(May 2010) A study by Edmunds.com shows that owning a vehicle in Alaska, California or Hawaii over a five-year period is about $10,000 more expensive than owning the same vehicle in New Hampshire, South Dakota or South Carolina for the same duration.

This study employs data from Edmuds.com's True Cost to Own tool that projects model-specific, regional average vehicle five-year ownership costs, consisting of depreciation, financing, taxes, fees, insurance premiums, fuel costs, maintenance and repairs for new and used vehicles.

The tool is available at no charge to Web site visitors, and provides ownership cost information for both new and used vehicles.

"Many new car buyers neglect to think about the fact that choosing a more expensive vehicle is likely to cause them to pay higher sales tax and more interest on their loans, which may drain their household budget more than expected," said Karl Brauer, Editor at Large and Senior Analyst for Edmunds.com. 

"People are also often surprised by differences in car insurance, fuel and maintenance costs when they change vehicles. It's always a good idea to carefully consider all aspects of vehicle ownership before making a final decision on a new car."

The following states have the lowest average vehicle ownership costs in the country:

The following the states have the highest average vehicle ownership costs in the country:

*As of April 22, 2010. Additional data is available upon request.

The True Cost to Own^® calculations use the following assumptions:

• Ownership expenses are for a five-year time span
• Vehicles are driven an average of 15,000 miles per year
• Vehicles are financed using traditional financing and not leased
• Buyers are paying 10 percent down on the vehicle
• Buyers are in the "Gold" credit tier for the purpose of determining the finance rate
• The loan term is 60 months
• Buyers represent the average demographic for insurance rates