Obviously the cost to operate any vehicle is dependent upon the brand (make and model and year), the driver’s method (speed, drive speed limit, etc.) and the kilometres driven. The cost of this goes up and down as the price for gasoline goes up and down. The operation costs of a vehicle need to take into consideration the cost of maintenance or scheduled service calls, insurance, tyres, and registration too. Also, look at the depreciation of a vehicle. Not all vehicles are equal as some retain their value longer. This is also an indicator of how the vehicle will perform.
Small cars like the Kia Certatos, Honda Civic, and Honda Civic Hybrid cost anywhere from around $21,000 to $35,000 brand new. Insurance, registrations etc. on these are from around $100 to $200 a week. Medium cars like the Volkswagen Jetta, Toyota Camry, and the Mercedes-Benz C200 BE cost around $180 to $320 per week. Large cars like the Ford Falcon, Toyota Aurion, and the Holden Commodore Omega cost anywhere from $225 to $250 a week to operate. The small SUVs like the Kia Sportage, the Honda CRV and the Volkswagen Tiguan costs from $190 to $230 a week to operate.
Medium sized SUVs like the Holden Captiva, the Ford Territory and the Toyota Kluger cost from $230 to $260 per week to operate. The all terrain SUV’s are the costly vehicles to operate. Vehicles like the Jeep Grand Cherokee, the Toyota Landcruiser Prado, and the Nissan Patrol costs around $260 to $400 per week to operate. Likewise on all vehicles in each of the size classes listed above. The larger the vehicle them more expensive it is to operate. Costs are also conducive upon location of the vehicle and the climate as well as how the driver drives the vehicle.
The above calculations came from a generalized assumption on vehicle usage of 15,000 kilometres a year. The calculations also considered a vehicle stayed in the same owners hands for five years. The costs need adjusting if the kilometres or owned times are more or less. The calculations were also targeting private owners and not rental vehicles or company owned vehicles. Projections for the future are to raise the cost of vehicle operations unless a better fuel-efficient vehicle emerges. The hybrids are among the cheapest to operate with the larger all terrain SUVs being the most expensive, as expected.