About Causto
Our mission
Buying a car is one of the most important financial decisions for a household. Yet most buyers only compare the purchase price, which represents just 30 to 40% of the real cost of a vehicle.
Causto exists to change that. Our tool calculates the total cost of ownership (TCO) by including all the costs that dealers don't mention: energy, maintenance, insurance, depreciation, registration tax, eco penalty and financing costs.
What makes us different
- Comprehensive: 8 cost categories, not just the purchase price or fuel
- Comparative: up to 4 vehicles side by side, new or used
- Multi-energy: gasoline, diesel, LPG, E85, hybrid, electric
- International: 15 countries with adapted registration and incentives
- Transparent: public methodology, sourced data
- Free: no subscription, no advertising, no commercial bias
Our data
Causto relies on public and official data:
- ADEME Car Labelling: official WLTP consumption and emissions
- data.gouv.fr: real-time fuel prices by station
- CRE: regulated electricity tariffs
- service-public.fr: eco penalty/bonus scales, conversion premium
Our catalog covers 1,599 vehicles from 34 brands, over the 2020-2026 period, with 6 powertrain types.
Our calculation model
Causto's TCO engine uses a bi-exponential depreciation model (more realistic than the linear depreciation used by most competitors), detailed maintenance schedules by powertrain type with wear coefficients, and economic scenarios (optimistic, realistic, pessimistic) to project future costs.
See our methodology page for full details.
Contact
Causto is an independent project. For any questions or suggestions: contact@causto.fr