· Built around the Car running cost calculator
Photo: Engin Akyurt on Pexels (free licence)
Ask most people what their car costs and they quote the instalment. That number is real, but it is usually only half of what leaves the account every month. Petrol, insurance, services, tyres, the licence disc and the value the car quietly loses all add up - and in October 2026 petrol alone went up R3.33 a litre in one month. This post adds the whole bill up, per month and per kilometre, on real South African numbers, checks the maths against published figures, and shows what a monthly budget actually buys. The car running cost calculator below does it for your car.
Run your own numbers
Type your kilometres a month, your real fuel consumption, the instalment, the insurance premium and a yearly figure for services and licence. The calculator adds them up and divides by the distance, so you see the cost of every kilometre - not just the cost of the petrol.
The five things a car costs
- Petrol is the cost that moves every month. Kilometres x litres per 100 km / 100 x the pump price - the fuel cost calculator does it for one trip.
- Finance is the biggest fixed cost on most newer cars - the car finance calculator works out the instalment, and the car affordability calculator runs it backwards from your budget.
- Insurance is compulsory on a financed car, so it belongs in the budget before you sign, not after.
- Services, tyres, licence and tracking are yearly costs - divide them by 12 or they ambush you.
- Depreciation is the cost nobody sends a bill for - the value the car loses while you own it, shown by the car depreciation calculator.
Checked against published figures
Before publishing, CalcSA ran the same inputs through its calculators and compared them with published numbers:
- Petrol price: 95 unleaded inland R30.25 a litre, coast R29.38, from Wednesday 7 October 2026 - the monthly adjustment announced by the Central Energy Fund for the Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources, as reported by CarMag and TimesLIVE (5 October 2026). That is the default in our fuel, fuel consumption and car running cost calculators. TimesLIVE gives the same grade a year earlier as R21.63.
- R340 000 over 84 months with no balloon: Cars.co.za R5 996, CalcSA R6 002 at 12% - Cars.co.za's balloon-versus-84-months comparison (25 June 2026) does not state its rate. Run at 12%, our finance formula comes within R6 of their figure; their number implies a rate of about 11.97%.
- R340 000 over 60 months with a 35% balloon of R119 000: Cars.co.za R6 105, CalcSA R6 106 at 12% - total interest R145 300 in the article, R145 361 on ours. The same instalment sum, with the balloon owed in the last month, drives the car affordability calculator.
- First-year depreciation of about 20% - Cars.co.za's new-versus-used guide (11 March 2026) puts the first-year loss at 20% or more, which is the default in our depreciation calculator.
Not verified from a primary source. The petrol price is taken from motoring press reports of the Central Energy Fund announcement - the DMPR media statement itself was not opened for this post. The 15% a year depreciation after year one is a rule of thumb: published estimates differ widely by model and mileage, and we found no official South African figure for it. The fuel consumption calculator is simple division (litres / kilometres x 100) and was not checked against an outside example.
Worked example 1: the whole monthly bill
- 1 500 km a month at 7.5 litres per 100 km uses 112.5 litres - at R30.25 that is R3 403.13 of petrol a month.
- Finance R6 000 and insurance R1 200: R7 200 a month.
- Services, tyres and repairs R9 000 a year plus R1 000 for licence and tracking: R833.33 a month.
- Total: R11 436.46 a month - R137 237.50 a year, or R7.62 for every kilometre. Petrol is about 30% of it; the fixed costs are the other 70%.
- Paid off the car? Without the instalment it is R5 436.46 a month - R3.62 a km. That is why the last years of a car you already own are often the cheapest motoring you will do.
- The pump price alone added about R970 a month in a year. The same 112.5 litres at last October's R21.63 cost R2 433.38; at R30.25 they cost R3 403.13.
Photo: Jonathan Cooper on Pexels (free licence)
Worked example 2: your real fuel consumption, and one road trip
- Fill to the brim, reset the trip meter, drive, fill to the brim again. If the second fill takes 45 litres after 600 km, your car uses 7.5 litres per 100 km - 13.33 km a litre (fuel consumption calculator).
- That fill-up cost R1 361.25 and every kilometre R2.27 in petrol. At 2 000 km a month the petrol bill is R4 537.50.
- A 600 km trip there and back is 1 200 km and 90 litres: R2 722.50. Split between three people in a lift club or road trip it is R907.50 each.
- Filling a 50-litre tank from empty costs R1 512.50 at the October inland price.
- Use your own number, not the brochure's. Real-world consumption usually runs 10% to 20% above the manufacturer's figure - more in town traffic or when towing.
The price in the calculators is the October figure: R30.25 inland, R29.38 at the coast, from 7 October 2026. Fuel prices change on the first Wednesday of each month - the next adjustment is on Wednesday 4 November 2026, so check the pump price and type it in.
Worked example 3: how much car R6 000 a month buys
- No deposit, no balloon, 60 months at 10.75%: a car of up to R273 148. The bank finances R274 355 - the price plus the R1 207.50 initiation fee - and the R69 monthly service fee comes off the R6 000 first. Interest over the term: R81 505.
- Stretch it to 72 months and the same R6 000 buys up to R312 498 - but the interest grows to R113 327, and you pay for a year longer.
- Add a 35% balloon over 60 months and it buys up to R343 566. The catch: R120 248 is still owed in month 60, and interest is charged on it the whole way - R131 335 in total.
- Put down R30 000 and the price rises by exactly that, to R303 148, with the same instalment and interest.
- The 20% rule of thumb: R6 000 is 20% of a R30 000 take-home pay. It is not a bank rule, and insurance and petrol come on top - which, from example 1, more than doubles the monthly cost.
10.75% is prime since 25 September 2026; prime is {{prime}} today, and most car loans are priced at prime or above. Try your own budget:
The cost you do not see: depreciation
- A R400 000 car losing 20% in year one and 15% a year after that is worth R231 200 after three years. Year by year: R320 000, R272 000, R231 200 (car depreciation calculator).
- That is R168 800 of value gone - 42.2% of the price, or R4 688.89 a month.
- After five years the same rule leaves R167 042, about 42% of what was paid.
- Do not add depreciation on top of the instalment in your budget - the instalment is largely paying for the value the car is losing. It matters when you sell or trade in, and above all with a balloon.
- Balloon check: on the R343 566 car from example 3, the same 20% and 15% rule puts its value after five years at about R143 500 - only around R23 000 more than the R120 248 balloon. A car that loses value faster, or is driven hard, can be worth less than what is still owed.
Ways to make the car cost less
- Drive fewer kilometres before you drive cheaper ones. At R7.62 a km all-in, cutting 300 km a month saves far more than shopping for petrol a few cents cheaper.
- Measure your consumption twice a year. A rising litres-per-100 km figure is often tyres, a dirty air filter or a service overdue.
- Share the trip. The R2 722.50 road trip costs R907.50 a person split three ways.
- Be careful with balloons and long terms. Both lower the instalment by making the car cost more in total - compare the total cost line in the calculator, not just the monthly figure.
- Get the insurance quote before you choose the car, and put it into the running cost calculator with the instalment.
What these calculators leave out. Credit life, extended warranties, maintenance plans, parking, fines and the opportunity cost of a cash deposit are not included. Bank rates and fees vary by person - the initiation fee of R1 207.50 and R69 service fee are the National Credit Act caps most banks charge. Your bank's quote, your insurer's premium and a dealer's trade-in offer are what count.
Sources
- Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources / Central Energy Fund, fuel price adjustment from 7 October 2026 (95 inland R30.25, coast R29.38, up R3.33): reported in CarMag, confirmed SA fuel price for October 2026, 5 October 2026, read 16 October 2026. The DMPR media statement itself was not opened.
- Year-earlier price of R21.63 and the October 2026 adjustment: TimesLIVE, record fuel price hikes - what you will pay from October 7, 5 October 2026, read 16 October 2026.
- Prime 10.75% from 25 September 2026 (repo 7.25% + 3.5%): South African Reserve Bank MPC statement, September 2026, as used by the CalcSA calculators.
- Initiation fee (R1 050 + VAT) and monthly service fee (R60 + VAT) caps: National Credit Act regulations, as used by the CalcSA car finance calculators.
- Worked finance examples, R340 000 over 60 months with a 35% balloon (R6 105) and over 84 months (R5 996): Cars.co.za, the true cost of 60-month balloons vs 84-month loans, 25 June 2026, read 16 October 2026.
- First-year depreciation of 20% or more: Cars.co.za, new vs used - which should you buy in 2026, 11 March 2026, read 16 October 2026.
Calculators used in this post
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