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How Many Miles Do You Typically Drive in a Year?

Spooner

Lifer
I'm considering leasing, which usually have a 15,000 mile limit per year.

I've never kept track and don't know if this is a lot or a little.
 
10-12k but I don't consider I drive much. I believe the average is 12k...but it can totally depend on what you're doing. I only live 5 min from work. Other people live 45.
 
Works out to 1250 a month. How far do you live from work/school. Figure out how far you drive each week and then multiply it by 52. How much driving do you after you get back from work and home? How many long distance trips do you plan on doing a year? Do you visit family much? If so how far away do they live? Do you live in the city, or in a rural area?

If you are in the city, and don't make many trips outside of it, then you could probably pretty easily fit under the 15k milage, baring any massive road trips.

But, if you've got a pretty long drive to get to work each day, and you frequently make long trips, then you are going to be stretching things pretty tight.
 
I leased a car once with 12k miles/yr, and blew right throught that. I was averaging about 16k miles/yr
 
I average just barely below 15,000 miles per year, I'd put more miles on but I'm in college right now so I'm not driving much between September and April. My dad puts 30,000-40,000 miles on his Explorer in a year, but he's a sales rep for several trucking companies and he covers three states. Not uncommon for him to put 1,000 miles on the Explorer in a week.

ZV
 
here's my issue:

I'm a consultant and live in the city. If I'm unassigned, and in the office, I take the bus to work. If I am assigned, I could potentially drive 45-hour every day for months. My family lives about an hour away and I see them at least once a month.

Ugh... it really depends. :disgust:
 
by the way, i've currently been unassigned for about a month and a half... that's why I've ATOT'ing like a champ 😉
 


<< by the way, i've currently been unassigned for about a month and a half... that's why I've ATOT'ing like a champ 😉 >>




do you get paid mileage?


My buddy, a photojournalist, is leasing a 4x4 with 15K miles/year but probably drives closer to 25-30K/year. However, the milage he gets paid for makes up for the fine he will be hit with at the end.
 
i drive around 10k but when i negotiated my lease i did it for around 16k now i wish i hadnt overestimated soo much.
 
Yeah, we get paid 37 cents a mile (i think that's federally mandated, but not sure)

I suppose if I was driving to a client for months, I could sock away that money they reimburse me for mileage. That would be hard to separate, though, considering it's just added to my paycheck. I would need some separate account. Hmmm.... good thinking, lucky, why didn't i think of that?
 
34.5 per mile is the federal limit I believe. But yes, you need to keep track of your milage anyway to turn into your employer for reimbursement, so just hang on to those logs. Say you drive 1000 miles. Your employer owes you 340 dollars. Just keep track of those miles and then be sure to sock away that money for the end of the lease when you'll pay the penalty.

If you don't have to pay a penalty, you've got a nice little bit of $$ squared away for you next vehicle purchase/lease.
 


<< Yeah, we get paid 37 cents a mile (i think that's federally mandated, but not sure)

I suppose if I was driving to a client for months, I could sock away that money they reimburse me for mileage. That would be hard to separate, though, considering it's just added to my paycheck. I would need some separate account. Hmmm.... good thinking, lucky, why didn't i think of that?
>>




.37c is on the high end, be glad you get that. 🙂 My buddy only gets .27c (standard gannett mileage pay). But since he doesnt pay for repairs (lease), and pays about ~10c/mile in gas, he has about .17c leftover for mileage. Usually, overmile fees are .12-.15/mile. Double-check on the lease though. 🙂
 
Instead of leasing, why don't you just buy a decent used car? I have some friends that have leased cars, and they all regret it. If you work out the math regarding the payments (and what you have to put down), you only save a little over purchasing a car, and you don't get anything in the end.
 
I average about 20K. I live about 11 miles from home but 45 from school. Then there's always my weekend activities. There's just so many places to go in Socal. 😀
 
1996 Mitsu Eclipse GS (bought new in Nov 95) has just under 55,000 miles. I'm glad I bought vs. lease, even though at the time dealers were pushing leases, because I have no car payment!! 🙂 And after divorce and having to change occupations, that is really a blessing!
 
My parents purchased a new Plymonth Voyager Van in 1995 and currently have over 200,000 miles on it. They live somewhat in the middle of no where and frequently drive into Siant Louis and surrounding areas each week and also do some traveling out west.
 
between 70 and 100K a year, you can do that when you get 600 miles out of 15 gallons or so of diesel.. 🙂

and no it was not work related..


...and the road becomes my bride...
 
I think that considering the unknown miles you're driving you should buy a car.

If you lease and undershoot you've paid for depreciation you never used. If you overshoot you pay a bunch of extra cash. If you buy and you overshoot you're fine because you aren't paying extra per mile and if you undershoot since the car is yours it takes less depreciation which helps you. If you can't reasonably estimate the miles you're putting on it I think leasing is a bad idea.
 
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