Projo Cars Blog

Sometimes a bargain isn’t. A car that may look inexpensive, up front, just might wind up costing you more in the long-run, warns Consumer Reports magazine, in its Annual April Auto Issue, reports thecarconnection.com

Once you add in factors like maintenance, fuel costs, insurance, interest and depreciation, the actual cost of ownership can be significantly different than what many car buyers would expect. The magazine notes that with its $17,500 sticker price, a Mitsubishi Lancer is a whopping $5,000 less than the smaller Mini Cooper — at least when you first drive it home. But over the typical, five-year ownership cycle, the equation looks quite a bit different. When you add in repairs and other factors, the Mitsubishi actually will cost about $3,000 more, Consumer Reports calculates.

Toyotas score quite well, according to the magazine. While the Highlander SUV is $3,000 more, initially, than a comparable Ford Explorer, the Japanese SUV will save an owner $6,500 over the long-run. And lower fuel costs are one of the main reasons why the Prius hybrid will save an owner $2,000, after five years, versus a Chevrolet Cobalt, even though the sticker price of the Chevy is $7,500 less.

But one big surprise comes from the luxury side of the Toyota line-up. Its Lexus brand has relatively high maintenance costs, so over that same, five-year cycle, an ES350 will rack up a full $2,300 more in repair costs than a Lincoln MKZ.

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