Car repair costs by brand range from $5,260 over ten years for a Buick to $19,460 for a Land Rover, according to Consumer Reports’ survey of what owners actually paid out of pocket (updated December 4, 2025). That is almost four to one. Two domestic nameplates, Buick and Lincoln, beat every Japanese and Korean maker, and European luxury marques fill the bottom of the list. The table shows all 29 nameplates, split into the first five years and the five after, with one documented weak spot for each.
Car repair costs by brand: maintenance and repair totals for 29 makes
Consumer Reports asked members in its 2025 Annual Auto Surveys what they spent over the previous 12 months on maintenance (motor oil changes, tires and similar work) plus repairs. Collision repair is excluded, since insurance companies usually pay for crash damage. Figures are cumulative for the first five years of ownership, years six to ten, and the full decade. The annual column is our division of the decade total by ten, not a CR number. CR’s table has no separate Dodge row.
| Rank | Make | First 5 years | Years 6 to 10 | 10-year total | Annual (derived) | Documented weak spot |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Buick | $1,160 | $4,100 | $5,260 | $526 | Rearview camera image fails; 306,511 recalled (26V539) |
| 2 | Lincoln | $920 | $4,700 | $5,620 | $562 | 2.7L/3.0L EcoBoost intake valves can break (24V635) |
| 3 | Toyota | $1,250 | $4,700 | $5,950 | $595 | Tundra 3.4L V6 machining debris, engine replaced (25V767) |
| 4 | Hyundai | $1,210 | $4,900 | $6,110 | $611 | ABS module leaks brake fluid, fire risk (23V651) |
| 5 | Tesla | $1,020 | $5,105 | $6,125 | $613 | Cybertruck exterior panel can detach (25V170) |
| 6 | Nissan | $1,420 | $4,850 | $6,270 | $627 | VC-Turbo engine bearing failures; 443,899 with Infiniti (25V437) |
| 7 | Chevrolet | $1,325 | $4,950 | $6,275 | $628 | 6.2L V8 rod and crankshaft defects (25V274) |
| 8 | Ford | $1,150 | $5,200 | $6,350 | $635 | 2015 to 2017 F-150 transmission downshift (26V237) |
| 9 | Mazda | $1,700 | $4,720 | $6,420 | $642 | CX-90 and CX-70 fuel gauge misreads (25V568) |
| 10 | Mitsubishi | $2,220 | $4,200 | $6,420 | $642 | Outlander rearview camera software freezes (25V369) |
| 11 | Kia | $1,500 | $5,050 | $6,550 | $655 | ABS module brake fluid leak, fire risk (23V652) |
| 12 | Honda | $1,780 | $5,040 | $6,820 | $682 | 3.5L V6 rod bearing failure; 248,999 with Acura (23V751) |
| 13 | Chrysler | $1,465 | $5,680 | $7,145 | $715 | Pacifica plug-in hybrid battery fire risk (26V362) |
| 14 | Jeep | $1,150 | $6,045 | $7,195 | $720 | 4xe high-voltage battery fire risk; 154,032 (24V720) |
| 15 | Lexus | $1,800 | $5,600 | $7,400 | $740 | LX and GX 3.4L V6 debris, engine replaced (25V767) |
| 16 | Cadillac | $1,220 | $6,310 | $7,530 | $753 | Escalade 6.2L V8 rod and crankshaft defects (25V274) |
| 17 | Volkswagen | $1,650 | $5,895 | $7,545 | $755 | Atlas passenger airbag sensor wiring (24V464) |
| 18 | Acura | $1,300 | $6,425 | $7,725 | $773 | MDX and TLX 3.5L V6 rod bearings (23V751) |
| 19 | GMC | $1,650 | $6,125 | $7,775 | $778 | Sierra and Yukon 6.2L V8 engine defects (25V274) |
| 20 | Subaru | $2,050 | $5,870 | $7,920 | $792 | Outback and Legacy passenger airbag sensor (24V227) |
| 21 | Ram | $1,950 | $6,700 | $8,650 | $865 | 1500 ABS software can disable stability control (24V653) |
| 22 | Infiniti | $1,920 | $8,100 | $10,020 | $1,002 | QX50 VC-Turbo engine bearing failures (25V437) |
| 23 | Mini | $1,700 | $8,500 | $10,200 | $1,020 | Integrated brake unit can lose power assist (24V104) |
| 24 | Volvo | $1,530 | $8,800 | $10,330 | $1,033 | Rearview camera software; 413,151 recalled (25V908) |
| 25 | BMW | $1,700 | $9,300 | $11,000 | $1,100 | Integrated brake unit can lose power assist; 266,716 with Mini (24V104) |
| 26 | Audi | $2,050 | $9,300 | $11,350 | $1,135 | Q5 cylinder head cover leaks oil, fire risk (25V294) |
| 27 | Mercedes-Benz | $3,330 | $9,300 | $12,630 | $1,263 | Fuel pump failure cuts drive power (23V445) |
| 28 | Porsche | $4,950 | $12,950 | $17,900 | $1,790 | Taycan battery module short circuit (24V732) |
| 29 | Land Rover | $5,560 | $13,900 | $19,460 | $1,946 | Range Rover front upper knuckle can crack (25V514) |
At the median, Lexus owners spend $7,400 over the decade. Each weak spot is a manufacturer recall filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (campaign number in brackets, searchable at nhtsa.gov/recalls), not owner forum chatter. A recall repair is free at the dealer; the bill shows up when the same part fails on a vehicle outside the recall population. The catch owners miss: a campaign covers specific build dates and VIN ranges, so a neighbor’s identical model and trim can be included while yours is not. Run your own VIN rather than trusting the model name.
Why the second five years cost three to five times more
The warranty cliff explains most of the jump. Nearly every new-car warranty runs at least three years, and BMW, Nissan and Toyota include complimentary scheduled maintenance, so a brand new car’s early bills are mostly oil, tires and wipers. After that, the owner pays for the drivetrain, suspension and electronics. What the warranty booklet doesn’t spell out is that wear items such as brake pads, tires and batteries sit outside bumper-to-bumper coverage even in year one, so “under warranty” never meant free.
The size of the cliff matters more than the rank when you’re shopping a used car:
- Volvo: $1,530 early, then $8,800, or 5.8 times as much.
- BMW: 5.5 times. Jeep is 5.3 and Cadillac 5.2.
- Toyota: 3.8 times, from a low base, so the later stretch still totals only $4,700.
- Mitsubishi: under two times. It spends the most of any mainstream maker early ($2,220) and the least later ($4,200).
A buyer stepping into a 6-year-old car inherits the second column, not the first. By CR’s numbers that is $9,300 over the next five years for a BMW and $4,100 for a Buick.
Shared parts versus dealership repair options
“We do notice that domestic automakers tend to have cheaper parts when repairs are necessary,” says Steven Elek, who runs auto data analytics at Consumer Reports, and that saving carries over to upscale GM and Ford nameplates. Buick shares components with Chevrolet, Lincoln with Ford. Aftermarket suppliers make those parts in volume, so most jobs suit any independent technician.
European luxury marques cost more for three overlapping reasons:
- Lower-volume parts, often sold only through the dealer network, face little price competition.
- Many jobs need factory diagnostic scan tools, coding, special equipment or manufacturer service bulletins, which pushes owners to the dealership and its higher posted rate (compare typical auto repair labor rates by shop type).
- Tighter packaging and specialty fluid requirements add book hours to routine work.
The spread inside that group is still wide. Audi ($11,350) and BMW ($11,000) run thousands less over a decade than Mercedes-Benz ($12,630), Porsche ($17,900) or Land Rover. A luxury car is not automatically an expensive car to fix, either: Lincoln ranks second and Lexus sits at the median.
Are trucks expensive to maintain?
New ones are not, per mile. AAA’s Your Driving Costs 2025 study puts maintenance, repair and tires for a half-ton crew-cab pickup at 11.36 cents per mile, or $1,704 at 15,000 miles. A medium sedan is 11.91 cents ($1,786) and the all-vehicle average 11.04 cents ($1,656). The pickup premium is elsewhere: $6,041 a year of depreciation and 17.84 cents per mile in fuel, which makes the half-ton the priciest category to own at 98.54 cents per mile.
Old trucks are a different story. Ram is the costliest nameplate in the CR table that is neither luxury nor European, at $8,650 over ten years, $2,700 more than the third-place nameplate, with $6,700 of it after year five. GMC is $7,775. RepairPal says pickups rate poorly “due to high repair costs and a high percentage of severe jobs,” even though they visit the shop less often. Short answer: a new truck costs about what a midsize sedan does to maintain; a high-mileage truck in its second five years costs more.
Why other auto repair rankings disagree
Three sources dominate searches on this topic. We built the table on one and did not blend them, because they measure different things:
- Consumer Reports (our basis): owner-reported out-of-pocket maintenance plus repairs, split by vehicle age, December 2025.
- RepairPal reliability ratings: shop invoices for unscheduled work, per year. The page wears a 2026 label, but its text says the ratings cover 2010 to 2019 model years. Honda leads at $428 against a $652 all-car figure.
- CarEdge: a 5-year upkeep ranking with no publication date, so we used none of its figures.
Many automotive articles still quote CR’s 2024 edition. In the December 2025 update Buick and Lincoln lead and Tesla sits fifth. Check the date on any number, ours included.
Turning car repair costs by brand into a monthly budget
- Pick the column for your car’s age. An 8-year-old Kia uses $5,050 over years 6 to 10, about $84 a month.
- Set that aside monthly, plus a little for a rental car if the repair service has no loaner and you can’t be without wheels. To model your own mileage instead of a survey average, use the car maintenance cost calculator.
- Check any big job against Kelley Blue Book auto repair pricing, which lists pricing for common jobs by model. Its Blue Book Fair Repair Price Range shows typical dealer parts and labor for a named repair in your ZIP code, a fair ceiling for an independent shop’s cost estimates.
- When one repair reaches half the car’s value, run the repair or replace calculator before approving it. If the bill lands before the fund is built, the car repair loan calculator shows what financing it would add.
Mileage, climate and proper care and maintenance move your number more than the badge does, and one row in a table hides model spread: a four-cylinder Toyota Camry and a recalled twin-turbo Tundra won’t cost the same to keep. For prices on individual jobs, see our average car repair costs guide.
Look up your nameplate’s years 6 to 10 figure now, divide it by 60, and start setting that amount aside before the next repair arrives. If you drive one of the bottom eight makes, get both a dealer price and an independent quote on any job over $1,000. Car repair costs by brand tell you which bills are coming; the car repair calculator prices the one in front of you.
Quick answers by nameplate
Which car brand has the cheapest repairs?
Buick, at $5,260 over ten years in Consumer Reports’ December 2025 survey, then Lincoln ($5,620) and Toyota ($5,950). Hyundai ($6,110) is the cheapest Korean make.
What car brands are most expensive to repair?
Land Rover ($19,460 over ten years), Porsche ($17,900) and Mercedes-Benz ($12,630), followed by Audi, BMW, Volvo, Mini and Infiniti, all above $10,000.
Which car is more expensive to repair, a Toyota or a Honda?
Honda, slightly, in CR’s survey: $6,820 over ten years against $5,950 for Toyota. RepairPal’s older invoice data reverses the order for unscheduled repairs ($428 Honda, $441 Toyota), so treat them as close. For a Camry versus Accord decision, model-level data matters more than either nameplate average.
Do electric cars like Tesla cost less to maintain?
Early on, yes. Tesla owners reported $1,020 for the first five years and $6,125 for the decade. AAA puts EV maintenance, repair and tires at 10.07 cents per mile, under the 11.04-cent average; hybrids are lower still at 9.75.
Should a brand ranking decide whether I keep my car?
It should shape your budget, not the decision. Weigh the next five years of expected bills against a replacement’s payments with the keep or replace comparison.
Estimates only, not a quote. Figures by nameplate come from the Consumer Reports survey and AAA category data, not predictions for a specific vehicle. Last reviewed: October 2026.