About 2009-10 Car Operating Costs

The National Roads and Motorists' Association Limited has conducted a survey of car operating costs for over 500 vehicles using 8 popular categories as reported by VFACTS, an Automotive Industry Authority.

Calculations are for private ownership in New South Wales, based on an annual distance of 15,000 kilometres, "the approximate national average distance travelled" over an ownership period of 5 years, using average retail prices. They contain the following elements.

Depreciation

Depreciation is calculated using the manufacturer's recommended retail price minus the forecast residual value for each model.  

Opportunity Interest

This is the loss in interest from the capital consumed by depreciation calculated using an interest rate of 6.00 per cent. There has been no provision for the borrowing expense of the capital.

Vehicle Registration, Insurance and NRMA Membership

Calculated using private registration rates from the NSW RTA and average CTP and comprehensive insurance estimates for NSW for an owner driver aged 29-55 years of age. The GST impact has been included. NRMA Basic Care rates have been used.

Maintenance Repairs

Vehicle maintenance costs are calculated using manufacturers' recommended service schedules and retail prices and include a range of replacement parts considered appropriate for average city driving conditions.

Fuel

Fuel in cents per kilometre has been calculated using test results carried out to Australian Design Rule ADR79/01 including an appropriate  factor to allow for variations in driving styles and conditions as per previous surveys.

Where ADR79/01 data is not available, average fuel consumption is taken from road tests and research carried out by NRMA Motoring & Services. Average cost of fuel per kilometre is calculated using the average price per litre for the recommended fuel type for each vehicle using values in the following table.

Fuel prices for 2009-2010 survey in cents per litre

Description	Cents per litre
Unleaded Petrol	122.75
Premium Unleaded Petrol	132.75
Liquid Petroleum Gas	64.30
Diesel	127.10

With fuel prices fluctuating, we now provide the Change in Running Costs table below. This allows you to quickly adjust the weekly or whole of life costs for actual fuel costs.

Fuel Change in Running Costs every 5-cent change in fuel price

Vehicle Segment	Extra every 5 cents	$ per week/5cents
Light car	0.38	$1.10
Small car	0.46	$1.32
Medium car	0.51	$1.48
Large car	0.60	$1.73
People Mover	0.60	$1.72
SUV compact	0.53	$1.54
SUV medium	0.72	$2.09
SUV large	0.91	$2.63

 Private Costs Summary Report (PDF 190KB/42 pages)

This information is prepared by National Roads and Motorists' Association Limited ABN 77 000 010 506. trading as NRMA Motoring & Services is a company limited by guarantee and owned by its Members. Some of the information is provided by subsidiaries of Insurance Australia Group Limited, a separate company owned by its shareholders. The companies are not related, but have a number of business agreements, which allow both companies and their subsidiaries to use NRMA trademarks for their products and services.