UK car running costs

The purchase price is the number everyone argues over and the smallest part of what a car costs. Five things carry the rest: road tax, insurance, fuel, servicing and repairs, and depreciation. Four of the five can be estimated from the registration before you go and see the car.

Road tax

Vehicle Excise Duty is the one fixed cost you can know exactly, in advance, for free. Cars first registered from 1 April 2017 pay a standard flat rate of £200 a year from the second year onwards, hybrids included. Cars registered between March 2001 and March 2017 are charged on their CO2 band, and older cars on engine size, which is why two similar looking cars on a forecourt can be hundreds of pounds apart.

A list price over £40,000 when new adds the £440 expensive car supplement for five years, from the second year to the sixth. That catches plenty of three year old used cars, and it does not show in the advert. Put the plate into the car tax calculator for the 12 month and 6 month figures, or the tax and SORN check to see whether the car is taxed right now. Electric cars are covered in the EV road tax guide.

Insurance

Insurance is the cost that varies most between two people buying the same car, because it prices the driver, the postcode and the mileage as well as the vehicle. The car still sets the floor: every model sits in one of the 50 insurance groups, and moving down a few groups saves more than any amount of haggling on the forecourt.

• Insurance groups 1 to 50 explained, and what moves a car between them.
• Group 1 and group 2 cars, the cheapest cars in the country to insure.
• Why premiums rose in 2026, and which of it is likely to stick.

Fuel and clean air charges

Fuel is the cost you feel weekly, and the one most affected by decisions made outside the car. Duty changes at the pump move the annual figure by more than most people expect, and a daily charge for driving into a city can quietly cost more than the fuel itself.

Check a plate against the London ULEZ checker before you buy if the car will ever go into London, and read the clean air zone guide for Birmingham, Bristol and the Scottish zones. The fuel duty guide covers what pump prices are doing, and the diesel guide covers whether a diesel still adds up.

Servicing, MOT and repairs

This is the cost the MOT record predicts better than any budget calculator. Advisories that repeat year after year are the tester telling you what is about to need money, and a car that fails on the same items twice has an owner who deferred the work rather than a run of bad luck.

Read the full MOT history free on any plate, then which repeat advisories to walk away from. The reliability guide covers belts, chains, gearboxes and DPFs, and common used car problems covers what to look and listen for on the test drive.

Depreciation

Depreciation is almost always the biggest running cost on a car under about eight years old, and the only one that never sends a bill. It is the difference between what you pay and what the car is worth when you sell it, and it is decided mostly at the moment you buy.

History is what protects it. A recorded write-off, a mileage reading that goes backwards, or an outstanding finance agreement all cut what the next buyer will pay, and none of them appear in the free record. The £6.99 premium report covers those three plus a value guide with private sale and trade ranges.

What you can work out before you view

• Exact road tax, free, from the plate.
• Whether the car is taxed or on SORN today, and when the tax runs out.
• Every MOT result and advisory, so repair risk is visible.
• Every mileage reading, which sets both wear and the resale figure.
• Engine, fuel and gearbox, which set consumption and the insurance group.

Only the insurance premium genuinely needs a quote. Everything else on that list is free and takes about a minute.

Running cost questions

What are the main running costs of a car in the UK?

Five things carry almost the whole bill: road tax, insurance, fuel, servicing and repairs including the MOT, and depreciation. Depreciation is usually the largest of the five on a newer car and the one buyers forget, because it never arrives as a bill.

How much is road tax on a used car?

It depends on when the car was first registered. Cars first registered from 1 April 2017 pay a standard flat rate of £200 a year from the second year, hybrids included. Older cars are charged on CO2 band or engine size, so the figure only comes from the registration.

Do electric cars still have low running costs?

Charging and servicing are still cheaper than petrol or diesel, but electric cars have paid road tax since April 2025 at the same standard rate as everything else, and an EV with a list price over £40,000 also pays the expensive car supplement.

Which running cost rises the most on an older car?

Repairs. Depreciation slows as a car ages while wear items stop being optional, so a cheap car with a long list of repeated MOT advisories often costs more per year than a more expensive car with a clean record.

Can I work out running costs from a number plate?

Partly. The plate gives the exact road tax figure, the MOT and advisory history that hints at repair bills, the mileage pattern, and the engine and fuel that drive consumption. Insurance still needs a quote, because it prices the driver as well as the car.