How Much Does a Car Cost You per Month?
Beyond the bank loan or lease payment, a car costs more per month than it seems at first glance — fuel, mandatory insurance, maintenance, and a bunch of small expenses that add up and surprise a lot of drivers.
Updated: July 2026 · Values are a guideline, for a regular car with mixed use (city + national road).
Fuel — usually the biggest expense
The cost per 100 km differs a lot depending on the fuel type — see the detailed comparison of diesel vs. gasoline vs. LPG vs. electric. As a guideline, for ~1,200 km/month (mixed city + national road use):
| Fuel | Cost/100 km | ~1,200 km/month |
|---|---|---|
| Gasoline | 50 – 85 lei | 600 – 1,020 lei |
| Diesel | 35 – 65 lei | 420 – 780 lei |
| LPG | 35 – 45 lei | 420 – 540 lei |
| Electric | 20 – 30 lei | 240 – 360 lei |
🧮 How we calculated this: cost/100km = price/liter (or /kWh) × real average consumption per 100 km, not the WLTP figure from the owner's manual (10-25% lower than reality). Fuel prices, July 2026: gasoline ~8.6-8.7 lei/l, diesel ~9.1-9.5 lei/l, LPG ~4.5-4.6 lei/l, home electricity ~1.2-1.4 lei/kWh. Real average consumption: gasoline 6-10 l/100km, diesel 4-7 l/100km, LPG 8-10 l/100km, electric 15-22 kWh/100km. Monthly cost = cost/100km × 12 (for 1,200 km/month). Figures vary in reality with driving style, traffic and the day's fuel price — they're a guideline, not a fixed value.
Mandatory insurance and taxes
These don't depend on how many km you drive — you pay them whether the car sits in the garage or runs daily:
- RCA — varies a lot depending on the car's age, engine power, and the driver's age and history. From ~40-60 lei/month (older cars, experienced drivers with a favorable bonus-malus) up to over 150-200 lei/month (powerful cars, young drivers).
- ITP — 100-250 lei, but paid once every 1-2 years, so the monthly pro-rata amount is small — usually under 15-20 lei/month on average.
- Rovinietă — if you buy it annually, the monthly pro-rata is the smallest fixed expense, on the order of a few lei/month.
💡 Tip: AutoMeu automatically notifies you 30, 7 and 1 day before your ITP, RCA or rovinietă expires, so you don't pay in a rush or, worse, get fined for expired documents.
Maintenance and repairs
The most unpredictable category — some months you spend nothing, others a big service bill shows up. Amortized per year, as a guideline:
- Oil + filters (at the recommended intervals) — amortized, ~40-80 lei/month.
- Tires — a set lasts a few years, but amortized monthly it means ~30-60 lei/month.
- Wear parts (pads, discs, battery) — unpredictable, but amortized ~50-100 lei/month for a car of average age.
- Major service / timing belt — rare (after many tens of thousands of km), but costly when it happens — worth a reserve fund, not just the current monthly budget.
Other costs that are often overlooked
- Parking — residential permit, parking at the office or a mall, varies enormously by city.
- Car wash — ~40-100 lei/month, if you wash regularly.
- Local vehicle tax (the annual tax paid to the city hall) — usually modest, but still an annual cost to budget for.
- Depreciation — not an expense you "pay" directly, but the car loses value every month — relevant if you're thinking about resale.
Guideline example — monthly total
| Category | Guideline range/month |
|---|---|
| Fuel | 240 – 1,020 lei (depends enormously on fuel type — see the table above) |
| RCA + ITP + Rovinietă | 60 – 220 lei |
| Maintenance (amortized) | 120 – 240 lei |
| Other (parking, car wash, etc.) | 50 – 150 lei |
| Total (excluding loan/lease payment) | ~470 – 1,630 lei/month |
The range is wide mainly because of fuel — an electric car charged at home and a gasoline car driven heavily can have very different monthly costs. We didn't include the loan or lease payment — the differences there are too case-specific for a guideline figure to make sense. Add your actual payment on top of the total above for the full monthly cost.
See what your car REALLY costs, not just a guideline
Voice-dictated + AI car log — record a fill-up or an expense in a few seconds, and AutoMeu automatically calculates cost/km and cost/month based on your own data, not generic estimates. Free.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a car cost on average per month in Romania?
It depends massively on fuel type: for ~1,200 km/month, as a guideline, 470 lei/month (electric, charged at home) up to 1,630 lei/month (gasoline, heavy use), excluding loan or lease payments.
Which car expenses are fixed and which are variable?
Fixed: RCA, ITP, rovinietă, and possibly the loan payment. Variable: fuel, tire wear, how often you need services — they increase with the number of km driven.
How do I track my monthly car expenses?
Through the AutoMeu car log — you record entries by voice, in a few seconds, and the app automatically calculates cost/km and cost/month based on your real data.