Sports cars usually combine the best performance and handling you can get regardless of the budget. Some are even fairly affordable – that is, until the repair bills start coming in. Sports cars often require specialist parts or even specialist servicing. Often engineered with the sole goal of delivering the best possible performance for the price, many sports cars also put reliability on the backburner, and their running costs can be surprisingly steep.Owning a sports car doesn't mean that you have to put up with high maintenance costs, though. Quite a few of these are cars that are known to be cheap to maintain – or built by brands known to have great reliability and cheap repair costs. Others, though, might surprise you.For this list, HotCars looked at the repair costs of different modern sports cars, defined as sporty two-door coupes or convertibles with slanted roofs and high-performance engines. We used data from CarEdge and RepairPal to find out their average maintenance costs, as well as other reliability data. All cars used in this list are their most recent generations. Mazda MX-5 Miata Average Annual Maintenance Cost: $429 (RepairPal) 2024 Mazda MX-5 Miata Front Three Quarter Dynamic Specs Source: MazdaThe Mazda MX-5 Miata is one of the world's best-loved and best-selling sports cars. It's got that distinction for a reason. Not only is it fun to drive and affordable to buy, but it's also very reliable and very cheap to maintain. RepairPal estimates that the maintenance costs for an ND Miata are around $429 per year, easily making it one of the cheapest sports cars to maintain.The Miata is often bought by people who want an easy entry into the sports car market or a sports car that just isn't a big fuss to keep running. With running costs as low as that, it's really not surprising that it's got that reputation of being one of the most easy-going sports cars to own. Lexus RC F Average Annual Maintenance Cost: $2,493 (CarEdge) Lexus Specs Source: LexusThe Lexus RC F is a car you probably wouldn't expect to see on this list. It's one of the most powerful cars here, with a 5.0-liter V8 producing 472 hp and 389 lb-ft of torque. You'd expect that to mean high maintenance bills, due to most high-performance cars needing lots of specialist parts. But big repair bills aren't a part of the Lexus RC F ownership experience.CarEdge reckons that the Lexus RC F will cost you an average of $2,493 to maintain within the first 5 years. That works out at just under $500 per year. On a yearly basis, that makes it one of the cheapest cars to maintain on this list. Lexus is generally considered to be one of the most reliable brands on the market. With how cheap and easy the RC F is to maintain, that reputation definitely extends into Lexus's sports cars. Nissan 370Z Average Annual Maintenance Cost: $504 (RepairPal) Nissan Specs Source: NissanWhen it comes to old-school, out-and-out sports cars, there aren't many ever made that are better than the Nissan 370Z. It still has a strong and dedicated fanbase to this day, thanks to its great performance combined with its old-school feel and general affordability on the used market.The 370Z is known to be very reliable. It also costs peanuts to maintain, compared to other sports cars. RepairPal estimates maintenance costs of $504 per year for the 370Z. Combined with its affordable price and its legendary reliability, the 370Z is definitely a car anyone who wants to get into sports car ownership should consider. Mitsubishi Eclipse Average Annual Maintenance Cost: $510 (RepairPal) Mitsubishi Specs Source: MitsubishiThe Mitsubishi Eclipse hasn't been around in its coupe form for a while now. But, it's still held in high regard among those looking for an affordable sports car. The final generation of the Eclipse had a choice of two great engines (a 2.4-liter inline-4 and a 3.8-liter V6) and arguably the best looks of any of the Eclipse generations. It's also surprisingly very cheap to run. According to RepairPal, an Eclipse only costs around $510 annually to maintain. Combine that with its great performance and looks, and that should make it a really tempting used buy for anyone who wants to get into sports car ownership. Infiniti G37 Coupe Average Annual Maintenance Cost: $540 (RepairPal) Infiniti Specs Source: InfinitiThe plusher version of the Nissan 370Z, the Infiniti G37 Coupe is a sports car that often gets overlooked. It really shouldn't be, because it's got a lot of the same great qualities as its Nissan 370Z sibling. That includes the ultra-reliable VQ37 engine and relatively low maintenance costs. RepairPal estimates that the Infiniti G37 will cost you around $540 per year to maintain. That's more than the Nissan 370Z, but not by much. If you want something a bit more plus than the 370Z but still have the 370Z's reliability and ease of maintenance, the Infiniti G37 might just be the car to go for. Toyota Supra Average Annual Maintenance Cost: $561 (RepairPal) Toyota Specs Source: ToyotaThe rebooted Toyota Supra is a car that got mixed reviews at first. It was full of BMW parts, thanks to it being a sibling of the current-generation BMW Z4, and was initially only available with an automatic transmission. Toyota eventually fixed the latter problem by offering a 6-speed manual on the 3-liter model, but that didn't stop the controversy about its BMW underpinnings. That's a shame in some ways, as the A90 Supra is a genuinely great sports car that a lot of owners have grown to love.The A90 Supra is a sports car that's also surprisingly cheap to maintain. RepairPal estimates that owners will only have to fork out $561 per year to keep it running. The Supra is built on the BMW Z4's underpinnings, but Toyota also gave it its own tweaks and stamp of approval. This reliability is what makes this version of the Supra a really attractive buy for anyone who doesn't want to spend a fortune on keeping their sports car in good shape. Chevrolet Camaro Average Annual Maintenance Cost: $585 (RepairPal) Chevrolet Specs Source: ChevroletThe Chevrolet Camaro might be a bit of a surprising entry on this list. You wouldn't expect an American muscle car to be as cheap to maintain as some of the ultra-reliable Japanese sports cars. But, the Camaro is. Its average maintenance costs are $585 per year, according to RepairPal, putting it well within the range of the cheapest sports cars to maintain. In fact, it's the cheapest muscle car to maintain out there! That's especially impressive when you consider that some Camaro models have incredibly powerful engines and need specialist performance parts. Hyundai Genesis Coupe Average Annual Maintenance Cost: $621 (RepairPal) Hyundai Specs Source: HyundaiThe Hyundai Genesis Coupe is a sports car that often gets forgotten. In many ways, that's not surprising. It's a weird throwback to the days before Genesis was its own brand, making the luxury end of the Hyundai Group's cars. What can't be argued, though, is that it's got proper sports car performance. That's thanks to two powerful engine options (a 2-liter turbocharged inline-4 and a 3.8-liter V6). The V6 is especially great, producing up to 348 hp in later models and having a top speed of up to 149 mph.As you might expect from a car with a Hyundai badge, the Genesis Coupe isn't expensive. RepairPal estimates yearly maintenance costs of $621. While this makes it one of the more expensive cars on this list, it's still pretty cheap compared to a lot of other sports cars out there. Dodge Challenger Average Annual Maintenance Cost: $650 (RepairPal) Jaguar Bellevue Specs Source: DodgeThe Dodge Challenger is the second American muscle car on this list. The third-generation Challenger had a long production run, spanning from 2008 all the way up to 2024. As a result, there were a huge number of different variants. These ranged from a 250-hp V6-engined base model up to the tire-shreddingly powerful 1,025-hp Demon 170 with its supercharged 6.2-liter V8.As well as having a lot of choice with how many variants it's had over the years, the third-generation Dodge Challenger is also pretty cheap to maintain for a sports car. RepairPal estimates that annual maintenance costs are around $650. While that might seem a bit more on the expensive side compared to other cars on this list, this average includes the more powerful variants that can have up to and beyond 1,000 hp. That makes the average maintenance costs seem a lot more bearable! Ford Mustang Average Annual Maintenance Cost: $709 (RepairPal) Ford Specs Source: FordThe final American muscle car on this list is the Ford Mustang. The seventh generation of the Mustang has been out since 2024, and like previous generations it's been an instant hit. The 2.3-liter Ecoboost turbocharged inline-4 and 5-liter Coyote V8 are both tried-and-tested engines with great reputations. This generation also added the fantastic Dark Horse model and the insane race car for the road GTD, cars that have both been almost universally praised for how great they are.At an estimated $709 per year, according to RepairPal, the seventh-generation Ford Mustang is the most expensive car on this list in terms of maintenance costs. But when you take into account that this includes the GT and track-focused Dark Horse variants, that's not a bad number.