Buying a car and owning a car are two different things. Often buyers look at the car's price and what the monthly payments are, but that doesn't take into consideration the total cost of vehicle ownership. While the price you pay certainly figures prominently into overall costs, and Kelley Blue Book tools like Fair Purchase Price go a long way in helping you make the right decision, that's just the beginning. What you will be paying to own and operate your vehicle involves many factors and expenses that you may or may not have considered when signing on the dotted line. And these considerations may very well impact what you're paying years after you've driven your new vehicle off the lot.

While insurance costs, fuel economy and interest rates all have an impact on what you spend on your vehicle, one of the largest expenses is depreciation, or how much resale value your vehicle retains over the long run. New cars with similar sticker prices can and do depreciate at different rates depending on their desirability in the second-hand market and this has a major impact on total ownership costs. And it's a big reason why a less expensive car or one with huge rebates on it may not necessarily be the best deal versus a higher-priced unit that will be worth more when it comes time to sell or trade it in.

Buying the right car that retains the most value more often than not is the best move. This is where Kelley Blue Book's 5-Year Cost to Own Awards are useful guides in making an informed decision.

In developing the data that drives our 5-Year Cost to Own projections, Kelley Blue Book analysts calculate projected resale values, insurance and state fees, estimate the costs for fuel, maintenance and repairs and take into consideration the vehicle's acquisition cost as determined by KBB's Fair Purchase Price. This data evaluates these costs down to the model level and take into consideration new vehicle sales figures. More popular trims are given more weight to give a clearer picture of what buyers can expect in return when it comes to ownership costs.

These results and the awards themselves provide powerful insights that can give you the upper hand when it comes to shopping for a new vehicle. The 5-Year Cost to Own Awards are a valuable tool in making sure that you're making an informed purchase that will pay dividends both now and over the years ahead.

Our annual 5-Year Cost to Own Awards are broken into the two groups listed below.