It’s not the cheapest car you can buy, but it is the cheapest to own.
It’s also one of the smallest.
According to Kelley Blue Book, the Scion iQ has the lowest cost of ownership, based on the sum total of car payments, insurance, maintenance, fees, fuel and depreciation.
The two-door, 3+1-passenger microcar, which has a base price of $15,995, will set you back $27,006 over five years, putting it ahead of the Chevrolet Spark and Mazda2 in the subcompact class.
Moving up the size spectrum, the Hyundai Veloster was named best of the compacts at $30,902, and the Veloster Turbo tops among sporty compacts at $35,607, while the Honda Insight was projected to ring up the lowest costs among alternative fuel and hybrid vehicles at $33,014.
The survey also found that Mazda has the lowest average cost across its lineup of all brands and Lexus is best at keeping costs down for owners among luxury automakers.
The most expensive lowest cost car? That’d be the Porsche Panamera which earned the honors in the high-end luxury class with a five-year cost of $87,411.