Misc

Ranked: The Cheapest Car Brands to Own and Maintain in the U.S.

Published

4 weeks ago

March 29, 2025

Marcus Lu

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Ranked: The Cheapest Car Brands to Own and Maintain

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Key Takeaways

Survey data from Consumer Reports has revealed Tesla as the cheapest car brand to maintain & repair over a 10-year period
Luxury brands like Land Rover and Porsche can cost more than double to maintain versus mainstream brands.

When buying a car, the sticker price is just the beginning. Over a 10-year period, maintenance and repairs can add up, sometimes significantly more than expected.

To help guide your next car purchase, we’ve ranked the cheapest car brands to own and maintain in the U.S., based on owner-reported data compiled by Consumer Reports.

Data and Highlights

To compile this data, Consumer Reports asked its members to report how much they paid out of pocket for their total maintenance and repairs, excluding costs associated with collision repair.

Brand	First 5 Yrs	Next 5 Yrs	Total 10 Yr Cost
🇺🇸 Tesla	$730	$4,320	$5,050
🇺🇸 Lincoln	$850	$4,350	$5,200
🇺🇸 Buick	$1,000	$4,300	$5,300
🇯🇵 Toyota	$1,100	$4,200	$5,300
🇰🇷 Hyundai	$1,130	$4,550	$5,680
🇯🇵 Nissan	$1,340	$4,595	$5,935
🇺🇸 Ford	$1,100	$4,850	$5,950
🇯🇵 Mazda	$1,500	$4,520	$6,020
🇺🇸 Chevrolet	$1,200	$4,850	$6,050
🇯🇵 Honda	$1,545	$4,585	$6,130
🇺🇸 Jeep	$1,220	$5,250	$6,470
🇰🇷 Kia	$1,700	$4,800	$6,500
🇩🇪 Volkswagen	$1,200	$5,440	$6,640
🇯🇵 Lexus	$1,750	$4,895	$6,645
🇺🇸 Chrysler	$1,595	$5,150	$6,745
🇺🇸 Cadillac	$1,175	$5,700	$6,875
🇯🇵 Subaru	$1,750	$5,520	$7,270
🇺🇸 GMC	$1,500	$5,850	$7,350
🇺🇸 Ram	$1,550	$6,055	$7,605
🇯🇵 Acura	$1,845	$5,900	$7,745
🇬🇧 Mini	$1,175	$6,700	$7,875
🇯🇵 Infiniti	$2,120	$6,300	$8,420
🇩🇪 BMW	$1,700	$8,100	$9,800
🇸🇪 Volvo	$1,775	$8,050	$9,825
🇩🇪 Audi	$2,050	$9,000	$11,050
🇩🇪 Mercedes-Benz	$3,500	$9,600	$13,100
🇩🇪 Porsche	$5,000	$11,000	$16,000
🇬🇧 Land Rover	$3,700	$13,750	$17,450

The Cheapest Car Brands to Own

According to this dataset, Tesla is the cheapest brand to own over a 10-year period, costing owners an average of $5,050 in repairs and maintenance.

Past analysis has shown that EVs are generally cheaper to own because of lower energy costs (outside the scope of this study) and less maintenance expenses (significantly fewer components compared to an internal combustion engine).

Despite this advantage, several brands came close to Tesla’s 10-year cost, including Lincoln ($5,200), Buick ($5,300), and Toyota ($5,300).

Lincoln and Buick are both domestic U.S. brands which likely helps to keep repair costs lower. Buick also came second in J.D. Power’s ranking of the most reliable U.S. car brands for 2025.

The Most Expensive Car Brands to Own

At the top of this list are Audi, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, and Land Rover, which stand out as the only brands with a total maintenance and repair cost of over $10,000.

While commonly viewed as a status symbol, Land Rovers have historically faced reliability challenges. For instance, in a UK survey conducted by Which?, the Range Rover Evoque was rated as Britain’s least-loved car. The survey found that the Evoque spent 21 days of a year getting repairs, prompting one owner to call it “the most frustrating that I have ever owned”.