Sometimes you have to get creative when it comes to saving money on car maintenance. If you’ve tried every trick in the book and you still feel like you’re shelling out way too much money a year on keeping your car operating smoothly, it might just be time to replace it altogether and trade down, up or sideways for something a bit cheaper to maintain.
To help you narrow down your search, here’s our list of the five cheapest cars to maintain.
Toyota Corolla. There’s a reason the Toyota Corolla is one of the best selling vehicles in the world. Give it gas, change your oil and filter and go…
- Average maintenance: $1,585
- Average repairs: $1,406
- Total 5-year service cost: $2,991
Ford Focus. Haunted by numerous recalls in its early days, today’s Focus is the Ford company’s hallmark car for reliability and ease of maintenance. It’s also not a bad looking car for the price.
- Average maintenance: $1,667
- Average repairs: $1,422
- Total 5-year service cost: $3,089
Toyota Camry Hybrid. The Camry offers better road performance than its cousin the Corolla, which also means higher performing tires that won’t last quite as long. But the good news is, they’re not so low profile that you’ll have to mortgage the house to replace a set.
- Average maintenance: $1,661
- Average repairs: $1,406
- Total 5-year service cost: $3,067
Chevrolet Aveo. Korean made and therefore a lot cheaper than buying American, the Chevy Aveo comes in a sedan or hatchback that both rank extremely low on the cost of maintenance scale. Put those savings together – price and routine maintenance costs – and you could be looking at some pretty savings.
- Average maintenance: $1,614
- Average repairs: $1,422
- Total 5-year service cost: $3,036
Honda Fit. Ranking #1 on a lot of people’s lists for one of the cheapest cars to maintain. The Honda Fit’s also has a lot going for it with respect to interior space – hence its name. Because you can “fit” lots of stuff into it. Get it? It’s also appropriate because it “fits” perfectly into any lower end budget.
- Average maintenance: $1,494
- Average repairs: $1,444
- Total 5-year service cost: $2,937
Source: MSN
