How many miles do you drive?

lilac_lady

Now that I've retired I'm planning to use my free bus pass for shorter journeys and am going to try to limit my car use. I'm aiming for 300 miles per month to save on petrol and wear and tear etc. How many miles do you NEED to drive per month?

katy-lou

If we're talking about must trips 14miles a week at the moment, when I start my new job that will rocket

anewman

Short journeys can increase wear and tear. Engines are designed to run on long journeys and get very warm with oil flowing everywhere and any condensation in the oil being thrown out.

Do you mean miles per month to keep the car alive or to make it worth keeping? To keep it alive it should be fine doing 0 miles per month but the only problem will be eventually the battery will lose power when the car is not used often. But there are some solutions to this including getting a jump start battery pack thing, taking the battery out and charging it or if the car is in a garage the battery can probably just be disconnected and a charger connected.

moonrakerz

I think it may be worth asking yourself - "do I NEED a car" ?

You should add up all the costs of keeping the car. The running costs (petrol etc) are minimal. You need to add up all the costs.

Depreciation in value of the car
Loss of interest on the money you paid for the car
Road fund licence + loss of interest on amount paid for 12 months
Insurance + loss of interest on amount paid for 12 months
MoT + loss of interest on amount paid for 12 months
Tyres + servicing
Breakdown membership + loss of interest on amount paid for 12 months
Petrol
Parking charges (fines !)
I have probably missed a few as well !

You might find it cheaper to use your bus pass to get to the supermarket and get a taxi back with the shopping. You will pay an awful lot just for the convenience of the car.

anewman

Why should anyone add parking fines to a list of costs? :rolleyes:

Keith

Per month I do about 1700 miles, none are avoidable and none are easily done on public transport.

ZootHornRollo

i do around 1400 miles per month of which about 300 are avoidable - picking step daughter up from work when she could get the bus and pursuit of hobbies.

the rest are for work, 1/2 hour by car, three times that by public transport - each way!

Riq

1,200 a month.

To work.

I have no option but to drive unless I want a 4 hour per day commute

AdrianHi

I could cut out 4 miles a week to the local shops / takeaway and back (really bad for the car I know:o) if only I had the time to fix my bike in the garage, always something more urgent to do.

AdrianHi

moonrakerz wrote: »

I think it may be worth asking yourself - "do I NEED a car" ?

You should add up all the costs of keeping the car. The running costs (petrol etc) are minimal. You need to add up all the costs.

Depreciation in value of the car
Loss of interest on the money you paid for the car
Road fund licence + loss of interest on amount paid for 12 months
Insurance + loss of interest on amount paid for 12 months
MoT + loss of interest on amount paid for 12 months
Tyres + servicing
Breakdown membership + loss of interest on amount paid for 12 months
Petrol
Parking charges (fines !)
I have probably missed a few as well !

You might find it cheaper to use your bus pass to get to the supermarket and get a taxi back with the shopping. You will pay an awful lot just for the convenience of the car.

A good exercise this, I do it for my cars. It teaches you a few important things:
How much of your monthly income you are really loosing to the car in the long run
That sometimes a car with a higher list price, has a lower cost of ownership
Whether you can even afford the car you have or not
That sometimes buying a newer car can save you money

Conor_3

lilac_lady wrote: »

Now that I've retired I'm planning to use my free bus pass for shorter journeys and am going to try to limit my car use. I'm aiming for 300 miles per month to save on petrol and wear and tear etc. How many miles do you NEED to drive per month?

Here's an idea...

If you only want a car for odd days out/weekends out, why not consider hiring? With car hire firms doing small hatchbacks for ridiculously low rates on a weekend, this has to be cheaper than the running costs.