5 Used Cars That Are Dirt Cheap To Maintain

Estimating the cost of car repairs can be difficult, although some vehicles will always cost more to repair than others. If you have the multimillion-dollar budget to buy a high-powered exotic like a Bentley, Koenigsegg, or Bugatti, you would naturally assume that even routine maintenance would set you back a sizable amount. JD Power cites the cost of an oil change for a Lamborghini Murceilago at around $2,000, "because of the complex engine and drainage system."

I have been working on my own cars for more than 35 years, mostly out of financial necessity. I could rarely afford a car that didn't require constant attention, and having spent most of my driving years on the coasts of the United States meant that professional repairs were often beyond my means. I learned how to maintain and repair cars from my mechanic grandfather, and sought out reliable vehicles that could be fixed cheaply and easily in my driveway. My self-made impressions as to what cars were dependable or easily repaired were largely confirmed during the two years I worked as a professional mechanic, and I have proudly kept five vehicles going well beyond the 200,000-mile mark. 

While much of that longevity can be credited to strong construction, being able to maintain and repair them easily certainly added many years and miles to their lives. Here are five vehicles that can be maintained and repaired at a reasonable cost, and thus should last you a long time.

Honda has sold more than 17.5 million Accords since introducing the model in 1976, and the Accord has been a staple of Honda's lineup throughout its 11 generations of production. The Accord has been featured on Car and Driver's "10 best" list a staggering 39 times, lending more credibility to its reputation as a reliable runner. We feel particularly confident in the eighth-generation Accord, which covers the model years from 2008 through 2012. 

There are currently over 1,100 eighth-gen Accords listed for sale at cars.com, with more than a dozen of them showing over a quarter million miles on the odometer. Honda sold between 250,000 and 400,000 Accords in the United States yearly during the eighth generation, meaning parts are readily available and usually in stock at most stores. RepairPal estimates the average yearly upkeep costs for a 2008 Accord at a staggeringly low $341, and a still-reasonable $412 for the 2012 model.

One expensive job you'll want to anticipate if shopping for a used Accord is the replacement of the timing belt, which can cost more than $1,000 at a shop. On eighth-generation models with the V6 engine, you'll want to have this done every 60,000 to 100,000 miles, depending on driving conditions. 2008 to 2012 Accords with four-cylinder engines have a timing chain, which is expected to last as long as your car does. 

[Featured image by Kevauto via Wikimedia Commons | Cropped and scaled | CC-BY-SA-4.0]

If you're looking for something newer and bigger than an Accord with comparable repair and maintenance costs, consider a Mazda CX-5. Mazda introduced the CX-5 as a 2012 model, just three years after presenting it as a concept. It shared underpinnings with the Mazda 6, but used a body design based on forms present in nature. The headlights were angled to resemble the eyes of a cat, and the flowing lines that ran along its sides were inspired by ocean waves.

The CX-5's list of accolades is long. It was named one of Car and Driver's 10 best for four straight years through 2021, and was honored as the Women's World Family Car of the Year in 2017. It's also been named a top safety pick by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety every year since its release.

RepairPal gives the CX-5 a reliability rating of 4.5 out of five stars, which places it first among the 26 mid-sized SUVs ranked. The average yearly repair and maintenance costs are calculated at $447, which is more than $100 less than the other 25 vehicles in its class and more than $200 less than the costs to keep the average car on the road. Unscheduled repairs come along less than once every three years, and only 8% of those are severe issues. Both of these numbers are also well below the costs for other mid-sized SUVs and the average for all vehicles.

Mazda earns another spot on this list for the MX-5 Miata, which was introduced back in 1989 as a 1990 model. It's remained basically unchanged since then, with an inline four-cylinder engine driving the rear wheels, two seats beneath a convertible top, and a stick shift for drivers that wanted one. The Miata isn't just eye-catching and fun to drive, though. It's also remained affordable to keep running year after year, with RepairPal estimating the average annual upkeep costs at a barely noticeable $349.

If you're interested in a first-generation Miata, you'll probably want to act fast, as its cost on the secondhand market has been steadily rising over the past few years. The price of a used 1995 Miata is climbing at about 14% each year, with a jump of more than 20% over the last few months. That said, if you can find one at a reasonable price, expect to have little trouble keeping it on the road. More than a million MX-5 Miatas have been sold in the past 30-plus years, meaning parts and advice from other owners are both easy to come by. For example, a new Remy starter for a 1998 Miata is just $75.89 from Rock Auto, and Amazon has a remanufactured Delco Remy alternator for the same car for $130.99.

[Featured image by M 93 via Wikimedia Commons |Cropped and scaled |CC-BY SA 3.0]

The Toyota Prius helped bring hybrid drive technology to the mainstream when it was introduced in Japan, taking honors as its home country's Car of the Year in 1997. Toyota brought the Prius to North America in 2000, and gave it a major update in 2003. Those changes included tweaks to the body and a new hybrid drive system that delivered 46 mpg of combined fuel economy.

The Prius isn't just cheap in terms of visits to the filling station; RepairPal calculates the average yearly upkeep costs at $408, and Car Edge projects those same costs to be $4,157 over the first 10 years of Prius ownership. CarEdge's estimate of $1,350 in repair and maintenance costs over the first five years of ownership beat the average hatchback by more than $4,000, and there was just a 3% chance that a Prius would need a major repair in that span.

In 2016, Your Mechanic ranked the Prius best among all models in terms of repair costs at $430 per year, and that's before you factor in the fuel savings. As of this writing, AAA lists the average price of a gallon of gas at $3.04, meaning your fuel savings over most other cars will be noticeable, even though the average fuel economy of all cars has risen to 26.9 mpg.

The Toyota Corolla has been on sale for more than a half century, debuting overseas in 1966 and coming to the United States two years later. Its total worldwide sales of over 50 million units ranked the model as the best-selling car in history as of about three years ago, and its solid reputation is based in large part on its reliability and low cost of ownership. RepairPal ranks it as the most reliable compact car on the market based on model years 2010 through 2019, with an average annual cost of $362. This figure blows away the in-class competition, which averages $526 per year in repair costs.

CarEdge added in the projected cost of routine maintenance and arrived at a figure of $4,229 over the first 10 years of ownership, a whopping $1,732 less than the industry average for best-selling sedans. The site also calculated that a Corolla would have an 11.89% chance of needing a major repair during that time, which was almost 5% below the rate for other compacts. The $1,342 average repair cost over the first five years was less than a quarter of similar models' average of $5,570, and the Corolla's rate of severe issues was just 7%, 4% below other compacts and 5% less than the average car. 

[Featured image by Vauxford via Wikimedia Commons |Cropped and scaled | CC-BY-SA-4.0]