Car costs vary so widely that averages mean nothing, but this made me curious, so I did my own calculations:
My '08 car was purchased new at the end of '07 for not quite $19,507 total, out-the-door cost -- so I've had it six years, and I'm going to guess that I'll have it another six (I say six because that's when my kids'll both be out of college, but realistically I won't get rid of it 'til it's dead). So I'm going to say that I've "used" half the initial purchase price: $10,000.
It gets roughly 40 miles to the gallon, and I have approximately 65,000 miles on it. If we estimate that gas is $3.50, that means I've spent approximately $5,687 on gas. That's a very rough estimate because gas was $2 when I bought the car, and for a while it was $4.
I pay my insurance by the year, have a high deductible and a perfect driving record. I think the insurance portion that goes for my car (not our house or our other two cars) is roughly $400/year.
I put on new tires once, which I think cost about $300. Admittedly, I've probably used up my maintenance-free years, but at this point it seems to be in perfect running order.
I change my oil religiously, so that means about 20 times since I've owned the car. At $10/oil change, that's about $200 over the six years.
Admitedly, lots of assumptions here, but I'm thinking I spend about .28/mile . . . or about $3,097 per year to drive this car. Even if I've made a mistake somewhere, I'm way below the "average". Oops -- I just remembered something else: I bought a Lifetime Alignment on my car, which was $150-ish. Every time I go to the mall, I leave my car at Firestone and have it aligned -- this keeps my tires in better condition. I didn't include that $150-something in my cost analysis.
Someone might point out that I didn't include depreciation. Correct. My last two cars I've driven 'til they simply wouldn't go anymore, and it wasn't worthwhile to have them fixed. I literally gave away the last two cars to the Kidney Foundation. I will never trade this car for another one, so its value to me is in the usefulness. I never expect to get a penny back for it.