Sydney families forking out $3,000 extra a year for transport

By Tom Watson · · 2 min read
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When it comes to the car costs you associate with hitting your wallet the hardest, the price of petrol and tolls are probably the most likely to come to mind, but new figures from the Australian Automobile Association (AAA) have revealed car loan repayments to be the biggest drain on family budgets.

And if property prices weren’t bad enough, it’s households in the harbour city that were shown to be forking out the most in transport costs each year according to the AAA’s quarterly Transport Affordability Index.

The report showed that Sydney households pay $22,349 on average each year for transport costs - $3,043 more than the second most expensive city Melbourne and $7,348 more than the cheapest capital city Hobart.

Michael Bradley, CEO of the AAA, said that a number of factors were taken into consideration to showcase the amount of financial pressure Aussie households face when it comes to transport costs, including registration, car insurance and tolls.

“The increases we have seen over the quarter are largely attributable to increases in government fees and charges. It really highlights that transport is a significant and unavoidable cost to households and needs to be considered by all levels of government when formulating policies,” he said.

REVEALED: Aussies urged to save on car loans as providers drive rates down

AAA revealed that car loan costs rose across the country in the September quarter thanks to an $400 increase in new car prices, with the average car loan repayment for a Sydney family rising to $123.10 a week, or roughly 30% of the entire average weekly transport budget.

Aside from car loan repayments, the report showed that Sydneysiders are also being hit hard by the amount they fork out each week for tolls (around $80 a week), followed by petrol costs ($62 a week).  

According to the Mozo database, car loan rates range from as low as 5.34% up to 11.49%, which highlights the potential for families to save by switching to a cheaper rate.

Are you looking for a way to trim the fat off your own weekly transport budget? Plug in your current loan details into Mozo’s car loan comparison calculator and see how much you could save.

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Last updated 5 December 2025 Important disclosures and comparison rate warning*

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