DESIGNER

Amy Shen

PROFILE/DESCRIPTION

Video: The Audio A3 Is a Small Car With a Big Price 

Everything is going up — buying, financing, insurance and maintenance. The average annual cost of ownership, by one estimate, is $12,000.

It’s getting more expensive to own and operate a new car.

The average annual cost of ownership is up more than 13 percent from last year to more than $12,000, or just over $1,000 a month, according to the latest research from the automobile owners group AAA. Higher car prices and the surging costs of financing, insuring and maintaining a new car all contributed to the increase. The analysis also considered depreciation a cost even though it’s not paid out of pocket.

Where does that leave consumers who are already squeezed by rising gas prices, the higher costs for food and other goods, as well as increasing interest rates on their credit cards?