Our calculator puts the 2020 Nissan Sentra $2,089 cheaper than the 2020 VW Jetta over five years. Fuel and repairs drive the gap. See who should buy which.
Published October 16, 2026
Our five-year cost estimate
Calculated by MyTrueCarCost from EPA fuel-economy data, RepairPal reliability records, and current regional fuel prices.
| Cost over 5 years | 2020 volkswagen jetta | 2020 nissan sentra |
|---|---|---|
| Depreciation | $2,545 | $2,442 |
| Fuel | $9,658 | $8,450 |
| Repairs | $2,554 | $1,890 |
| Maintenance | $3,590 | $3,590 |
| Insurance | $6,842 | $6,728 |
| Registration & fees | $255 | $255 |
| Total 5-year cost | $25,444 | $23,355 |
| Assumed purchase price | $10,100 | $9,300 |
| Average per month | $424/mo | $389/mo |
Estimate for typical used mileage and 12,000 miles driven per year. Insurance is estimated from the car's value and class, not a quote. Your numbers will vary with condition, location, and driving habits.
Run your own numbers →Want to see the exact numbers for your situation?
Run the comparison →Our calculator puts the 2020 Nissan Sentra at $23,355 to own for five years. The 2020 Volkswagen Jetta lands at $25,444. That is $2,089 more for the Jetta, or about $35 more every month.
The Sentra is the cheaper car to own, and it is not close enough to call a toss-up. Fuel accounts for most of the gap, repairs add a good chunk, and the Jetta wins nothing on the cost sheet. If you are shopping examples with 30,000 to 60,000 miles on them, the Sentra is the one that keeps more money in your account.
The Jetta costs more to buy in our estimate: $10,100 against $9,300. That $800 gap is real, but it is not what drives the five-year difference.
Fuel is. Our calculator has the Jetta at $9,658 for five years and the Sentra at $8,450. That is $1,208 more for the Jetta, which is 58 percent of the total gap by itself.
Per month, the Jetta runs about $161 in fuel and the Sentra about $141. A $20 difference sounds small. It repeats 60 times.
If you want the MPG ratings behind those dollars, look up each car on fueleconomy.gov: the 2020 Volkswagen Jetta and the 2020 Nissan Sentra. Search by year and model. We stick to dollars here because that is what leaves your wallet.
The fuel gap also does not shrink with time. In year one the Jetta costs $1,856 for fuel and the Sentra $1,624. By year five it is $2,009 against $1,758. Both rise, and the Jetta stays about $230 to $250 ahead of the Sentra every year.
Repairs are the second piece. Our calculator estimates $2,554 for the Jetta and $1,890 for the Sentra over five years, a $664 difference.
The shape matters too. Jetta repair costs start at $284 in year one and climb to $804 in year five. The Sentra starts at $210 and reaches $595. Both curves slope upward, which is normal as a car ages past the warranty and the mileage piles on. The Jetta's slope is steeper.
A car with 30,000 to 60,000 miles is usually still in a quiet stretch. Tires, brakes and batteries are the early bills. The bigger repairs tend to show up later, and that is where the Jetta pulls away in the wrong direction.
RepairPal publishes reliability ratings and average annual repair costs by model, and it is worth checking both cars at RepairPal before you buy. Look at how often owners take these cars in for unscheduled repairs, and how often those visits are severe.
Our numbers point the same direction. The Jetta's higher repair estimate suggests a bigger chance of an expensive surprise, and its year-five repair figure of $804 is already above the Sentra's by $209.
I would not call the Sentra bulletproof. No car with this much age and mileage is. But if one of these two is going to hand you a bill you did not plan for, our figures say bet on the Jetta.
That said, a repair bill is only a surprise if you have no cushion. Maintenance is identical in our calculator at $3,590 for both cars, so there is no hidden advantage there for either side.
Here are the yearly totals from our calculator.
The Jetta: $4,545, $5,293, $4,717, $4,823, $6,066.
The Sentra: $4,198, $4,918, $4,313, $4,379, $5,547.
The Sentra is cheaper in every single year. Nobody pulls ahead late, because the Sentra is ahead from the start. The gap runs from $347 in year one to $519 in year five.
Year two and year five are the painful ones for both cars. That comes from maintenance: $1,030 in year two and $1,475 in year five, the same for each car in our estimate. Those are the years with larger scheduled service. Set money aside ahead of them.
Year five is the most expensive year for both. The Jetta hits $6,066. The Sentra hits $5,547. If you plan to keep either car that long, the Jetta's rising repair costs make that last year hurt more.
Depreciation is close. The Jetta loses $2,545 over five years in our estimate and the Sentra loses $2,442, a $103 difference. In year one the Jetta drops $661 and the Sentra $644. By year five the figures are $398 and $361.
Both cars have already taken their largest value hit by the time they reach 30,000 to 60,000 miles. That is the point of buying used. Neither one will wreck your finances on resale.
Insurance is also close: $6,842 for the Jetta and $6,728 for the Sentra, a $114 difference. Keep in mind these are our estimates based on the car's value and class, not quotes. Your own quote will differ based on your age, location and driving record. Get real quotes on both before you decide, but do not expect insurance to flip the result.
Registration is identical at $255 for both.
So the pattern is simple. Depreciation, insurance and registration are close to a wash. Fuel and repairs do the work, and both favor the Sentra.
Buy the Jetta if you test drive both and the Jetta is clearly the car you would rather sit in every day. If the cabin and the feel of the car matter to you, and you can absorb about $35 more per month without strain, that is a reasonable choice. It is a preference purchase, and you should go in knowing that.
It also suits someone who will keep the car a shorter time. If you sell before the repair costs climb in years four and five, you avoid the worst of the Jetta's weaker numbers. Even then you are still paying more for fuel.
If you pick the Jetta, buy one with service records and have an independent shop inspect it. At this price, paying more for a car that costs more to run needs a reason.
Buy the Sentra if your goal is the lowest cost per month with the fewest unpleasant surprises. It is $389 a month in our calculator against $424 for the Jetta. It is cheaper to buy, cheaper to fuel, cheaper to repair, and cheaper in every one of the five years.
It fits commuters, first-time car buyers, and anyone on a tight budget who plans to keep the car for the full five years. Those drivers feel the fuel gap most, and they feel a repair bill most.
For most people reading this, the Sentra is the answer. The Jetta would have to win on something we cannot measure, and our numbers give it no help.
Jay Vankawala
Founder & Editor, MyTrueCarCost
Jay built MyTrueCarCost after getting burned by the gap between a car’s sticker price and what it actually cost him to own. He designed the site’s ownership-cost model, which pulls EPA fuel-economy data, RepairPal reliability records, and regional fuel prices to estimate the real five-year cost of a vehicle. Every figure in these guides comes from that calculator.
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