Average Cost to Run a Car UK 2025

• How Much Does it Cost to Own a Car in the UK?
  • Trends: 2020 vs 2025
• Car Running Cost FAQs
• Methodology

What's the Average Cost of Running a Car in the UK?

In 2025, UK car owners spend over £3,350 to run their cars each year. Besides the purchase price, the biggest expenses of car ownership are petrol or diesel (£1,000+ a year estimated now for most petrol/diesel drivers; less for EV drivers), motor insurance (£600-£700+ a year), and repairs and servicing (nearly £500 a year). In addition, road tax, parking fees & permits, driving lessons, car clubs, fines and other upkeep expenses cost an additional £264 a year per vehicle.

How do costs differ if you drive an electric car? Purchase prices of EVs are generally higher, and depreciation rates are also higher (that is, we think EVs depreciate or lose value faster). For example, our recent research showed that the average purchase price of the 10 cheapest EVs is around £27,000 (the cheapest vehicle being the Smart EQ fortwo coupe, which starts from £22,225). So people driving an EV could have slightly higher lease or depreciation costs compared to what they could pay with a cheap petrol car (e.g. VW Polo and Ford Puma models starts from ~£20,000-£25,000).

In contrast, fuel costs less with an electric car—even with high electricity prices. Our research shows that the average cost to fuel a mile of driving in an EV is around 7p/mile on a standard electricity tariff or as cheap as 2p/mile on a time of use EV tariff, which is much less than the cost of fuel for an ICE car (~13-17p/mile).

Note, these figures are averages across all drivers. In cases where a cost is essentially mandatory, like paying for the vehicle, servicing, petrol, tax and insurance, the averages mentioned above should be pretty reliable indicators of cost for a typical driver; but for expenses that are highly optional and only taken by a small proportion of drivers, like motoring organisations, driving lessons, motoring fines, etc., the average costs listed above are dragged down by low take-up rates—that means if you spend on these items, you will most certainly spend a lot more than the "average" listed for this line item. For example, if you pay a motoring fine, it will certainly cost more than £4! Also, the cost to own a car can vary quite a bit—from year to year (depending on depreciation that is higher for younger cars, if you have major repair work, etc.), person to person (e.g. some people pay a LOT more for car insurance, others less), car to car, etc.

If you're reading this because you're an employer or employee thinking about per-mile expense reimbursements for work journeys, please read more about this topic here.

Trends in the cost to own a car

If you own a car, you probably are acutely aware that some costs to own and run a car in the UK have increased in recent years, in particular car insurance and repairs/servicing. But the cost of petrol has decreased significantly from recent highs, nearly offsetting those other cost increases for the typical driver.

Based on analysis of data from the Office for National Statistics and the SMMT, NimbleFins estimates that the cost to own a car in 2025 is 4.1% higher than 2020, as costs have risen from £3,225 to £3,357 over this five year time period. This means motorists spend ~£130 more per year to operate a vehicle now.

As you can see in the data below, the areas of car ownership that have risen the most are car insurance (up 27%), repairs and servicing (up 32%) and purchase/depreciation (up 12%)—inflationary pressures have hit nearly every area of car ownership. But fuel has dropped in price, offsetting those other price rises—although personally we still feel like fuel is quite expensive, as it's still higher than it was in the 2010s (see a chart on fuel prices here) and driving habits have changed, with many motorists driving less.

Cost of Cars in the UK

To buy a car in the UK, you can spend anywhere from a few thousand pounds for a used car to tens of thousands of pounds on a new car, or more! The most popular cars in the UK cost in the region of £19,000 to £33,000 to buy new (starting on-the-road prices).

For example, the Ford Puma Titanium starts from around £26,000. Some cars cost a bit more, however, with the ever-popular Ford Focus starting around £29,000. Budget-conscious households can save by purchasing a gently-used car and staying away from the trend of buying more expensive cars.

Resources such as AutoTrader and Desperate Seller can help those searching for cheap cars for sale.

Car Petrol Costs

For the typical car owner, car fuel costs average out around £1,100 a year (£1,051 for a typical petrol car and £1,257 for a typical diesel, assuming average mileage for each type of 6,100 and 8,300 miles per year, respectively). This depends primarily on the number of miles you drive and the fuel efficiency of your car.

Cost of Car Insurance

The average cost of comprehensive car insurance in the UK is now £612 a year according to the ABI, although CPIH and Family Spending figures imply slightly higher spend of around £621 per year per vehicle. Even if you buy cheap car insurance, nowadays our tests have shown that not many policies start from under £500[symbol:m-dashs]and these premiums are for the cheapest policies (e.g. they may be lacking features like windscreen cover) and for good, safe drivers of not-very-expensive cars. However, prices can vary significantly from person to person and car to car. Some of the factors that have the largest impact on the price you'll pay for car insurance are your age, the car you drive, your driving record, where you live and where you keep your car at night (e.g., on the road or in a locked garage). If price and customer service are both priorities for you, check out our list of the Top 10 Best-Rated Cheap Car Insurance Companies.

Car Service Costs

While the average amount spent to service and repair a car each year is £473, including parts, car servicing costs can also be quite variable from year to year—and this number will certainly rise due to inflationary pressures. For example, newer cars typically have fewer problems and are under warranty for the first few years, limiting the amount spent on service and repairs compared to older cars. Also, repair and service costs can be quite lumpy from year to year. For example, you'll spend more in a year when your car requires a major service (e.g., every 24 months or 20,000 miles) or if an expensive part breaks on your car.

FAQs

Methodology

To determine how much it costs to own a car in the UK, we analysed family spending data from the Office Office for National Statistics. First, we gathered car-related expenditures for a typical household, such as money spent on purchasing a car, car insurance, fuel, taxes, servicing, driving lessons and other car upkeep costs.

Since this data was per household, we had to convert it to a per car basis by dividing the cost data by the average number of cars per household. We calculate that the average number of cars per household is 1.18 (33,579,946 cars in the UK divided by 28,358,000 households). From there, we were able to see how much people actually spend on their cars each year. We also used our own generated data where we had more up-to-date information e.g. regarding the cost of car insurance.

^Petrol and Diesel fuel cost estimates of £747 per car represent average figures from the 2023 Family Spending Report, adjusted for inflation. Note that this figure is lower than our average petrol and diesel estimates in a separate article, because the Family Spending Report figures will incorporate plug-in EVs into the data, essentially bringing down the average 'fuel' cost per car—because it's cheaper to charge a car than put petrol or diesel in, especially if you have a cheap nighttime EV electricity rate from your energy provider.

^^Car Insurance cost estimate of £621 per car is higher than our separate estimate of the cost of car insurance. Why? The ABI says that premiums are lower now, or £612 on average at the end of 2024.