Kelley Blue Book has awarded the cars that cost the least to own in five years. Out of all 2022 model year automobiles currently in the market, two Japanese brands dominate the least: Toyota and Lexus.
In fact, KBB awards both Toyota and Lexus the 2022 Kelley Blue Book 5-Year Cost To Own Awards for mainstream and luxury brands, respectively. KBB also gave a 5-Year Cost To Award for each vehicle category, which you can see in the table below.
| COMPACT CAR: Toyota Corolla | FULL-SIZE SUV: Nissan Armada |
| MIDSIZE CAR: Honda Accord | LUXURY SUBCOMPACT SUV: Lexus UX |
| FULL-SIZE CAR: Toyota Avalon | LUXURY COMPACT SUV: Lexus NX |
| ENTRY-LEVEL LUXURY CAR: Acura ILX | LUXURY MIDSIZE SUV – 2-ROW: Lexus RX |
| LUXURY CAR: Volvo S90 | LUXURY MIDSIZE SUV – 3-ROW: Acura MDX |
| SPORTS CAR: Subaru BRZ | LUXURY FULL-SIZE SUV: Lexus LX |
| HYBRID VEHICLE: Toyota Corolla Hybrid | OFF-ROAD SUV: Ford Bronco |
| ELECTRIC VEHICLE: Nissan LEAF | MIDSIZE PICKUP TRUCK: Ford Ranger |
| SUBCOMPACT SUV: Hyundai Venue | FULL-SIZE PICKUP TRUCK: Toyota Tundra |
| COMPACT SUV: Subaru Forester | MINIVAN: Toyota Sienna |
| MIDSIZE SUV – 2-ROW: Subaru Outback | LUXURY ELECTRIC VEHICLE: Tesla Model 3 |
| MIDSIZE SUV – 3-ROW: Subaru Ascent |
As you can see, out of all the 23 vehicle categories, there are five Toyota vehicles, namely the Corolla, Avalon, Corolla Hybrid, Sienna, and the recently-launched Tundra. On the other hand, the luxury vehicle categories are populated by four Lexus models, namely the UX, NX, RX, and LX.
For electric vehicles, the Nissan LEAF got the award for the mainstream brand while the Tesla Model 3 topped the luxury brand segment.
KBB's 5-Year Cost to Own information takes into consideration depreciation, expected fuel costs, finance and insurance fees, maintenance and repair costs, and state fees. Basically, the data point out which cars cost the least to own within five years, which should help consumers with their car-buying decision.
For the 2022 model year vehicles, the projected ownership costs are based on the average Kelley Blue Book 5-Year Cost to Own data for the initial five-year ownership period.
