From fuel to parking, the cost to run a car can add up.

To find out more about car running costs for the everyday Australian, Budget Direct surveyed more than 1,000 Australian drivers over the age of 18. 

We gathered data to better understand how car costs impact our nation’s drivers and what they’re doing to ease the pressure

• SUVs are the most popular car choice for Australians.

• Respondents who own utes and diesel vehicles are the most impacted by rising fuel prices. 

• The women surveyed are slightly more likely to put off getting a service to save money, but they’re also more likely to have more expensive services than men. 

• More than half of respondents said running a car has become much more expensive in the past year.

Across Australia, transport costs have risen more than $100 a week on average in the past three years. [1]

While some ongoing costs such as fuel and car loan repayments have seen a significant spike since 2020, others such as car insurance, registration costs and servicing have been incrementally increasing over time. [1]

Australia’s preferences have also recently changed, with data showing that more Australians are now opting for larger cars. More than half of the cars purchased in the year to October 2023 in Australia were Sports Utility Vehicles or SUVs. In October 2023, SUV sales rose 22% compared to the same month the year prior. [2]

With larger cars can come greater expenses. For instance, conventional SUVs can use 25% more fuel per kilometre than medium-sized cars. [3]

Generally speaking, a new SUV can be more expensive than a smaller new car such as a hatchback. Having a more expensive car can impact the cost of insurance, whether it's comprehensive car insurance, third party fire and theft or compulsory third party insurance, as well as the cost of a car loan and sometimes even servicing costs. [4]

But whether you just bought a new or used car, or you’ve been driving the same car for years, check out our data on how Australians feel about the cost of running a car.

^Due to how the figures are rounded within the survey data, numbers may not add up to exactly 100%.

Of those surveyed, the SUV was the most popular car type with one-third of respondents saying they owned one. 

This was closely followed by 28% of respondents saying they have a hatchback and 38% of respondents having a sedan.

Utes were twice as common for male respondents as they were for female respondents. 

^Due to how the figures are rounded within the survey data, numbers may not add up to exactly 100%.

Petrol was the most common fuel type for respondents to use in their vehicles according to 84% of those surveyed. 

One in ten respondents used diesel, while just 3% used hybrid. Meanwhile, those aged 18 to 27 were the most likely age group of respondents to use hybrid vehicles, according to 9% of respondents in that age group.

^Due to how the figures are rounded within the survey data, numbers may not add up to exactly 100%.

The majority of respondents said it was very important to them that their car was cheap to run, according to two-thirds of respondents. 

For respondents aged 48 to 57, more than three-quarters said it was very important to them that their car was cheap to run. 

Meanwhile, those surveyed who owned diesel cars were the least likely group to say cheap ongoing car costs were very important to them according to just less than half of the group surveyed.

^Due to how the figures are rounded within the survey data, numbers may not add up to exactly 100%.

Fuel was the most expensive ongoing car-related expense for those surveyed with a third of respondents ranking it in first place. This was followed by insurance, registration, CTP and licensing costs. 

Twice as many female respondents said that servicing and tyres were their most expensive car-related cost, with 16% of women surveyed ranking it in the top spot compared to 8% of men. 

Meanwhile, insurance was the biggest expense overall for those surveyed in Victoria, according to 30% of respondents. 

Respondents who said they owned a ute and respondents who said they owned a diesel car were the most common groups surveyed to say fuel was their most expensive car cost per year, according to around 40% of each group.

^Due to how the figures are rounded within the survey data, numbers may not add up to exactly 100%.

The majority of respondents said fuel was the car-related cost they had seen increase the most over the past 12 months. 

Meanwhile, those who were surveyed in Western Australia seemed to feel the rise in fuel the most with 65% of respondents saying fuel was their biggest annual car-related cost increase.

^Due to how the figures are rounded within the survey data, numbers may not add up to exactly 100%.

Of those surveyed, 41% said their weekly fuel bill was $50 or less a week, while 42% of respondents said it fell between $50 and $100 a week. 

Older respondents were more likely to have the cheapest weekly fuel bill than younger respondents. Almost three-quarters of those surveyed aged 68 to 77 said fuel cost $50 or less a week compared to a quarter of respondents aged 18 to 27 who had the same response. 

Those surveyed in New South Wales were the most likely state to say their weekly fuel bill was between $150 and $200 a week, according to 18% of respondents.

Those surveyed who said they owned a ute were almost four times more likely to have a weekly fuel bill between $100 and $150 than those surveyed who said they owned a hatchback. 

Meanwhile, those surveyed who owned a diesel car were the most likely group of respondents to say their weekly fuel bill was between $100 and $150 a week, according to 28% of respondents.

On average across the country in 2023, it’s found that Australians can spend around $95 a week on fuel. [1]

^Due to how the figures are rounded within the survey data, numbers may not add up to exactly 100%.

More than half of those surveyed said they wouldn’t consider getting a car loan, while less than a third said they’ve had one or would consider getting one in the future. 

Those in Victoria were the most likely state to not have a car loan or want to get one in the future, according to 60% of respondents.

^Due to how the figures are rounded within the survey data, numbers may not add up to exactly 100%.

More than half of those surveyed said they believed car ownership has gotten much more expensive in the past 12 months. 

The majority of those aged 18 to 27 who were surveyed said they believed the cost of owning a car has only gotten slightly more expensive in the past 12 months, according to 52% of respondents.

Those in South Australia were the most likely state to think that the cost of owning a car has gotten much more expensive over the past year, according to 61% of respondents. 

Meanwhile, almost two-thirds of those surveyed who said they owned a ute said it’s become much more expensive to own a car in the past year.

^Due to how the figures are rounded within the survey data, numbers may not add up to exactly 100%. 

*Respondents were able to select more than one response. 

The most common ways the majority of those surveyed have tried to save money on car running costs is to drive less and shop around for cheap fuel. This was followed by washing their own cars and avoiding paid parking. 

More than one in ten respondents said they hadn’t tried anything to save costs on their car. 

Women who were surveyed were more likely than male respondents to put off getting a service with 27% of women saying they’ve tried this tactic compared to 19% of men. 

Those in Queensland who were surveyed were twice as likely as those surveyed in Western Australia and South Australia to switch insurers or reduce their cover to save money.

^Due to how the figures are rounded within the survey data, numbers may not add up to exactly 100%.

Nearly 30% of those surveyed said they’d become slightly more interested in buying electric vehicles in the past 12 months.

Men who were surveyed were nearly twice as likely as the women surveyed to say they had become much more interested in buying an electric car in the past 12 months.

Those aged 38 to 47 were the most likely age group to become much more interested in buying an electric car in the past 12 months, according to one in five respondents. 

More than a quarter of respondents aged 68 to 77 and almost a third of those aged 78 to 87 said they had become much less interested in buying an electric vehicle in the past 12 months.

According to more than half of the respondents, the cost of running a car has become much more expensive over the past year. However, we also found that the majority of respondents said they owned an SUV.

National data even recorded that more than half of the total number of cars purchased in 2023 to October were SUVs. [2]

Driving an SUV has been found to burn 25% more fuel per kilometre than medium-sized cars. [3]

Plus, owning a more expensive car such as an SUV compared to a hatchback can impact the cost of insurance, car loans and sometimes even servicing costs.[4]

Those surveyed who said they owned utes and diesel cars were the most common groups to say fuel was their most expensive car cost per year. 

Around 40% of each of the surveyed groups ranked fuel at the top of their list. This was above the Australian average where a third of respondents said fuel was their most expensive car-related cost. 

More than a quarter of diesel car owners who were surveyed said that their weekly fuel bill was between $100 and $150 a week.

However, those who owned diesel cars were the least likely group of respondents to say that it was very important to them to have cheap ongoing car costs.