How much do you believe car travel costs you per mile?

[teuchter]

To be precise - the number I am interested in is the marginal cost - per mile. Not the total cost.

It's the extra cost per mile once you've paid for all the fixed costs. So it doesn't include the cost of buying the car itself and it doesn't include any costs that you have to pay regardless of how far you drive.

It includes more than just fuel costs though - it includes the costs of maintenance or replacement parts that are related to mileage. So, things like tyres that you have to replace every X miles.

I am interested in two things:

- Do you have any per-mile figure in mind, or is the only figure you really have in mind fuel costs?

- If you do, do you ever use this figure to make decisions about whether to use your car versus other options, for journeys that you make?

 

[souljacker]

45p a mile according to the AA and HMRC.

 

[Elpenor]

I also consider the cost of parking which is a motoring cost too.

I have a 15 year old car which isn’t very fuel efficient so try to do long journeys vis public transport if I can.

For example a coach is £15 to London where I live, train fares from a nearby railway station can be as low as £15 to London.

 

[ATOMIC SUPLEX]

45p a mile according to the AA and HMRC.

I've never driven in my life and had no idea about the cost, but if I did, at that price I probably wouldn't drive.

Is this an average cost for the car owner (over say the period of a year) or is this without taking the cost of the car and insurance, parking and annual home street parking fees?

 

[Silas Loom]

I've never driven in my life and had no idea about the cost, but if I did, at that price I probably wouldn't drive.

Is this an average cost for the car owner (over say the period of a year) or is this without taking the cost of the car and insurance, parking and annual home street parking fees?

It’s not an average. It’s the most that you can get away with saying to HMRC that a mile costs you, taking into account the impact of mileage on depreciation as well as running costs and suchlike.

 

[Pickman's model]

To be precise - the number I am interested in is the marginal cost - per mile. Not the total cost.

It's the extra cost per mile once you've paid for all the fixed costs. So it doesn't include the cost of buying the car itself and it doesn't include any costs that you have to pay regardless of how far you drive.

It includes more than just fuel costs though - it includes the costs of maintenance or replacement parts that are related to mileage. So, things like tyres that you have to replace every X miles.

I am interested in two things:

- Do you have any per-mile figure in mind, or is the only figure you really have in mind fuel costs?

- If you do, do you ever use this figure to make decisions about whether to use your car versus other options, for journeys that you make?

why are you interested in this, for what purpose do you seek the information?

 

[lazythursday]

Interesting - I don't drive either - and if 45p a mile is accurate, that makes my train commute seem like pretty decent value.

I do think a lot of drivers really don't take into account the full costs - depreciation, insurance, repairs, etc when comparing transport modes. For a lot of people (living in urban / decently connected areas) public transport and regular taxis would probably work out cheaper.

 

[Silas Loom]

To the OP, haven’t a clue. The car belongs to the whelk stall, so maintenance is an operating cost before tax, while electricity is a household expense.

 

[dessiato]

The difference between my cars is marked.

My Formentor varies between 300mpg, and 44mpg depending on whether it's running on electricity, hybrid, or just petrol.

My Golf GTD averages about 56mpg.

The road tax on the Formentor is about £600 a year due to the so-called luxury car additional tax. The Golf is £160.

Insurance on the Formentor is £600, the Golf is £400.

A set of tyres for the Formentor £660 to £800, the Golf £300.

I average about 10000 a year spread unequally between the two.

I'll let you work out the costs.

 

[Bus Honeygun]

Interesting - I don't drive either - and if 45p a mile is accurate, that makes my train commute seem like pretty decent value.

I do think a lot of drivers really don't take into account the full costs - depreciation, insurance, repairs, etc when comparing transport modes. For a lot of people (living in urban / decently connected areas) public transport and regular taxis would probably work out cheaper.

Yeah, I've never driven either and was surprised at how much running a car costs. Only really makes sense to use a car when there's a few of you and you can all chip in.

Despite the expensive rail fares for long distance travel (travel within Devon & Cornwall is pretty good value with a local railcard and some fare caps), I still reckon I've saved a fortune. (And biking and walking when there's no train has kept me fit).

 

[RevolutionSound]

55p per mile according to my employer

 

[ATOMIC SUPLEX]

It’s not an average. It’s the most that you can get away with saying to HMRC that a mile costs you, taking into account the impact of mileage on depreciation as well as running costs and suchlike.

Oh I see. Thanks. Is that lower or higher than reality? The HMRCs 'quick' working from home expenses is very very low.

 

[Elpenor]

I don’t know how to answer the question according to the whims of the OP but I would estimate spending on my car including petrol, servicing and maintenance, tax, insurance and parking would be over £2k last year and I probably drove 10k miles.

I have owned the car for many years and it is all paid off so no financing costs to consider

If the car was written off today I would not be able to replace it, can barely afford to run it as is. I would like to be car free long term however

Some of the journeys I make now by car would transition to public transport or walking, some I could eliminate eg shopping by getting things delivered. I expect some more would just not happen as getting from A to B would prove too difficult. And given where I live, public transport follows the spine of the main roads and railway which eliminates large parts of the surrounding area.

 

[StoneRoad]

I have used the HMRC figure, or thereabouts, to charge out mileage and compare journeys with public transport.

However, a lot of my journeys involve moving "stuff" about - a lot of which is not accepted for carriage by public transport - or too heavy / bulky to easily carry and quite often, my destination is nowhere near public transport.

For example, unlike when I lived in town, it is now one and a half miles and about 700ft difference in elevation to the public transport stops [rail / bus] in my village. Hence, car gets used ... as I don't want to be carrying my big bag of spuds up the hill to home. (Especially so in the current cold weather).

 

[BassJunkie]

I've just calculated mine. 6000 miles a year ish. Around £1.40 per litre of Super Unleaded. 20 mpg if I'm lucky. £1500 - £2000 servicing. £500 tyres. £415 Tax. £500 Insurance.

Around about £5K per year.

Bargain!

 

[Silas Loom]

Oh I see. Thanks. Is that lower or higher than reality? The HMRCs 'quick' working from home expenses is very very low.

I reckon lower for almost everyone, but I suppose it depends on how much depreciation is. We have done 14,000 miles on a car which has depreciated by about £50k from new in nearly five years, so that would be way over!

 

[Griff]

Only real costs on mine are petrol, with an average of 25mpg.

Insurance is dirt cheap £245 a year living in London.

No Road Tax, No ULEZ.

Servicing about £300 a year.

Rarely park anywhere more than an hour, so that's usually free.

MoT, doesn't need one, but I always keep it MoT'd - £50.

That's about it. Petrol being the biggest cost for me.

 

[Elpenor]

When you consider HMRC give you 20p per mile for cycling, 45p per mile for cars / vans is not generous in comparison and no lower rate if above 10k miles on a pushbike either though not sure who would do that many miles on a pushbike (courier perhaps?)

Passenger mileage is 5p per mile for cars / vans

 

[bellaozzydog]

45p per mile is what I claim when I drive to the airport.

 

[bellaozzydog]

I reckon lower for almost everyone, but I suppose it depends on how much depreciation is. We have done 14,000 miles on a car which has depreciated by about £50k from new in nearly five years, so that would be way over!

Depreciated by 50k what did it start at

 

[story]

No idea.
I've wondered, but never worked it out.

I only use the car for certain things, like getting to a place on the Kent coast that's 30 minutes from the nearest train station and 30 minutes walk from the nearest shop. Or driving me and a friend to another friend's art show last night even though it's an easy bus ride, because it was freezing bloody cold and we both felt like staying in.

My decision about whether or not to use the car is based on personal quality of life factors rather than money costs. If I can save time, effort, energy, reduce stress & hassle etc by using the car, I'll use the car. The ££ cost is less significant than the personal cost to me in time etc.

Today I'll drive from Brixton to Norwood to drop something off, buy some stuff from the pet shop, do some unnecessary but interesting stuff on the high street, then over to Herne Hill to collect something, then probably drop down into Brixton Town, park in Curry's car park and wander about the market before coming home and then taking the bus over to Camberwell.

Doing the tootling about in Norwood, Herne Hill and Brixton mission by public transport would need military planning and coordination of various moving parts, involve carrying of awkward stuff, a delivery of the pet shop stuff (with added phone call), and me getting cold and then needing to spend time warming my hands up so they work properly. So I'm gonna use the car for that.

Driving from Brixton Hill to Camberwell during the day would be madness, so I'll take the bus for that.

I drive less than 1000 miles a year. And as a single childless person who rarely travels outside the UK and is mindful about my environmental impact, I'm comfortable with my car use.

Having the car stood outside the house is definitely a luxury that costs me money. Sometimes I don't have a car, right now I do. I don't much miss having one when I'm without a car, but I really miss the freedom and spontaneity it allows, not to mention being able to help friends, offer lifts, and otherwise fill in the gap of most of my pack not having any cars.

So, yeah: mildly curious about cost per mile, but knowing would have no bearing on my decision to own or use a car.

 

[Silas Loom]

Depreciated by 50k what did it start at

£67k I think, that year’s model is now going for as low as £17k, although admittedly mileage is in our favour. I’m also not counting the government grant which was £5k at the time. Maybe it’s closer to £40k. Still a hell of a lot!

Obviously in retrospect I should have leased. But I mistrusted the car financing industry, I knew about semiconductor shortages and I thought that meant that luxury EVs would hold their value really well. I was actually right about that until 2022.

It’s a lovely car and there’s no reason why we wouldn’t keep it for another ten years, after which time the depreciation barely matters.

 

[pbsmooth]

30%+ people lease their cars now so they're not buying the car and they're not paying any maintenance.

 

[bellaozzydog]

30%+ people lease their cars now so they're not buying the car and they're not paying any maintenance.

When you lease do you have to stick to maintenance schedules

 

[teuchter]

The difference between my cars is marked.

My Formentor varies between 300mpg, and 44mpg depending on whether it's running on electricity, hybrid, or just petrol.

My Golf GTD averages about 56mpg.

The road tax on the Formentor is about £600 a year due to the so-called luxury car additional tax. The Golf is £160.

Insurance on the Formentor is £600, the Golf is £400.

A set of tyres for the Formentor £660 to £800, the Golf £300.

I average about 10000 a year spread unequally between the two.

I'll let you work out the costs.

You've not answered the questions in the OP, and I can't answer them for you by "working out the costs".

 

[pbsmooth]

When you lease do you have to stick to maintenance schedules

nothing on your schedule with a 2-year-lease!

 

[Saul Goodman]

42

 

[kalmatthew]

To be precise - the number I am interested in is the marginal cost - per mile. Not the total cost.

It's the extra cost per mile once you've paid for all the fixed costs. So it doesn't include the cost of buying the car itself and it doesn't include any costs that you have to pay regardless of how far you drive.

It includes more than just fuel costs though - it includes the costs of maintenance or replacement parts that are related to mileage. So, things like tyres that you have to replace every X miles.

I am interested in two things:

- Do you have any per-mile figure in mind, or is the only figure you really have in mind fuel costs?

- If you do, do you ever use this figure to make decisions about whether to use your car versus other options, for journeys that you make?

In reality I only look at the fuel costs to do anything else would need far more personal accounting than I can be bothered with especially as to do it correctly you'd need to account for the fact that insurance which you could claim as a fixed cost does change in price depending on your millage quite significantly. Also I wouldn't say things like tyres are as simple as every x miles it's very dependant on road surface and driving style.

When I'm looking at journey choices it's a mixture of cost/time/convenience. Long journeys I often do by train even when they would be cheaper by car because I'd rather not drive to Leeds from Surrey for example. But mobility at location or multi stop journeys often become a complete pain by public transport to the point of only being sane by car.

 

[rubbershoes]

45p a mile according to the AA and HMRC.

That's an allowance not an actual cost

The price of fuel is a major factor of course but the last time I checked the figures published by the AA, the actual marginal cost was somewhere between 17 and 25p

 

[teuchter]

In reality I only look at the fuel costs to do anything else would need far more personal accounting than I can be bothered with especially as to do it correctly you'd need to account for the fact that insurance which you could claim as a fixed cost does change in price depending on your millage quite significantly. Also I wouldn't say things like tyres are as simple as every x miles it's very dependant on road surface and driving style.

Do you ever wonder though, what proportion of the "real" cost the fuel costs might represent, though? If you had to guess, would you imagine the fuel costs would be 80% or 50% or 20% of the real cost? Or is that something you never think about?