Calculator
Cost of Ownership
The payment is the part everyone quotes. Depreciation, insurance, maintenance, fuel, and fees are the part that actually decides whether you can afford the car.
The car
Depreciation is almost always the largest single cost — larger than everything else combined.
Exotics average well under 5,000 miles a year.
Sets the depreciation curve. Model pages use that car's own curve instead.
Running costs
Defaults are class averages. Replace them with your own quotes for a real number.
Agreed-value exotic policies cost more than standard coverage.
Scaled up automatically after the warranty period ends.
Varies enormously by state. Set to 0 where none applies.
True cost of ownership
$1,660
per month, all in, over 5 years
$19,916 per year · $2.85 per mile
- Depreciation46%$45,600
- Insurance25%$25,000
- Maintenance & repairs16%$16,200
- Fuel8%$7,583
- Registration & fees5%$5,198
Total outlay over 5 years: $99,582
62% retained
Year by year
Costs are front-loaded by depreciation and back-loaded by maintenance.
| Year | Depreciation / gain | Insurance | Maintenance | Fuel | Fees | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year 1 | $18,000 | $5,000 | $1,350 | $1,517 | $1,224 | $27,091 |
| Year 2 | $9,600 | $5,000 | $2,100 | $1,517 | $1,109 | $19,325 |
| Year 3 | $7,200 | $5,000 | $3,000 | $1,517 | $1,022 | $17,739 |
| Year 4 | $6,000 | $5,000 | $4,350 | $1,517 | $950 | $17,817 |
| Year 5 | $4,800 | $5,000 | $5,400 | $1,517 | $893 | $17,609 |
| Total | $45,600 | $25,000 | $16,200 | $7,583 | $5,198 | $99,582 |
The five components
Depreciation
The value the car loses while you own it. It is invisible month to month, which is exactly why it gets ignored — and it is almost always the largest number on the page. A car that loses 45% over three years costs you more in depreciation alone than in every other category combined.
Insurance
Exotic policies are priced on replacement cost and repair complexity, not on how fast the car is. A carbon-bodied supercar can cost more to insure than a faster car with conventional panels. Agreed-value coverage is standard at this level and worth having.
Maintenance and repairs
Scheduled service is predictable; the failures are not. Budget for the annual service plus one significant unscheduled repair every few years. Brands differ enormously — a Porsche and a Bentley of similar value can differ by a factor of two.
Fuel or electricity
Usually the smallest line item, because these cars cover so few miles. A supercar driven 3,000 miles a year burns under $1,000 in premium fuel. It feels expensive at the pump and is nearly irrelevant on the balance sheet.
Registration, fees, and property tax
Highly location-dependent. Some states charge a flat registration fee; others levy an annual personal property tax on the vehicle's assessed value, which on a $400,000 car becomes a serious recurring cost.
Frequently asked questions
- What is the biggest cost of owning an exotic car?
- Depreciation, and it is rarely close. On most six-figure cars depreciation accounts for 60% to 80% of the total cost of ownership over five years. Insurance, maintenance, fuel, and registration combined usually total less than the value the car loses. This is why choosing a model with strong retention matters far more than negotiating the purchase price.
- How much does it cost to insure a supercar?
- Typical agreed-value policies on mid-engine supercars run between $6,000 and $12,000 a year, though the range is wide. Driving record, garaging location, annual mileage, and whether the policy is a specialty collector policy all move the number substantially. Low-mileage collector policies can cost a fraction of a standard policy but come with usage restrictions.
- Why does maintenance increase in later years?
- Most luxury cars carry three to four years of factory warranty, so early costs are limited to scheduled service. Once coverage lapses, wear items and electronic failures land on the owner at full retail. This calculator scales maintenance up automatically after the warranty period to reflect that shift, roughly doubling the annual figure by year five.
- Are exotic cars expensive to maintain even if you barely drive them?
- Yes. Many costs are time-based rather than mileage-based. Fluids, brake systems, and batteries degrade on a calendar schedule, and tires on high-performance cars age out well before they wear out. A car driven 2,000 miles a year still needs annual service, and some manufacturers require it to keep the warranty valid.
- Should I include the cost of financing in cost of ownership?
- This calculator deliberately excludes loan interest so the figure reflects the cost of the car itself rather than the cost of how you paid for it. If you are financing, add the total interest from the lease or lease-vs-buy calculator on top of this number to get your full outlay.
Keep going
See how the same car looks as a lease, or how the depreciation curve is built.