Systems and methods for estimating the cost of vehicle ownership wherein, in one embodiment, a system includes a computer processor that is coupled to a network interface, a data storage device and an output device, the processor being configured to receive information identifying a user-specified vehicle of interest and interval of interest. The processor uses this information to identify and retrieve pre-calculated data items that are stored in the data storage device, and to request external data items from an external data source and receive the requested external data items via the network interface. The processor computes cost-of-vehicle-ownership (COVO) components for the vehicle of interest, sums the components to determine an overall COVO, and outputs the components and overall COVO to a user via the output device. The user may provide further input to modify the COVO calculation.