Vehicle Running Cost Calculator NZ

Owning a car costs far more than what you pay at the pump, and this calculator adds up the real annual price of keeping a vehicle on New Zealand roads. You enter your distance driven per year, your car's fuel use in litres per 100 km, the price you pay per litre, and your yearly costs for registration, warrant of fitness, insurance, servicing and tyres, and depreciation, the value your car loses each year. The calculator works out your annual fuel bill from your distance and fuel use, then adds every other cost you enter to return a total cost to own and run the vehicle for the year. Alongside that headline figure, you get the same cost broken down per week, a cost per kilometre for comparing vehicles or judging whether a trip is worth driving, and the fuel share of your total spend. Depreciation is often the single largest cost and the easiest to underestimate, so use a realistic figure for how much value your car loses in a year. If you drive a diesel or electric vehicle, add road user charges into your servicing or fuel figure so they are captured too. Because fuel prices, insurance premiums and servicing costs change, use current figures for the most accurate result, and treat the output as an indicative estimate for budgeting and comparison rather than financial advice.

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$7,318
total cost to own and run per year
Per week$141
Per kilometre$0.61
Fuel share$2,688

Depreciation is often the largest cost and the easiest to overlook; estimate it as the value your car loses in a year. Road user charges apply to diesel and electric vehicles, which you can include in servicing or fuel. Prices change, so use current figures. Estimate only, not financial advice.

How it works

The calculator works out your annual fuel cost from your distance, fuel use and fuel price, then adds the fixed yearly costs of registration, warrant of fitness, insurance, servicing and tyres, and depreciation. The total is your true annual cost of ownership. Dividing by your annual distance gives the cost per kilometre, a powerful figure for comparing cars or judging whether a particular trip is worth driving.

Worked example

Driving 12,000 km at 8 litres per 100 km and $2.80 a litre is about $2,688 of fuel. Add $110 rego, $120 WOF, $900 insurance, $1,000 servicing and tyres, and $2,500 depreciation, and the total is around $7,318 a year, about $140 a week, or roughly 61 cents per kilometre.

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Data sources: the rates and thresholds on this page are maintained against Inland Revenue. Figures are checked twice monthly.

Frequently asked questions

What does it really cost to run a car in New Zealand?

Far more than fuel. Registration, warrant of fitness, insurance, servicing, tyres and depreciation all add up. This calculator brings them together to show a realistic annual and per-kilometre cost.

What is the biggest cost of owning a car?

For many cars, depreciation, the value the car loses over time, is the largest cost, often bigger than fuel. Including it gives a true picture of ownership cost.

How do I work out cost per kilometre?

Add up all your annual costs and divide by the kilometres you drive in a year. This calculator does it for you, which is useful for comparing cars or deciding whether a trip is worth driving.