See the full monthly cost of owning a car

True cost of car ownership

Calculate the true all-in monthly cost of owning a car in Malaysia — loan payment, road tax, and insurance combined.

Formula

total = loan payment + (annual road tax ÷ 12) + (annual insurance after NCD ÷ 12)

Assumptions

• Road tax uses the Peninsular Malaysia private saloon car schedule; insurance NCD uses PIAM's standard private car scale.
• Excludes fuel, maintenance/servicing, parking, and tolls — see the Fuel cost calculator for running fuel costs separately.
• Spreads road tax and insurance evenly across 12 months for comparison, even though both are typically paid as a single annual amount.

Frequently asked questions

Why include road tax and insurance if I pay those once a year?
Spreading them across 12 months makes it easier to compare against your monthly budget and loan payment, giving you the real monthly cost of owning the car — not just the loan installment.

What's missing from this total?
Fuel, servicing/maintenance, parking, and tolls are not included — use the Fuel cost calculator alongside this for a fuller picture of your total motoring budget.

Does a bigger down payment lower my total monthly cost?
Yes — it reduces the loan amount financed, which lowers the monthly loan payment, though it doesn't affect road tax or insurance, which are based on the car itself, not the loan.

Sources

• JPJ — Road tax rate schedule
• PIAM — No Claim Discount scale