The study looked at depreciation, fuel costs, taxation and the cost of repairs and used the figures to calculate a total cost of ownership for a variety of popular models. And while much has been written about imminent changes to road tax that will affect motorists from later this year, the data from HPI was based on cars that are three years old and have 30,000 miles on the clock – meaning this April’s changes did not influence the 10 per cent rise shown in the study, but will be an additional concern for consumers should trends continue.
From 1 April this year, changes to Vehicle Excise Duty will lead to many new car buyers paying more tax than they would have under the current rate. HPI attributed a cost per mile figure to a number of popular models and found that, overall, when all factors were considered the cost of ownership had risen by 10 per cent between 2016 and 2017.
Looking at the cheapest vehicles to own last year, the cost per mile for the Peugeot 108 increased from 24 pence to 27 pence, while the cost of a Toyota Aygo jumped by over 15 per cent from 24 pence to 28 pence over the same period.
