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True Cost Insights

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Does paying more up front pay off for you?

The true cost of a car or a water heater: price, fuel or energy, insurance, repairs, and resale, from your own answers and today’s prices, across 20 ways the future could go.

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Live example · US average prices

2026 Honda CR-V vs 2026 Tesla Model Y, new, 8 years

CR-V comes out cheaper in 18 of 20 ways the next 8 years could go — by about $60 a month.

Model Y wins the other 2.

Twenty possible futures over 8 years18 of 20 futures land on the side where CR-V costs less, 2 where Model Y costs less. Values range from -$3,295 to $13,431.same cost$10k$0$10k← Model Y costs lessCR-V costs less →
See the 20 futures as numbers
FutureWho costs less, and by how much
1CR-V by $13,431
2CR-V by $11,759
3CR-V by $10,484
4CR-V by $9,838
5CR-V by $9,050
6CR-V by $8,312
7CR-V by $7,803
8CR-V by $7,336
9CR-V by $6,710
10CR-V by $6,043
11CR-V by $5,548
12CR-V by $5,117
13CR-V by $4,524
14CR-V by $3,879
15CR-V by $3,287
16CR-V by $2,739
17CR-V by $1,920
18CR-V by $1,128
19Model Y by $333
20Model Y by $3,295

Live source

Weekly retail gasoline prices by state and region

U.S. Energy Information Administration

Data as of Sep 7, 2026.

Weekly average for the state where EIA reports one, otherwise for its region.

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How it works

  1. Pick what you’re weighing

    Two cars, or keeping yours. A new kind of water heater, or another of the same.

  2. Answer up to three questions

    Where you live, how much you drive or how many people live at home, and where you’d charge or what heats your water now.

  3. See 20 ways it could go

    Every cost of owning each option, counted across 20 futures: how often each comes out cheaper, by how much a month, and what would flip it.

How to check our numbers

See every source and assumption