Anyone else track their cost per mile?

M

Mike_R

:
2019 CX-5 Touring
I track my cost per mile. Anyone else do the same? I don't include cost that would exist for any car, regardless of if I drove it much or not, like insurance and annual inspections/registration. I calculate just repairs, mileage based maintenance, gas, purchase price/sales tax and financing. Purchase price and financing cost per mile are assuming the car makes it to 200K miles. Basically my goal is to know that each mile I put on the car cost me X amount of money that I wouldn't have otherwise spent. I bought the car at 65K miles and have driven it for 13K miles now.

So far, my cost has been 22 cents per mile which is great but if I keep the car past 150K miles, repairs could definitely bring up the average cost per mile.

I've done the below unscheduled maintenance but I've done it all myself so it's much cheaper than at a mechanic's shop:
ATF drain and fill
Replacing the rotors and front brake pads.
 
It’s certainly something big fleets do and it may prove interesting but to be honest I’m not sure what knowing it would do as an owner. I don’t have any vices and I get pleasure out of driving and fussing over the car - it’s a kind of hobby I suppose so knowing what it costs might detract from my outlook of it.

Not knocking you for doing it though!
 
Mike_R said:
I track my cost per mile. Anyone else do the same? I don't include cost that would exist for any car, regardless of if I drove it much or not, like insurance and annual inspections/registration. I calculate just repairs, mileage based maintenance, gas, purchase price/sales tax and financing. Purchase price and financing cost per mile are assuming the car makes it to 200K miles. Basically my goal is to know that each mile I put on the car cost me X amount of money that I wouldn't have otherwise spent. I bought the car at 65K miles and have driven it for 13K miles now.

So far, my cost has been 22 cents per mile which is great but if I keep the car past 150K miles, repairs could definitely bring up the average cost per mile.

I've done the below unscheduled maintenance but I've done it all myself so it's much cheaper than at a mechanic's shop:
ATF drain and fill
Replacing the rotors and front brake pads.
Click to expand...

No, but when I have an older vehicle or one that is giving me trouble, I do amortize 1 year of repairs, historic, vs. 1 year of a note on a newer/better/whatever vehicle, and whichever wins is what happens.
 
Anchorman said:
It’s certainly something big fleets do and it may prove interesting but to be honest I’m not sure what knowing it would do as an owner. I don’t have any vices and I get pleasure out of driving and fussing over the car - it’s a kind of hobby I suppose so knowing what it costs might detract from my outlook of it.

Not knocking you for doing it though!
Click to expand...

It's a sample of one. For example, if he had a CRV and a CX5, and drove each for 200K miles, and the CX5 had the transmission go out at 62K miles, and it cost him $4500 to replace it, but the car was otherwise perfect, and lasted the rest of the 200K without issue, while the CRV suffered recall after recall, went through wheel-bearings every 40K miles, had O2 sensors go out several times, had the intake manifold crack, had the timing chain need replacing twice, so on and so on, and cost him $3500 over those 200K miles total, then his spread sheet totals would say "The CX5 was the worser", yet I don't think anyone would agree with that statement, nor would anyone be likely based purely on this, to buy a CRV instead of a CX5. Now, if OP had a fleet as you say, and run the costs for 5 years over 50 vehicles, etc. then it could become a very useful statistic, but since OP is likely to have 1, at most 2 of the same vehicle in his household, any incident of breakage is going to be a "sample of 1" type incident, of no statistic value.
 
Mike_R said:
I track my cost per mile. Anyone else do the same? I don't include cost that would exist for any car, regardless of if I drove it much or not, like insurance and annual inspections/registration. I calculate just repairs, mileage based maintenance, gas, purchase price/sales tax and financing. Purchase price and financing cost per mile are assuming the car makes it to 200K miles. Basically my goal is to know that each mile I put on the car cost me X amount of money that I wouldn't have otherwise spent. I bought the car at 65K miles and have driven it for 13K miles now.

So far, my cost has been 22 cents per mile which is great but if I keep the car past 150K miles, repairs could definitely bring up the average cost per mile.

I've done the below unscheduled maintenance but I've done it all myself so it's much cheaper than at a mechanic's shop:
ATF drain and fill
Replacing the rotors and front brake pads.
Click to expand...

Fuelly calculates the cost per mile and I should probably enter my other information as well. But based upon my gas, service issues, and car payments, my cost is close to 35 cents per mile. My big "service cost" has been new tires. I am on my third set (of 4). I have not had anything other issues except normal oil and filter changes along with a brake job once. Honestly, I am surprised at how high it is!
 
Anchorman said:
Its certainly something big fleets do and it may prove interesting but to be honest Im not sure what knowing it would do as an owner. I dont have any vices and I get pleasure out of driving and fussing over the car - its a kind of hobby I suppose so knowing what it costs might detract from my outlook of it.

Not knocking you for doing it though!
Click to expand...

Yeah, it kind of detracts a little from my enjoyment of taking it on road trips but I love data so I get enjoyment of knowing how much it cost. But if you're gonna be driving the same amount of miles anyways, or think the cost is worth the pleasure, then I can totally see getting more enjoyment but not knowing.

Unobtanium said:
No, but when I have an older vehicle or one that is giving me trouble, I do amortize 1 year of repairs, historic, vs. 1 year of a note on a newer/better/whatever vehicle, and whichever wins is what happens.
Click to expand...

Nice. I've seen some of my siblings and friends struggle over whether they should get a new car or keep their current one that requires occasional repairs. To me, I don't see why it's a struggle cause I just calculate and look at the numbers and factor in personal preference but for them, they don't even know where to begin with the numbers.

Unobtanium said:
It's a sample of one. For example, if he had a CRV and a CX5, and drove each for 200K miles, and the CX5 had the transmission go out at 62K miles, and it cost him $4500 to replace it, but the car was otherwise perfect, and lasted the rest of the 200K without issue, while the CRV suffered recall after recall, went through wheel-bearings every 40K miles, had O2 sensors go out several times, had the intake manifold crack, had the timing chain need replacing twice, so on and so on, and cost him $3500 over those 200K miles total, then his spread sheet totals would say "The CX5 was the worser", yet I don't think anyone would agree with that statement, nor would anyone be likely based purely on this, to buy a CRV instead of a CX5. Now, if OP had a fleet as you say, and run the costs for 5 years over 50 vehicles, etc. then it could become a very useful statistic, but since OP is likely to have 1, at most 2 of the same vehicle in his household, any incident of breakage is going to be a "sample of 1" type incident, of no statistic value.
Click to expand...

Yeah, it's not useful to compare models but it does encourage me to walk a little more than I would otherwise. It has also made me stop defaulting to taking my car on road trips rather than my friends' cars. I like driving so I used to always take my car but now that I know the cost (which will likely increase with car age), if someone else's car will work just as well and they volunteer to drive, I'll take them up on the offer.

dougal said:
Fuelly calculates the cost per mile and I should probably enter my other information as well. But based upon my gas, service issues, and car payments, my cost is close to 35 cents per mile. My big "service cost" has been new tires. I am on my third set (of 4). I have not had anything other issues except normal oil and filter changes along with a brake job once. Honestly, I am surprised at how high it is!
Click to expand...

I didn't know Fuelly would calculate non-gas expenses! That's good to know. AAA says the total cost (including fixed cost like insurance, registration, etc) for a small FWD SUV is 65 cents per mile if you drive 10,000 miles per year, 51 cents if you drive 15,000 per year. I think that's with a car purchased brand new and kept for 5 years.
 
dougal said:
Fuelly calculates the cost per mile and I should probably enter my other information as well. But based upon my gas, service issues, and car payments, my cost is close to 35 cents per mile. My big "service cost" has been new tires. I am on my third set (of 4). I have not had anything other issues except normal oil and filter changes along with a brake job once. Honestly, I am surprised at how high it is!
Click to expand...

Yeah, but how many miles?
 
Mike_R said:
I track my cost per mile. Anyone else do the same? I don't include cost that would exist for any car, regardless of if I drove it much or not, like insurance and annual inspections/registration. I calculate just repairs, mileage based maintenance, gas, purchase price/sales tax and financing. Purchase price and financing cost per mile are assuming the car makes it to 200K miles. Basically my goal is to know that each mile I put on the car cost me X amount of money that I wouldn't have otherwise spent. I bought the car at 65K miles and have driven it for 13K miles now.

So far, my cost has been 22 cents per mile which is great but if I keep the car past 150K miles, repairs could definitely bring up the average cost per mile.

I've done the below unscheduled maintenance but I've done it all myself so it's much cheaper than at a mechanic's shop:
ATF drain and fill
Replacing the rotors and front brake pads.
Click to expand...

Nothing personal, but it's hard to imagine how much time and effort this would take, and to what end?
For me, knowing the cost per mile would mean absolutely nothing when it comes to owning and driving my car.
I really don't know what I would use that information for.
Being an older gentleman, and having owned/driven many cars, I know pretty much if my car is a money pit or not.
I tend to keep my cars for a fairly long time, and when they finally start to break down, I get rid of them.
Cheers.
 
Unobtanium said:
No, but when I have an older vehicle or one that is giving me trouble, I do amortize 1 year of repairs, historic, vs. 1 year of a note on a newer/better/whatever vehicle, and whichever wins is what happens.
Click to expand...

Same here (drinks)
 
Buzzman12 said:
Nothing personal, but it's hard to imagine how much time and effort this would take, and to what end?
For me, knowing the cost per mile would mean absolutely nothing when it comes to owning and driving my car.
I really don't know what I would use that information for.
Being an older gentleman, and having owned/driven many cars, I know pretty much if my car is a money pit or not.
I tend to keep my cars for a fairly long time, and when they finally start to break down, I get rid of them.
Cheers.
Click to expand...

Actually, with the Fuelly app, it is easy to keep track of your fuel and service costs.
 
I think the OP should include insurance as it varies greatly. A different make, model, year, features could make insurance much more or much less per month. If calculating cost or mile to compare to another vehicle at some point, you need all the data points.
 
Buzzman12 said:
Nothing personal, but it's hard to imagine how much time and effort this would take, and to what end?
For me, knowing the cost per mile would mean absolutely nothing when it comes to owning and driving my car.
I really don't know what I would use that information for.
Being an older gentleman, and having owned/driven many cars, I know pretty much if my car is a money pit or not.
I tend to keep my cars for a fairly long time, and when they finally start to break down, I get rid of them.
Cheers.
Click to expand...

I use a spreadsheet as my maintenance schedule, which I prefer over the manual because I can add my own maintenance items (like differential and transmission drain and fill) and the spreadsheet automatically shows me what maintenance I need to do. I just have to mark what maintenance I have done. So the only additional work I need to do for the cost per mile is write down the cost of any maintenance and the spreadsheet will calculate the cost per mile.
Gas is a little more frequent work cause you have to enter the info for every fill up but I love having my MPG stats so I totally think that's worth it.
 
Anyone else track their cost per mile?
Click to expand...

No. I'm with Anchorman on this one. Not sure what the point is on this as an owner. Cost per mile really seems different to me than say how many times did I have to do major costly repairs. At which point I agree with Uno's first post.
 
Please log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

C
Mazda Dealership alternatives to get 50,000 Mile Checkup?
Replies
19
Views
2K
Chocolate
Chocolate
Q
    • Like
CX-5 Reliability, cost of ownership and what's been done (personal experience)
Replies
6
Views
4K
yrwei52
yrwei52
M
    • Wow
2016.5 CX-5 FWD: 60K mile service, all of these needed?
Replies
12
Views
1K
ColtX-5
C

Latest posts

Back