What does a car cost per month in Switzerland? Fixed and variable running costs and the cost per kilometre

No single figure fits every car: the cost depends on the car, the kilometres and the canton. The TCS (Touring Club Switzerland, a Swiss automobile club) estimates for its model car (catalogue price CHF 45'000, 15'000 km a year) CHF 11'112 a year in 2026, about 74 centimes per kilometre; divided by 12 (our calculation), that is CHF 926 a month.

Updated October 2026. Sources: TCS, Kilometerkosten 2026 (in German); Federal Statistical Office (FSO), Household Budget Survey 2023; Federal Office for Customs and Border Security (FOCBS), e-vignette and adhesive vignette; Fedlex (German version), SVG (Road Traffic Act), VTS (road vehicle technical ordinance) and KKG (Consumer Credit Act); cantonal office pages (viewed on 20 October 2026).

What does a car cost per month in Switzerland?

It depends on the car, the kilometres and the canton. Two published figures help you get your bearings, but they measure different things and cannot be added up.

• TCS estimate, 2026: CHF 11'112 a year for the model car, or 74 centimes (CHF 0.74) per kilometre. Per month: CHF 11'112 ÷ 12 = CHF 926 (our calculation).
• FSO average, 2023: the “Transport” line is on average CHF 744 a month per household, 7.2% of gross income. The average covers all households (2.07 persons), with or without a car: see the average household expenses.

Neither is what your car costs, which you work out with the items below. For the other fixed costs, see the guide to monthly fixed costs.

Fixed costs: tax, insurance, leasing, parking

Motor vehicle tax is cantonal, and each canton chooses how to calculate it. Four examples from the official pages:

• Basel-Stadt (in German): empty weight and CO2, that is CHF 1.25 per 10 kg plus CHF 1.60 per gram of CO2;
• Solothurn (in German): engine displacement; purely electric cars are exempt;
• Ticino (in Italian): empty weight, power in kW and a fuel-type coefficient tied to CO2, since 2024;
• Geneva (in French): a base tax of CHF 120 plus a surcharge by weight (electric cars) or by CO2 (other cars), since 2025.

For your own car, use the calculator or the tariffs of your canton (list of road traffic offices, in German): it gives an estimate, and the invoice is what counts.

Leasing replaces the purchase price with monthly instalments. Under the Consumer Credit Act (KKG, art. 1 para. 2), a lease for private use that provides for higher instalments if it ends early counts as consumer credit: it needs a written contract with the effective annual interest rate and a table of what is due if you end it early (art. 11), and you can revoke it in writing within 14 days (art. 16).

Variable costs: fuel, tyres, servicing

Variable costs grow with the kilometres. For each one, work out a cost per kilometre:

• Fuel: litres per 100 km × price per litre ÷ 100 (electric car: kWh per 100 km × price per kWh ÷ 100). The real consumption: litres filled ÷ kilometres driven × 100.
• Tyres: price of a set ÷ kilometres it lasts.
• Servicing and repairs: invoices of the year ÷ kilometres of the same year.

The vignette and other deadlines

The vignette costs CHF 40 and is valid from 1 December of the previous year to 31 January of the following year (FOCBS): the 2027 vignette runs from 1 December 2026 to 31 January 2028.

The periodic inspection of passenger cars (VTS art. 33) is due the first time five years after first registration, six at the latest, then three years later and every two years after that. The other deadlines of the year are in the deadlines calendar.

How to calculate the cost per kilometre

It is the fixed costs of the year divided by the kilometres, plus the variable cost of each kilometre. You need the data of one year:

1. Kilometres (K): those driven in one year, from the odometer.
2. Fixed costs of the year (F): tax + insurance + parking + vignette + depreciation and interest (or the 12 lease instalments). Depreciation = (purchase price minus expected resale value) ÷ years of use.
3. Variable cost per kilometre (v): fuel or electricity + tyres + servicing and repairs, each per kilometre.
4. Result: cost per kilometre = F ÷ K + v; cost per month = F ÷ 12 + v × K ÷ 12.

Compare the result with the 74 centimes of the TCS, which applies to one specific car. To compare with public transport, divide the yearly cost of passes and tickets by the same kilometres. If you drive across the border to shop, multiply the round-trip kilometres by this cost before you compare prices (cross-border shopping).

How to put the car in your budget today

The first step: give the car a monthly amount (the fixed costs of the year ÷ 12, plus the variable cost of the expected kilometres) and enter it in your budget; then review the items with the guide to reducing fixed costs.

Rappn, a free Swiss app (iOS and Android) that compares the current promotions of seven Swiss retailers and turns receipts into a spending overview, does not calculate car costs and covers groceries only: you photograph a receipt, upload it from your gallery or enter a purchase by hand, and the app sorts your purchases into categories and shows your spending by month, next to your own monthly average. Rappn is building an AI assistant for groceries: you can join the waitlist.