About KnowCarCost — Canada

What we do

KnowCarCost answers one question properly: what does this car actually cost me? Not the sticker price — the real cost. Fuel or electricity, insurance, road tax, servicing, tyres, repairs and depreciation, added up into monthly, yearly and per-distance figures you can plan around.

We run ten free calculators covering ownership costs, fuel, EV charging, depreciation, affordability, trip costs, buy vs lease vs PCP, and side-by-side car comparison. They work in 11 markets: Ireland, the UK, the US, Canada, Germany, France, Spain, the Netherlands, Finland, Sweden and Belgium — with local currency, units, fuel prices and roadworthiness rules for each.

How we source our data

We do not guess. Vehicle specifications come from official government datasets: the US EPA fuel-economy database, Natural Resources Canada's fuel consumption ratings, and the UK Vehicle Certification Agency (VCA) — current models and historical archives.

Market prices come from official sources too: the European Commission's weekly Oil Bulletin for EU fuel prices, Eurostat for household electricity prices, national regulators and tax authorities for road tax and inspection fees, and the AA, GOV.UK, EIA, BLS and CAA for Ireland, the UK and North America. Every market default shows its source and the date it was captured. Where we have no verified source, the figure is marked as illustrative rather than presented as fact.

How our calculators work

Every calculator runs entirely in your browser — the numbers you type never leave your device. We show the full breakdown rather than a single magic number, so you can see exactly which costs drive the total and challenge any assumption.

All results are estimates, not quotes and not financial advice. Prices, taxes and resale values change constantly, so we tell you when each figure was last verified and encourage you to confirm with official sources before committing to a purchase.

Why we built it

Most car buyers focus on the monthly payment and get surprised by everything else. Running costs and depreciation usually exceed the purchase price within a few years. If more buyers could see the honest total before signing, most would choose differently — and negotiate better.

Used-car buyers are our core audience: if you are asking "is this price fair for this car?", that is exactly the question KnowCarCost exists to help answer.

How we make money

KnowCarCost is free to use. We may display advertising and, in future, affiliate links to relevant services. Advertising never influences our calculators, our default figures, or the sources we cite — the maths and the data come first.

We do not sell your data. We do not require an account. See our Privacy Policy for the full detail.

Contact us

Found an error, disagree with a default figure, or want a market added? We genuinely want to hear it — accuracy is the whole product. Use the details on our Contact page.