- A typical used car costs about £1,800 to £2,400 a year to run at island mileage, before finance and depreciation.
- Insurance and fuel are the big two. Get insurance quotes before you choose a car.
- Short island trips mean worse mpg than the official figure. Plan on 15% to 20% less.
- Road tax for most cars registered since April 2017 is £200 a year in 2026/27, electric cars included.
The asking price is the number everyone looks at. The running costs are what you'll actually feel every month. This guide adds them up for a typical island year, so you can set a realistic budget and compare cars properly. Every car page on this site also shows its own running cost estimate.
What a typical island year looks like
The island is small. Newport to Ryde is about seven miles, and few everyday trips go much past twenty. We assume around 6,000 miles a year, a fair figure for someone who drives mostly on the island, and use it throughout. If you commute to the mainland or drive for work, put your own mileage in the calculator below.
Low mileage is good news for fuel bills and for car values. The catch is that most of those miles are short trips with a cold engine, which matters for fuel economy and, on a diesel, for the particulate filter.
A worked example: four typical cars
| Car | Fuel | Tax | Insurance | MOT | Servicing | Tyres and wear | Year | Month |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 1.2 petrol hatchback 45mpg real world | £1,061 | £35 | £550 | £45 | £220 | £200 | £2,111 | £176 |
| 2019 diesel estate 55mpg real world | £992 | £200 | £600 | £45 | £280 | £250 | £2,367 | £197 |
| 2019 petrol hybrid 60mpg real world | £796 | £200 | £600 | £45 | £250 | £200 | £2,091 | £174 |
| 2020 electric hatchback 3.5 miles/kWh real world | £463 | £200 | £700 | £45 | £150 | £250 | £1,808 | £151 |
The gaps between them are smaller than you might expect. The electric car's cheap charging is partly eaten up by higher insurance. The diesel's better economy is cancelled out by pricier fuel and higher road tax at island mileage.
Fuel: the biggest cost you control
Work out a car's fuel cost like this: divide your yearly miles by its mpg, multiply by 4.546 to get litres, then multiply by the price per litre. At 6,000 miles, every 5mpg is worth around £100 a year.
Pump prices vary a lot from one forecourt to the next, on the island as anywhere, so it's worth comparing prices online before you fill up. Our figures use the UK average.
Road tax in 2026/27
Road tax (Vehicle Excise Duty) depends on when the car was first registered. These are the rates from April 2026:
| First registered | How it's taxed | Yearly |
|---|---|---|
| From 1 April 2017 | A flat standard rate, whatever the fuel, including electric cars | £200 |
| From 1 April 2017, list price over £40,000 (£50,000 for electric) | The standard rate plus a supplement, in years two to six | £640 |
| March 2001 to March 2017 | By CO2 emissions, in bands | £20 to £790 |
| Before March 2001 | By engine size | Two rates |
For the 2001 to 2017 cars, a small petrol or diesel under 120g/km pays £20 or £35 a year, which is why older small cars are so cheap to tax. Bigger engines climb fast. Check any car's exact rate on GOV.UK, and remember tax doesn't transfer when you buy. You tax the car yourself before you drive it away.
Insurance
Insurance varies more than any other cost: by your age, record, postcode, job, the car's insurance group and where it's parked overnight. Two cars at the same price can be hundreds of pounds apart.
- Get quotes on your shortlist before you view, using the registration if the advert shows it.
- Check the insurance group, from 1 (cheapest) to 50. Small petrol hatchbacks are usually in the low groups.
- Be accurate about mileage. Island drivers often overestimate, and a lower honest mileage can bring the price down.
- Paying monthly costs more than paying for the year in one go, as insurers usually charge interest.
New drivers should read your first car on the Isle of Wight, where insurance is the biggest cost of all.
MOT, servicing and wear
- MOT: the legal maximum for a car is £54.85, and many garages charge less. Cars need one each year from three years old.
- Servicing: roughly £150 to £350 a year for a typical used car at an independent garage, more at a main dealer. Electric cars need less servicing: no oil, filters or exhaust.
- Tyres, brakes and wipers: island hills work brakes hard, and kerbs and potholes are hard on tyres. Allow £150 to £300 a year averaged out.
- A repair cushion: on an older car, keep a few hundred pounds aside for the unexpected.
The costs you don't see
Depreciation is usually the biggest cost of all on a newer car: the value it loses each year. A three-year-old car can lose a few thousand pounds in a year, while a ten-year-old one may lose a few hundred. Buying a few years old is the easiest way to cut it.
Finance adds interest on top. Our guide to car finance shows how to work out the real cost of borrowing.
Work out your own
Running cost calculator
Change anything. Prices are a guide, checked in October 2026.
Cars on the island that do 55mpg or better, cost £35 a year or less to tax, or are electric or hybrid.
