How we count

Sticker price, freight, dealer fee where published, trims, colours, warranty. Each car page shows the source and date.

• MSRP, package and colour prices, freight, dealer, A/C, OMVIC, tire and environmental fees: each brand's Ontario build-and-price page, read 2026-11-05 (most brands); 2026-11-06 (Alfa Romeo, BMW, Chrysler, Dodge, Fiat, Jeep, Land Rover, Lincoln, Porsche, Ram, Volvo); 2026-11-07 (Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Ford, GMC, INEOS, Maserati, Mercedes-Benz, Rivian); 2026-10-29 (Genesis, Infiniti, Lexus, MINI, Nissan, Toyota); 2026-11-04 (Tesla). Our sums match each brand's totals; a Toyota sample matched the live page to the cent.
• Seats, cargo litres, towing, horsepower, fuel use, equipment: same pages. Towing is the brand's maximum for that trim, which can need a hitch or towing package; where an extra-cost package more than doubles it (Colorado WT and LT), we use the standard figure. No brand fuel figure: Natural Resources Canada's rating for the closest version. A trim far above its siblings (a feed error) gets the model's typical figure. Some brands (MINI, Infiniti) don't list optional safety equipment, so a must-have filter may miss a car that offers it.
• Factory options: where the brand's configurator prices its options and packages (GM, Ford, Lincoln, Audi, BMW, MINI, Porsche, Mercedes-Benz, Volvo, Jeep, Ram, Chrysler, Dodge, Hyundai, Mazda, Volkswagen, Lucid, Polestar, Subaru and Nissan in Canada; GM, Ford, Lincoln, Toyota, Lexus, BMW, Audi, Mercedes-Benz, Jeep, Ram, Dodge, Chrysler, Alfa Romeo, Nissan, Infiniti, Land Rover, Kia, Hyundai, Genesis, Subaru, Mitsubishi, Volvo, MINI, Volkswagen, Porsche, Polestar, Rivian, Lucid, Ineos and Maserati in the US; dealer-fitted accessories count only for a hitch, remote start or parking sensors), each feature shows the cheapest option or package that adds it. With "Count factory options" on, the Finder adds that price to the sticker, so tax, the loan and resale include it. Some options need another option first; the dealer's build sheet is final.
• Electric range and use: Natural Resources Canada Fuel Consumption Ratings (Open Government Licence – Canada).

HST at 13%, the A/C tax, OMVIC fee, tire levy and the federal luxury tax over $100,000.

• HST: 13% on the price and fees.
• Federal EV rebate (EV Affordability Program): $5,000 battery-electric, $2,500 plug-in hybrid; a car must be built in Canada or a free-trade partner country (so not China: the Model 3 sold here doesn't qualify), and one built outside Canada must have a final transaction value of $50,000 or less. That value is the price plus options and the dealer's admin fee; freight, PDI, levies and taxes don't count (Transport Canada). We use the brand's stated eligibility where given (Kia) and say "if eligible". Leases qualify too, prorated, which we don't show yet.
• Federal luxury tax, over $100,000: the brand's figure, or the lesser of 10% of the price or 20% of the amount over $100,000.
• Registration and plates: each province's official fee for the first year and each renewal (Ontario: $91 once, renewals $0).

Town, age, years licensed, claims, km a year, years you keep it, and how you pay.

• Fuel and charging: km a year × rated use × your price. The default gas price, $1.55/L regular, is the average of Oct 2025 to Sep 2026 self-serve prices in the Ontario cities Statistics Canada surveys (Toronto, Ottawa, Thunder Bay; table 18-10-0001-01). Sep 2026 alone was $1.79. Premium is $0.30/L over regular, diesel $0.31/L. Charging adds 0% for losses. Winter use runs above the rating, most for EVs.
• Plug-in hybrids: electric for up to 80% of rated range a day, capped at 85% of all driving.
• Home charger: over 60 km a day, an EV gets a $1,800 Level 2 charger; below that, a normal outlet.
• Loan: your rate, term and down payment; we count interest paid while you own the car. The default 6.5% is about the Bank of Canada's average rate on chartered-bank car loans (6.57% in April 2026); your own rate depends on your credit, so change it. Where a brand advertises a lower rate on the term you pick, that rate is used, and a bank pre-approval amount, if you enter one, leaves out cars that would need a bigger loan.
• Lease: the brand's advertised lease offer where it has one for that model (rate and term from its own offers page, dated on each car; a rate quoted for returning customers gets its stated reduction added back), else your rate and term; your down payment. Payments cover the value lost to the brand's residual plus a finance charge (rate ÷ 2400 as the money factor), with 13% HST. The total is everything paid over the lease plus running costs, plus about $0.15 a km (with HST) over your km allowance; other end-of-lease charges are left out.
• Where you charge: at home, your rate; a condo or work charger, about $0.25/kWh; public chargers only, about $0.55/kWh. Typical Ontario prices; yours may differ.
• What the money would have earned: each dollar paid, compounded at your return until you sell. Cash: the whole price from day one. Finance: the down payment plus each payment. Lease: the money at signing plus each payment. Counted in the true cost, at 5% a year unless you change it in the Finder.

Insurance, maintenance, resale, and fuel and charging prices ($1.55/L, $0.16/kWh).

• Dealer admin fee: $595 to $999 where listed; otherwise a typical $699, so brands compare fairly. Honda and Acura fold it into their listed dealer fees (about $1,050), so nothing is added on top. Tesla sells direct: its $250 order fee replaces the dealer fee.
• Insurance by town and driver: town factors from MyChoice's 2025 Ontario city averages (Windsor $1,891, London $1,987, Mississauga $2,258, Brampton $3,341), with Ottawa from ThinkInsure's quote averages relative to Mississauga, and Toronto set between ThinkInsure (a little below Mississauga) and Rates.ca (well above the provincial average). Drivers under 25 pay about 2.2 times as much; drivers licensed under 3 years, or new to Canada, about 1.8 times (the larger of the two applies). Broker figures, so treat them as rough. The province's overall level is MyChoice's 2026 quote median for a 35-to-44-year-old with a clean record ($2,345 for Ontario; about $2,350 for a mainstream car in Toronto). The regulator's average across all policies runs 15% to 20% higher, because it includes riskier drivers and people who don't shop around; if you take the first quote you get, expect to pay more.
• Insurance: where IBC rates the model: $2,100 a year scaled by IBC claim-cost indices (collision 30%, comprehensive 10%, property damage 15%, Ontario accident benefits 25%, the rest unchanged), then scaled gently by each trim's price against the model's median trim (price ratio to the power 0.4), then weighted 70/30 with the price-based estimate (50/50 for an electric model rated only through its gas version); otherwise 1300 + 1.8% of MSRP (EV +8%, pickup +5%). Both for a driver aged 35 to 59 with no claims. An electric model IBC rates only through its gas version is averaged with the price-based estimate. Ratings from the Insurance Bureau of Canada's "How Cars Measure Up" (2026), averaged over the 2024 to 2026 model years, or back to the start of the current generation where it began earlier, and given less weight when IBC publishes only one model year; they reflect who drives each model, as insurers price it. Scaled by region against Windsor-Essex (Barrie ×1, Peterborough ×0.95, Niagara Falls ×1.05, Mississauga ×1.2, Brampton ×1.75, Vaughan ×1.35, Toronto ×1.3, Markham ×1.15, Richmond Hill ×1.25, Ajax ×1.1, Thunder Bay ×0.9, Cornwall ×0.92, Ottawa ×0.85, nearby towns similar; our rough reading of Ontario averages, not insurer rates; then all ×0.846 to set Ontario's level, above), by age (Under 25 ×2.2, 25 to 34 ×1.15, 35 to 59 ×1, 60 to 69 ×0.95, 70+ ×1.05) ×1.3 per at-fault claim, and by distance: ×0.90 under 10,000 km a year, ×1.10 at 25,000 km or more (broker rules of thumb; Ontario insurers don't publish theirs). Get a real quote before you buy.
• Maintenance and tires, worked out per trim for your km and years, with HST, at dealer prices:
  • Servicing: the brand's own maintenance schedule (oil, rotations, filters, brake fluid, plugs, coolant and other fluids), each at whichever of its km or months interval comes first. Where a brand's schedule isn't readable or runs on a maintenance reminder, we use its parent brand's or the typical interval. Each job is priced at the median of prices posted by Ontario dealers (oil change about $120 before tax); luxury brands ×1.85, from their posted oil-change prices; trucks and large SUVs ×1.32 for oil. Jobs no dealer posts a price for (spark plugs, differential fluid, belts) are labour at $160 an hour plus parts, our estimate. Free scheduled maintenance (Genesis 5 years; MINI 2 years or 40,000 km, 3 years electric) comes off for the years it covers.
  • Brakes, battery and wipers: pads every 80,000 km and rotors every 160,000 km (longer for hybrids, plug-ins and EVs, which brake with the motor), a 12-volt battery every 5 years, wipers yearly. Intervals from Argonne National Laboratory's 2021 ownership-cost study.
  • Tires: the trim's own tire size where the brand publishes it (about half the trims; otherwise the size on the most similar trims), priced at a Canadian online retailer's median all-season price for that size plus $40 a tire to fit and dispose, and an alignment. A set lasts about 80,000 km (Argonne), less for low-profile performance tires, and about 20% less on an EV. The first set comes with the car.
  • Winter tires (if you tick them): a second set on their own wheels with pressure sensors, two on-rim swaps a year, and the all-seasons then last longer. Ontario insurers must offer a winter-tire discount; we take 3% off insurance.
  • Repairs after the warranty: none while the brand's basic warranty covers the car, then Argonne's repair-by-age curve (rising each year), scaled by price, powertrain (hybrids ×0.91, plug-ins ×0.86, EVs ×0.67) and, where Consumer Reports owner data shows a brand costs more or less than its price suggests, by brand. US data converted to 2026 Canadian dollars, so treat it as rough.
  Owners who use independent shops or skip services spend less; Consumer Reports owners report well under these figures in the first five years. Ceiling: no trim is counted above AAA's 2026 per-mile maintenance, repair and tire rate for its class (which already includes an extended warranty), plus 25% for luxury brands, converted to dollars a km.
• Resale and mileage: resale moves about 3% of the car's value per 10,000 km driven above or below 18,000 km a year, never more than 40% off or 15% on.
• Crash tests: NHTSA's US 5-star results from its public data, for each trim the version NHTSA tested with the same drive, cab and powertrain (or the closest one, marked as such); the model page shows the range, and Euro NCAP's European results where it tested the same generation in 2020 or later (we checked each by hand; ratings older than six years expire). Canada runs no consumer crash-test programme of its own. IIHS (US insurers) results aren't included: its terms require an account and permission for commercial use. We never combine the two into one score: the crash sort ranks cars with a US result first, then those with only a European one.
• Resale (default): trade-in value from used-car prices. The average Canadian car keeps about 80% after 1 year, 65% after 3, 54% after 5 and 33% after 10 (anchored to Canadian Black Book's published averages for 2025 and 2026). Each model is scaled by how well it holds value against the average in the iSeeCars 2026 five-year study of US used prices (the Corolla holds 24% more than average, the LEAF 37% less); models it doesn't list use their segment and powertrain, nudged by brand (the models with their own figure). A private sale usually gets about 10% more. Brands' lease residuals, below, run well under real used prices, so they are now an option rather than the default.
• Resale from lease residuals (option): the brand's lease residuals (share of MSRP at 36, 48 and 60 months) where published; other brands get the typical figure for their type (the median of published residuals for electric, plug-in or other, luxury or not). Year one loses about half the 3-year drop; past 5 years, 12% a year. Otherwise the median of the brands that do publish them, for the same kind of car (electric, plug-in or other; luxury or not): gas or hybrid 40%, plug-in hybrid 35%, electric 38%, luxury gas or hybrid 33%, luxury electric 26%, luxury plug-in hybrid 30% after 5 years.
• Acceleration (0–100 km/h, 0–60 mph in the US): the brand's own figure where it publishes one (about 1 trim in 6, mostly performance, premium and electric cars). Otherwise our estimate from the trim's power and curb weight, with drive and powertrain, fitted to those published figures and to independent instrumented tests of mainstream cars (Car and Driver, MotorTrend); where a model has its own test, its estimate is corrected to it. Typical error about 0.3 to 0.4 seconds, one in ten off by 0.8 seconds or more, so treat estimates as a guide. Brand figures often assume launch control or an options package.
• Carry-on bags: cargo litres behind the last row you need ÷ 110, rounded down. No published cargo figure: 2 bags max, "almost fits" above that. Pickups fit any number (open bed).

NRCan fuel ratings, NHTSA crash tests, IBC claims ratings, Transport Canada recalls, OpenStreetMap.

• Nearest dealer: straight line from your town centre, via OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors). Some dealers are missing; check the brand's locator.
• Charging: the official rating times your km and your price per kWh. NRCan and EPA ratings are measured at the wall, so they already include charging losses; nothing is added on top.
• Unrated EVs: battery size ÷ range if the brand gives both, else a typical figure for the size, marked "estimate".

The same arithmetic on the US catalog, in US dollars, with your state's taxes, fees, energy prices and insurance level.

• Prices: each brand's US website (national MSRP and destination charge), read November 2026; colours and equipment where the brand lists them. Fuel economy: the brand's figure, else the EPA rating for the same model, year, drive and engine.
• Taxes and fees by state: the state's sales or title tax with its average local add-on, whether a trade-in lowers it, and any cap; title, registration and plate fees, with the yearly tax on the car's value where the state charges one (California's license fee, Virginia's personal property tax and others), yearly inspection, and extra fees on electric and hybrid cars. From each state's motor-vehicle and revenue departments where their pages could be read, else NCSL and reputable summaries, checked a second time. Counties and cities differ; your own may be higher or lower.
• Dealer documentation fee: the state's typical fee, never above its legal cap where it has one.
• Rebates: the federal EV tax credit ended for cars bought after September 30, 2025, so none is counted; state rebates open to ordinary buyers are, with their price caps.
• Gas and electricity: the state's average from EIA (or AAA where EIA has no state series); premium about $0.85/gal over regular.
• Insurance: your state's full-coverage premium for a 40-year-old with a clean record in a new mainstream car: the median of eight independent source families (insurers' rate filings via Insure.com, CarInsurance.com, NerdWallet, ValuePenguin, MoneyGeek and Forbes Advisor; Experian's sold policies; Insurify and Compare.com quotes; the NAIC), checked against the live pages in November 2026. Times the model's level: US premiums for 32 popular models (Insurance.com, cross-checked with Insurify and Forbes); for the rest, Canada's insurer data mostly shrunk to average, because Ontario's theft wave inflates Toyota, Honda and Lexus. Then your age (under 25 ×1.9, 25 to 34 ×1.15, 60 to 69 ×0.93), years licensed, claims (×1.45 each) and miles. Big cities run higher: tick yours in the Finder (Detroit ×1.98, Philadelphia ×1.91, New York City about ×1.8, the least certain). Michigan assumes $250,000 to unlimited medical (PIP) cover; unlimited adds about $160 a year. Treat it as rough and get a quote.
• Maintenance, resale and crash tests: the Canadian version's schedule, tires and repairs at Ontario dealer prices ×0.85, never above AAA's class rate (+25% for luxury brands); brands' free-maintenance plans aren't counted yet; resale from the same iSeeCars study of US used prices; NHTSA results. Recalls from NHTSA.
• Defaults: 13,500 miles a year (FHWA average) and a 7% loan rate; change both in the Finder.

Extended warranties, accessories, parking, and the extra fuel used when towing.

• Dealer add-ons, extended warranties and negotiation (you may pay more or less than MSRP).
• Tolls, accident repairs, and anything a recall or the powertrain warranty would cover.
• Rideshare (Uber, Lyft) or business-use insurance, which costs more.
• IIHS tests. The equipment list shows automatic braking, blind-spot monitoring and lane centering.

Choices that move the numbers, so you can judge them.

• Lost return: counted at 5% a year, pre-tax, on the money you pay for the car (not on fuel, insurance or upkeep). That is a balanced-portfolio benchmark; a GIC pays less. Change it in the Finder, or set it to 0 for the out-of-pocket figure.
• Prices held flat: fuel, insurance and upkeep stay at today's prices for the whole period, with no inflation.
• Sticker, not deal: we use the brand's MSRP. Some brands (Ram, Jeep, Nissan) often sell below it; popular models (RAV4, Sienna) can sell above it with add-ons.
• Fuel price: a 12-month average for the province (Statistics Canada) or the state's latest average (EIA or AAA); this month's price can differ by 10% or more. Set your own in the Finder.
• Winter tires: counted only if you tick them (Quebec requires them December to March).
• Insurance is our estimate of the middle quote for a careful driver of that age in that place, not a quote; shopping around matters, and drivers who don't often pay 10% to 20% more. High-theft models in Ontario (RAV4, Ram 1500, CR-V, Civic, Highlander) may also need a tracker.
• US sales tax: the state rate plus the state's average local add-on; your city's rate may be higher (Los Angeles, Denver, Chicago).