Analysis updated April 16, 2026
Sticker price is a poor way to compare sedans. A $15,000 car with 40,000 miles of life left can cost more per mile than a $25,000 car with 150,000 miles ahead of it, once financing, insurance, fuel, maintenance, and repairs are included.
IAVTA measures ownership cost using Cost Per Mile Remaining (CPMR). It adds up every cost of owning a vehicle, including purchase price, financing at current rates from FRED (Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis), insurance projected over the vehicle's remaining life, fuel at current national prices, maintenance, repairs, and state fees, then divides by the estimated miles left. The result is a single dollar-per-mile figure that makes any two vehicles directly comparable, regardless of age or price.
Sedans are known outside the United States by other names. In the United Kingdom and Australia, the same body style is called a saloon. In parts of continental Europe, particularly Italy and Spain, the term berlina is used. This analysis covers the same four-door, fixed-roof body style regardless of label.
Across 87 sedans with enough data, the median "best year to buy" is only 4 years old. And 41.4% of sedans have a brand-new CPMR within 10% of their cheapest year. Sedans hold their per-mile value across a wide range of ages, which makes them the most forgiving category for buyers who prefer new or nearly new.
The chart below shows the median CPMR across 127 non-luxury sedans, analyzed at the trim level by model year. Luxury brands (Acura, BMW, Lexus, Mercedes-Benz, etc.) are excluded here and covered in a separate section below. Lower means cheaper per mile of remaining life.
The dark line tracks the least expensive trim at each model year; the gold line tracks the most expensive. Together they show the full range of sedan ownership costs at each age.
The least expensive trim bottoms out around 2016 at $0.30/mi, then rises only slightly through the newest model years to $0.37/mi in 2026. At the other end, 2006-era sedans sit near $0.62/mi, more than double the best year. The cheapest model years cluster around 2014-2018, where a sedan has depreciated enough to lower the purchase price but still has 100,000+ miles of life remaining and benefits from modern fuel economy standards.
Sedans older than 12-15 years look cheap on a sticker, but the math works against them. A $5,000 sedan with 30,000 miles of remaining life absorbs its insurance, maintenance, and repair costs across far fewer miles than a $22,000 sedan with 180,000 miles ahead of it. Repair costs rise sharply after the warranty period, and insurance per remaining mile increases as the vehicle ages. The cheapest car on the lot is rarely the cheapest car to own.
The gap between new and used is also smaller than most people expect. A brand-new 2026 sedan costs $0.37/mi versus $0.30/mi for the cheapest year, about $1,050 difference over 15,000 miles of annual driving. For 41% of sedans, the gap between new and cheapest-year CPMR is less than 10%. New sedans spread their higher purchase price across a full lifetime of 200,000+ miles, carry lower insurance rates, need fewer repairs, and qualify for lower financing rates. These factors compress what most people assume is a large gap.
This analysis covers category medians, and individual models can look very different. Use the search box below or the comparison tool to check a specific vehicle.
Sedans have the flattest CPMR curve of any vehicle category, which means the "right" age to buy varies less than buyers might assume. The chart below overlays three high-volume sedans with very different cost profiles.
A brand-new sedan can be the cheapest option on its own curve. The Volkswagen Jetta is one such case: its 2025 1.5T S trim costs $0.32/mi, matching or beating every older Jetta model year. A low starting price, good fuel economy, and a full lifetime of miles ahead make the newest model year the best value. The Jetta is far from unique; 41% of sedans have a new-car CPMR within 10% of their cheapest year.
Even where used is cheaper, the gap can close quickly. The Kia K5, introduced in 2021 as a replacement for the Optima, already shows a used-car advantage: its 2021 LX at $0.35/mi is 14% cheaper per mile than the 2026 model at $0.40/mi. With only five years of data, the K5 shows how fast depreciation can create a sweet spot, and how much the curve shape varies from model to model within the same price class.
The Toyota Camry, the best-selling sedan in the country, represents a third pattern: a nearly flat curve. It bottoms out at $0.30/mi around 2016 and costs $0.36/mi brand new. Toyota's long expected lifetime (200,000+ miles) keeps per-mile cost low at every age. For the Camry, trim selection matters more than model year.
The 114 luxury sedans in the dataset cover the widest CPMR spread of any category, from near-mainstream Acuras to $300,000+ Rolls-Royces and Maybachs.
The median luxury sedan curve drops from $0.85/mi in 2006 to about $0.54/mi around 2014, then gradually climbs back toward $0.69/mi for 2026. The trend carries a steeper recent-year uptick than non-luxury sedans, reflecting rising prices at the premium end of the market. Only 29% of luxury sedans have a new-car CPMR within 10% of their cheapest year, compared to 41% for non-luxury sedans. Used buying makes a bigger difference in this segment.
The spread within this category is enormous. At the low end, the Acura ILX ($0.32/mi) and Acura Integra ($0.38/mi) cost less per mile than many non-luxury sedans. They achieve this through moderate pricing, reliable drivetrains, and long expected lifetimes. At the high end, the Maybach 62 at $7.05/mi and Rolls-Royce Phantom at $5.50/mi carry CPMRs 20x higher than the cheapest luxury sedan.
Mid-range luxury sedans land between these extremes. A BMW 3 Series, Mercedes-Benz C-Class, or Lexus IS typically runs $0.50-$0.65/mi. European brands tend to run slightly higher than Japanese luxury brands, primarily because of higher repair and maintenance costs after the warranty period ends.
Want to see the numbers for a specific sedan?
Every vehicle in the dataset has a full cost breakdown, trim comparison, and interactive chart.