I didn't realize everyone was driving this much

"E90M3" (e90m3) 01/28/2020 at 12:21 • Filed to: None

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Today I was having a discussion with some coworkers on average mileage driven every year, Because my assumption was a lot lower than another coworkers, I looked it up. I thought there was no way it was above 15,000 miles /year, !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , males in my demographic,20-34, drive close to 18,000 miles/year. Overall the average is 13,476 miles/years, which is lower than my assumption, but then it takes into account teenagers and retired people.

Now, I don’t know how they generated these numbers, nor do I know their validity . I have heard that the general trend since the great recession was an increase in both miles driven and average age of vehicle. I do know that I did 27,000 miles a year in Savannah and last year I did around 13,000 in both my 328i and M3. 

WRXforScience > E90M3 01/28/2020 at 12:30

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I have a 6mile commute and I drive 11k-13 k miles per year (over the last 5 years so ages 30-35 ) in my BRZ . The previous 5 years I drove 14k-19k miles with an average around 17k miles per year (ages 25-30) in my WRX .

Jay, the practical enthusiast > E90M3 01/28/2020 at 12:31

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I drive about  4,000 a year. I’m bringing these averages down.

Sovande > E90M3 01/28/2020 at 12:31

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I bet I put 40 miles on my Caprice Wagon, 750 miles o n my El Camino and 10,000 in my V60.

But I’m old.

facw > E90M3 01/28/2020 at 12:32

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I am most certainly not driving that much. I’ve put ~ 8,500 miles on my car in the 27 months I’ve owned it (and that’s with the one-off ~ 2, 000 mile trip from Houston to Boston) .

That said, in Houston I had coworkers who drove 1:30+ each way to work, so they were obviously piling on the miles. I could never spend that much time driving for my commute though, I would go insane and/or crash. Even my 20-30 minute commute was really more than I’d like (I switched to a six-minute commute, and then to working remotely) .

thejustache > E90M3 01/28/2020 at 12:34

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That is interesting data. There were a few years I was driving 30k+ a year, but for the last couple years with a different commute I feel like I’ve reduced that to 12-15k now . My wife probably drives about 8k a year

The Ghost of Oppo > facw 01/28/2020 at 12:38

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Wow and I thought I didn’t drive that much. I’ve only put a little over 30 k on my car in 43 months.

nerd_racing > E90M3 01/28/2020 at 12:39

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I’m right about average for my age bracket. I do 17 k+ miles a year no problem.

WiscoProud > E90M3 01/28/2020 at 12:39

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I’ve averaged about 20k a year for the last five years. My commute is 50 miles roundtrip and we make trips to my in-laws cabin whenever possible which is about 400 miles roundtrip. 

Long_Voyager94 > E90M3 01/28/2020 at 12:44

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17,976 miles.

BAHAHAHAHA, that’s less than we put on the new van since we bought it in July.

That’s about what we average per vehicle per year. 

i86hotdogs > E90M3 01/28/2020 at 12:48

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22k miles last year. Planning your own wedding, and attending 8 others across the country will do that to ya.

Tekamul > E90M3 01/28/2020 at 12:49

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Wow.

I might be kissing 10k a year, but probably not (last year excluded, because I had to travel for medical BS a LOT).

But back in college I was over 25k a year, so I can imagine it evening out like this.

I like cars: Jim Spanfeller is one ugly motherfucker > E90M3 01/28/2020 at 12:57

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I am in your demographic (am 23). In the last calendar year, between the six cars I’ve owned (Golf, Jetta, Saturn, Cabriolet, Rabbit, Focus), I’ve driven less than 5000 miles. I’ve only put 7000 miles and change on my Golf since I bought it. I’m fortunate enough that I live walking distance to work, so the majority of my driving is either to the grocery store, an errand outside of walking distance, or a trip to my hometown, about 400 miles round trip.

It’s a very strange situation to be in, being an enthusiast and owning five cars at once, but not driving any one of them enough to warrant more than a single oil change a year.

E90M3 > I like cars: Jim Spanfeller is one ugly motherfucker 01/28/2020 at 13:01

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Aren’t you also still in college? 

E90M3 > Tekamul 01/28/2020 at 13:02

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I didn’t even have a car in college, I don’t know how you’d manage to do that in school. 

E90M3 > i86hotdogs 01/28/2020 at 13:02

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That makes sense, long road trips really do put the miles on quickly. 

E90M3 > Long_Voyager94 01/28/2020 at 13:02

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Where the hell are you driving? 

E90M3 > WiscoProud 01/28/2020 at 13:03

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That makes sense. My commute in Savannah was right around 75 miles round trip, sprinkle a few other +1000 mile trips and it adds up quickly. 

E90M3 > Jay, the practical enthusiast 01/28/2020 at 13:05

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It seems like for every one like you, there’s two that drive a lot more. 

Chariotoflove > E90M3 01/28/2020 at 13:11

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When I was young, I got into my head this rule of thumb that 10k/yr was about average.  I personally drive every day and take road trips twice a year, yet I rarely break half that.

E90M3 > Chariotoflove 01/28/2020 at 13:13

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I think it actually used to be 12k/year, but it seems like there’s a lot more to that especially when you break it down by age and gender.

fintail > E90M3 01/28/2020 at 13:13

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I virtually never hit 10K with both cars combined, but I have an intentionally short commute. I take numerous road trips every year, and drive a bit for hockey.

Some of the insane sports parents I know must be racking up 30K.

Tekamul > E90M3 01/28/2020 at 13:15

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Commuter student, 2 part time jobs. Daily   routine was home > class > work > labs > work > home for the first couple years. It helped that gas was $1.15.

BrianGriffin thinks “reliable” is just a state of mind > E90M3 01/28/2020 at 13:16

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Again, this is all anecdotal- but myself and my other 25-40 year old millennial friends all seem to live an hour away from work and drive a ton, both for work and for fun. The jobs are concentrated in urban areas (or semi-urban areas with no public transportation) ; urban areas are too expensive to live in. Or we just don’t want to live where we work. Or the job requires a ton of time on the road. Or is too far from friends/family.

Point is, I think it’s really way more common than most people think. It’s hard to just pick up and move for a job. 

ranwhenparked > E90M3 01/28/2020 at 13:17

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Oh, I'm way beyond that. I've done 36,000 since May 2019. Just commuting to/from work is well over 20,000 a year.

Boxer_4 > E90M3 01/28/2020 at 13:23

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I was averaging 20k a year the last two years between my commute to work (35 mi round trip) and trips to visit friends and family (the rest). So far I’ve been able to keep the average down since I bought the Crosstrek, but I’m sure that will change once spring/ summer arrives. It was a lot easier justifying that yearly  mileage on a 10 year old car.

I’m actively trying to change that by hopefully getting closer to friends and family again. I’m getting tired of the miles at this point. 

Ash78, voting early and often > Chariotoflove 01/28/2020 at 13:24

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10k was traditionally the lease cap (unless you paid extra) but I always heard 12k was average — makes the math easy at 1k/month.

Today as a telecommuter, I can’t believe I used to drive 8-10k a year just going to work and back. The wife’s car does about 15k a year but that’s partly because I now do about 2k./yr. Her vehicle does most of the work in general. And that’s still short of the average...

E90M3 > BrianGriffin thinks “reliable” is just a state of mind 01/28/2020 at 13:25

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When I was growing up, my dad’s commute had him going from the suburbs into downtown Atlanta everyday. He didn’t seem to do more than 12k a year but I think that down to him taking MARTA most of the way. 

I like cars: Jim Spanfeller is one ugly motherfucker > E90M3 01/28/2020 at 13:26

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Eh, kind of? I’m “in grad school” but work full time but the work is also related to the research and it’s all sort of confusing and I don’t really know how to explain it without going into the minutiae. It’s weird.

E90M3 > Boxer_4 01/28/2020 at 13:27

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Racking up that many miles does get tiresome after a while.

I’ve been looking into changing jobs, but not moving and this would certainly increase my commute. Not looking forward to that, but I really don’t want to move. 

Ash78, voting early and often > E90M3 01/28/2020 at 13:27

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I used to do 10k/year with in just a 5-mile radius in college. Before the extremely widespread use cell phones and unlimited talk time , you literally just drove around all day and night. Class, work, home, friends, home, etc.

Seeing someone walking or riding a bike meant something must have gone wrong.

avalonian > E90M3 01/28/2020 at 13:28

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Right?! What's that far apart?! 

DasWauto > E90M3 01/28/2020 at 13:45

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I used to do ~25k km (15k mi) but I’ve been below 20k km (12k mi) over the last 2 years. I only put 12k km on the WRX over the last year, and 7k km on the BMW from May through November.

My “commute” is only 5 km but I do that 4 times/day when I’m not sharing a ride. I think my mileage is probably ~1/3 commute, ~1/2 errands and just going places, and the remaining ~1/6 purely leisure driving with no other purpose. The non-commute numbers are a bit inflated too because fairly often I’ll go out of my way to take a better road, or just different a route for the sake of variety.

Maxima Speed > E90M3 01/28/2020 at 13:53

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I live in a rural area and usually do 23,000 to 27,000 a year. Last year I did 22,000 just from March to November. This year I’m projecting 27,000 plus for pretty much any of the local  job locations i get to choose from.

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > i86hotdogs 01/28/2020 at 13:58

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8 others?! Woof...

Jarrett - [BRZ Boi] > E90M3 01/28/2020 at 14:07

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I was doing about 25000km (15000mi)/year, but since I’ve started taking the train in for my 90km/55mi round trip commute, I’ve gone to about 5000mi/year. There are way too many compromises to living where I work. For instance, my 3 bdrm house with a garage is worth as much as a studio condo within walking distance of work.. They don’t even give you a parking spot.

CalzoneGolem > avalonian 01/28/2020 at 14:07

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Just have a couple kids that need to be in different places.

E90M3 > DasWauto 01/28/2020 at 14:11

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It is quite nice to put those miles on your car when you don’t have to. 

Sammyno55 > E90M3 01/28/2020 at 14:14

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I'm bringing up the average. I put 28,500 on my DD last year and 3,000 on my fun car before I got rid of it. I probably put another 5,000 on rentals for business. So, let's just call it 35,000/yr. I'm probably in the "old demographic" at 47. 

shop-teacher > E90M3 01/28/2020 at 14:22

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My 38 year old ass drives about half the average then, maybe just a bit more.  My wife’s five year old CX-5 does not yet have 15k miles on it.

dtg11 - is probably on an adventure with Clifford > E90M3 01/28/2020 at 14:36

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With my Acura, I did 17k a year, but I’m up to 23k/year with my Infiniti. Nice to see that I’m not too far above my group with each (20-34, male)

gettingoldercarguy > E90M3 01/28/2020 at 14:38

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7.7k miles over three years.  Children 

Boxer_4 > E90M3 01/28/2020 at 14:57

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And the oil changes (and maintenance in general). It felt like I was doing oil changes practically every 3 months, and some maintenance item was always looming based on mileage.

I’m actively job searching for a variety of reasons, but reducing my mileage driven  is a big reason.

i86hotdogs > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com 01/28/2020 at 14:59

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I guess it’s a humble brag, but I’m at the age where all of my friends are getting married. I saved mine for this year lol

Chariotoflove > Ash78, voting early and often 01/28/2020 at 15:04

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A lot of bytes have been expended on whether telecommuting is good or bad, but one thing for sure is, if you do it right, it cuts down on gas and time use.

TheTurbochargedSquirrel > E90M3 01/28/2020 at 15:09

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I’ve put 7,500 on the Corolla since I bought it in August. In the year before that I put 12k on the Mini despite still being in school and only working part time for most of that year. I’m probably knocking on the door of 18-20k a year. 

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > i86hotdogs 01/28/2020 at 15:11

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I get it, I’ve been there, that’s just... a lot.

Good on you for actually getting to all of them for your friends.

Ash78, voting early and often > Chariotoflove 01/28/2020 at 15:25

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I’m no eco champion, but I’d be lying if I didn’t feel a tiny little bit of smugness whenever I think anyone might even think about accusing me of not doing my part for the planet.

It’s like owning a Tesla, but a lot cheaper.

i86hotdogs > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com 01/28/2020 at 15:28

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It wasn’t easy. This also was the first year at my new job, and felt very guilty for being gone so many weekends. The furthest trip was to Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin: about an hour or so north or Green Bay. good 20 hour round trip there.

Dusty Ventures > E90M3 01/28/2020 at 15:35

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I fit in that age demographic (for another year or so anyway. Last year I did 16,963 miles and my average over the last five years is 18,111. So for me at least that average is pretty accurate.

gmporschenut also a fan of hondas > E90M3 01/28/2020 at 15:36

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@20  -22k    67 mi round trip for work. 

glemon > E90M3 01/28/2020 at 15:57

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My wife and I both average 7-8000 a year, been that way forever , 5 mile commute to work for me, I feel like I drive around a fair bit, not a ton.

I never thought about it too much before now, but I am probably in the sweet spot for low annual miles , small City 10 miles across tops. Enough there I don’t have to leave town for most any regular services or activities, and not so big that a trip across town or commute could be 20 miles or more.

Dusty Ventures > Dusty Ventures 01/28/2020 at 15:59

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Figured I should add that roughly 8k of that was for rallies and other such motorsports travel, so take those out and I'm closer to 7-8k

Long_Voyager94 > E90M3 01/28/2020 at 16:02

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All over.

I commute to work 5-6 days a week at almost 50 miles/day. So that’s 250-300/week right there. Then we usually tack on 3-400 on weekends doing our running around. So just between those we’re around 30k miles. Then add in family trips, visiting friends/family, parts runs, etc and it adds up quick.

JawzX2, Boost Addict. 1.6t, 2.7tt, 4.2t > E90M3 01/28/2020 at 19:44

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My record was just over 105 K miles in one year (in a 1992 Alfa Romeo 164-S in 1998 , I was 20 ) ... recently We put 28K on the 2018 F150 the first year we owned it, and since we got the 2019 Hyundai Kona we’ve put 27K on it and another 10K on the truck. We live in the middle of nowhere and have to drive a minimum of six miles just to buy milk or chips. There’s gas there too, but only 7-4 5 days a week, on and offroad diesel and regular unleaded only. The closest full grocery and pharmacy store are 14 miles.

pip bip - choose Corrour > E90M3 01/29/2020 at 03:38

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i blow the average for my demographic by quite a margin (35-54)