pro4X Nice to see. I like the Top 10 list and seeing "80s Mercedes" within.
  • Redapple2 jeffbut they (gm) dont want to ... their (gm ) pick up is 4th behind ford/ram, Toyota. GM has the Best engineers in the world. (gm has )More truck profit than the other 3 (manufacturers (ford, ram , toyota)). (The combined sales of ) Silverado + Sierra+ Tahoe + Yukon sales = (yields ) 2x ford total (profit from trucks) @ $15,000 profit per. (therefore gm has )Tons of $ (money ) to invest in the BEST truck. No. They make crap. Garbage. Evil gm Vampire. (expound / corrections )
  • UnoGeeks Great information. Unogeeks is the top SAP ABAP Training Institute, which provides the best SAP ABAP Training
  • ToolGuy This thing here is interesting.For example, I can select "Historical" and "EV stock" and "Cars" and "USA" and see how many BEVs and PHEVs were on U.S. roads from 2010 to 2023."EV stock share" is also interesting. Or perhaps you prefer "EV sales share".If you are in the U.S., whatever you do, do not select "World" in the 'Region' dropdown. It might blow your small insular mind. 😉