The article presents a method of calculating the life cycle costs of green passenger car purchases in Romania. Green purchases are purchases that take into account not only the purchase price but also the costs of maintenance and operation. Research by other authors has shown that sometimes the life cycle cost is more relevant than the purchase price and other times the purchase price is more relevant than the life cycle cost. In order to determine which of the two is more relevant, the life cycle costs were calculated for three representative passenger car models for the Romanian market in 2018 (Ford Fiesta, Hyundai i20 and Opel Corsa), costs that were compared to purchase prices. Also, the main problems found in estimating the life cycle costs were identified.