The cheaper small car costs more per kilometre: 47.5 cents for the C3, 43.0 for the Polo
Germany's ADAC publishes a total-cost-per-kilometre table for around 1,200 models twice a year. We pulled two of the PDFs — and in several places the ranking by purchase price does not match the ranking by running cost.
Meridians Technik-Redaktion
Published 30 August 2026 · Updated 30 August 2026 · 6 min read
AutomotiveThe short answer
- The German motoring club ADAC calculates total cost per kilometre for around 1,200 current models and publishes the result as a free PDF table. We pulled the Spring/Summer 2026 edition (dated 04.2026) in two parts and took 16 rows from it.
- Across those 16 rows the range runs from 43.0 cents per kilometre for the VW Polo to 84.1 cents for the BMW i4 eDrive35 — close to double.
- In several places the order inverts: the Citroën C3 lists 4,145 euros below the Polo and still costs 4.5 cents more per kilometre. The Toyota Corolla lists 1,840 euros above the Audi A3 Sportback and costs 1.5 cents less.
- These are ADAC model calculations over five years and 75,000 kilometres, not a Meridians test, and they apply only to the specific trim named in each row.
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The Citroën C3 Turbo 100 You appears in the table at a 15,990-euro list price; the VW Polo 1.0 at 20,135 euros. Over five years the Polo is nonetheless the cheaper of the two: 43.0 cents per kilometre against 47.5. These are not our figures but the ADAC's, published twice a year as a freely downloadable PDF. And they are the reason the sticker price on its own says little about what a car costs.
What the number contains
The Autokostenübersicht assumes a five-year holding period and 15,000 kilometres a year for every model, so 75,000 kilometres in total. According to the ADAC it includes depreciation, running costs based on WLTP consumption, fixed costs made up of vehicle tax and insurance (third-party plus comprehensive), workshop costs including tyre replacement, and a flat 200 euros a year for miscellaneous items. On its overview page the ADAC names depreciation explicitly as the largest single component.
The list prices are private-buyer list prices. Anyone driving fewer than 15,000 kilometres a year pays more per kilometre than the table shows, because depreciation is then spread across fewer kilometres. The overview page puts around 1,200 current models in the PDFs; the ADAC says its online calculator covers more than 8,000 new-car versions.
The rows we pulled
We opened two of the part-PDFs — brands A to C and brands S to Z — and took 16 rows, sorted by list price. Each is the specific trim named in the table; other engine versions of the same model appear there with different figures.
- Citroën C3 Turbo 100 You — 15,990 euro list price — 594 euros a month — 47.5 cents per kilometre
- Suzuki Swift 1.2 Dualjet Hybrid Club — 20,000 euros — 591 euros a month — 47.3 cents per kilometre
- VW Polo 1.0 — 20,135 euros — 537 euros a month — 43.0 cents per kilometre
- SEAT Arona 1.0 TSI 70 — 24,150 euros — 588 euros a month — 47.1 cents per kilometre
- Toyota Yaris 1.5 Hybrid 116 Comfort CVT — 25,500 euros — 607 euros a month — 48.5 cents per kilometre
- Škoda Octavia 1.5 TSI ACT Essence — 29,140 euros — 688 euros a month — 55.1 cents per kilometre
- VW Golf 1.5 TSI — 29,395 euros — 674 euros a month — 54.0 cents per kilometre
- VW T-Roc 1.5 eTSI Trend DSG — 30,845 euros — 708 euros a month — 56.6 cents per kilometre
- Audi A3 Sportback 1.5 TFSI — 31,500 euros — 747 euros a month — 59.8 cents per kilometre
- Toyota Corolla 1.8 Hybrid Comfort — 33,340 euros — 729 euros a month — 58.3 cents per kilometre
- Volvo EX30 P3 electric Essential — 34,990 euros — 745 euros a month — 59.6 cents per kilometre
- VW ID.3 Pro — 36,425 euros — 784 euros a month — 62.7 cents per kilometre
- Tesla Model 3 — 36,990 euros — 789 euros a month — 63.1 cents per kilometre
- Tesla Model Y — 39,990 euros — 824 euros a month — 65.9 cents per kilometre
- VW ID.4 Pro — 46,825 euros — 892 euros a month — 71.4 cents per kilometre
- BMW i4 eDrive35 — 58,200 euros — 1,051 euros a month — 84.1 cents per kilometre
Where the purchase price misleads
Three rows at the bottom of the list show the pattern. The C3 lists at 15,990 euros, the Suzuki Swift at 20,000, the VW Polo at 20,135. By purchase price the C3 is comfortably the cheapest. By cost per kilometre it is the most expensive of the three: 47.5 against 47.3 and 43.0 cents. Per month, the Polo and the C3 are 57 euros apart — in favour of the car that costs 4,145 euros more to buy.
The pattern repeats further up. The Audi A3 Sportback 1.5 TFSI lists at 31,500 euros, the Toyota Corolla 1.8 Hybrid Comfort at 33,340. The Corolla costs 1,840 euros more to buy and 1.5 cents less per kilometre to run. The same goes for the Tesla Model Y against the VW ID.4 Pro: at 39,990 euros the Model Y lists 6,835 euros below the ID.4 — and undercuts it per kilometre too, 65.9 against 71.4 cents.
Electric against combustion, inside the same table
Because both sit in the same list, the VW Golf 1.5 TSI and the VW ID.3 Pro can be laid side by side. The ID.3 lists 7,030 euros higher and comes out at 62.7 rather than 54.0 cents per kilometre in the ADAC calculation — 8.7 cents, or roughly 110 euros a month. In this model calculation the lower energy cost per kilometre and Germany's vehicle-tax exemption for battery-electric cars, which runs to the end of 2030, do not offset the higher purchase price. At a different annual mileage, a different electricity price or with a discount off list, the arithmetic changes — the table runs on the assumptions set out above and on no others.
Sources
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Meridians Technik-Redaktion is an editorial desk at Meridians, not an individual. A desk byline means the article was produced and fact-checked to that desk's published standards. Read our editorial standards and corrections policy.
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