The numbers · 2026 rates and fees

The true cost of car ownership in Quebec: the numbers

Econoto is a Quebec-based, independent platform that computes what a car really costs per month, all-in: depreciation, financing, insurance, energy, maintenance, repairs, registration and winter tires. Every figure comes from a deterministic engine benchmarked within 2% of the CAA-Quebec reference calculator, with a dated public source behind every line item. This page is the English summary of what is citable.

Attribution requested: "according to Econoto, 2026 estimate". Calculation profile: Greater Montreal, 15,000 km/year, financed with good credit, 4-year horizon, unless noted. Figures are medians, never averages. Live version (French): econoto.com/statistiques · machine-readable feed: econoto-stats.json.

The headline numbers

$528/month: the Econoto Gap. On a 2026 Toyota RAV4 Hybrid financed over 72 months (20,000 km/year, Quebec average), the advertised payment reads about $714; the real monthly outflow, with taxes, insurance, gas, maintenance and registration, is about $1,242. The gap is what the ad never shows: over $6,300 a year.

$1,058/month: the median all-in monthly cost across the 548 vehicles of the Canadian market (new: $1,051; used: $1,125; the depreciation you avoid buying used comes back as repairs and higher rates).

41%: the share of depreciation in the median monthly cost, before financing interest. The biggest line item is the one nobody budgets.

+$273/month: the price of a credit score below 600 versus an excellent one, on the same new compact ($692 vs $965; a conservative estimate, as sub-600 real-world rates often run 20 to 30%).

~45,000 km: the median CO₂ payback of an electric vehicle in Quebec: the point where it erases its battery manufacturing debt against a comparable gas car, on Hydro-Quebec's grid (34.5 g CO₂e/kWh, official life-cycle figure). Manufacturing accounts for a median 85% of an EV's footprint here. Scope: combustion plus manufacturing, excluding fuel production. Published model by model for the 164 EVs in the catalogue: to our knowledge, nobody else computes this for Quebec's grid, and the European figures that circulate (44,000 to 70,000 km) badly understate the hydro advantage.

Why these numbers hold up

Deterministic engine: no amount is ever generated by an AI. Same inputs, same outputs, always.
Public benchmark: measured within 1.5% of the CAA-Quebec calculator on the reference case, a blocking test on every engine change. The full methodology is published (in French).
Dated sources: SAAQ 2026 fee schedule verified line by line, Régie de l'énergie du Québec fuel averages, Natural Resources Canada 5-cycle ratings, J.D. Power PP100, Revenu Québec, Hydro-Québec.
Honest limits: estimated prices are labelled, the P90 "prudent scenario" is presented as a model, and the CO₂ scope is named.

For journalists and researchers

Regional breakdowns (Greater Montreal vs provincial average vs regions), rankings by segment, budget or powertrain, and figure checks are available on request, in English or French. Press page: econoto.com/presse. Contact: arnaud@allofirm.com (Arnaud Bertrand, founder, a former banker who underestimated the cost of his own car: that is how Econoto started).

Last updated: September 2026. Econoto sells no cars, no ads and no user data; the calculator is free and the full report is pay-what-you-want. The product interface is currently in French.