Yearly Mileage on FIRE?

[RetiredGypsy]

According to the FHWA, someone in my age group should be driving around 18,000 miles a year. I'd heard the average was 12,000, and was unimpressed that I was still somehow managing 10,500 a year. It seemed like a 13% reduction in driving wasn't as impressive in FIRE as it could be. I feel better knowing that's closer to a 42% reduction.

Have you found yourself driving more or less now? How does it compare to the FHWA averages?

 

[MichaelB]

I have driven more since ER'ing than all my life to that point. At least 20K miles per year with no change in sight.

 

[razztazz]

Driving has plummeted. The first 16 years of retirement I put gas in the car only 2 or 3 times per year. After I moved 3 years ago to my current house I gas up every second month because it's a somewhat longer drive to stores. But I usually top off the tank when it's still about half full maybe a little less.

 

[John Galt III]

Driving much less. No more commute. Only about 5,000 miles per year now.

 

[scrabbler1]

My annual mileage has risen slightly since I ERed (I was working PT for 7 years before that, so not a big change). I was driving about 3,200 miles per year now it is up to 3,300 miles per year.

 

[Free To Canoe]

Mileage has stayed about the same since retirement. DW and I together average about 25k / yr. Trips to the big city to help the Moms and vacations tend to up the number.

 

[martyp]

Yearly milage stayed about the same. This has been due to a few long distance road trips. Lately, I've been flying to vacation spots so I expect this year's milage to be lower.

 

[Midpack]

My mileage has dropped from 15-16K/yr while working to about 10K/yr over the past 4 years.

 

[happy2bretired]

I'll be lucky to get an oil change this year since my oil change people won't do it except every 5000 miles.


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[Mulligan]

My yearly mileage at 12k has remained mostly unchanged. Daily commute to work was one mile, so that didn't knock off much. Entertainment areas remain 30-50 miles away. Friends and family are spread out, so these trip distances have not changed either.


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[W2R]

Mileage for the 10 years before retirement: 3000 miles/year almost exactly. I figured that out when selling my Solara (and buying my Venza) soon after retirement.

Mileage during my 5.8 years of retirement so far: 3600-3800 miles/year

I'd have to go outside and doublecheck the total miles on my Venza to get a more exact value than that for my retirement mileage, and I'd rather sit here and enjoy my coffee instead right now. I think it's twenty-one thousand and something.

 

[braumeister]

ER didn't make the slightest difference in my mileage.

I've averaged between 20,000 and 25,000 miles per year for several decades.

One of those odd people who actually enjoys cross-country driving, so I'll use the car instead of flying whenever possible.

 

[rbmrtn]

Significant reduction, around 3k/yr now. I don't worry about vehicle replacement, they should last longer than I can drive at that mileage rate.

 

[RunningBum]

This is like basing your retirement savings or expenses on the average. It just doesn't make sense on an individual basis. Someone out west may have a 100 mile (or more) daily round trip commute while someone else in the DC metro area may have a 20 mile commute that takes them longer. Some retirees may stay at or close to home and rarely drive, while others may drive around more than when they worked. I telecommuted my last few years, so I definitely drive more now that I have more free time.

What did you actually drive while you were working? And why does it matter? You're driving however much you're driving. If you can't afford the gas, find ways to drive less. How much less it is than the "average" and feeling better because your perception of the average was off really doesn't make sense to me.

The main important difference I see is that I rarely have to drive. If the weather is bad, I stay home until it is better (well, except for the 3 mile drive to the ski slopes, but even then I'll wait until the plows have made a pass).

 

[HFWR]

Have averaged around 12k/yr for the past umpteen years. I do have some travels planned for FIRE, but other than that I expect to drive infrequently.

 

[hnzw_rui]

Lol, apparently, my mileage while working is already at retirement levels at ~5,000 miles per year.

 

[Theseus]

With DW's 38 mile roundtrip commute gone, our combined 25k miles per year is cut about in half. Heck, the log I've been keeping for medical related travel seems to be the bulk of our miles these days. But, we've got a few good road trips planned yet this year, also I've been acclimating myself towards motorcycling again, can rack up the miles pretty quickly when in the groove.

 

[Car-Guy]

Being a "Car-Guy" I guess I've always driven a lot. I had a ~40 mile round trip commute, in the big city. When I was working we would always drive (rather than fly) on our family vacations around the country. Before retirement I suspect I was averaging about 30k miles a year.

Now that I'm retired, I do drive more miles per year. Of course we now live out in the middle of nowhere in Texas and to get to any place that even begins to looks like civilization, it is a bit of a drive. (it's wonderful) We still take some longer driving trips a year (1k to 2k) and a lot more shorter ones (less than 1k) These days I'm driving closer to 40k miles a year. And zero miles flying since I retired.

 

[ElizabethT]

Doubled on one car (the one we tow our travel trailer with), next to nothing on our second car. The reason for the doubling is all good, of course, and one of the great joys of our life currently.

 

[rodi]

My mileage stayed close to the same for my car. It's the one used for vacations and school pickup/dropoff. I correct it to drop drastically when the kids move out. DHs truck is driven a lot less.... He tends to take my car.

Pre-retirement my mileage was about 8k/ year. Now it's about 7k/year.

 

[48Fire]

Definitely higher, around 25,000 per year. A lot of travel and family issues to deal with.

 

[donheff]

My mileage has stayed flat at around 12K. I discontinued the short commute but added a trip to Florida to balance that out.

 

[Cobra9777]

Sharply lower, from 25K/yr while working, to around 5K. I had a 80-mile round-trip daily commute. Since ER, we mostly fly on vacation and to visit family and friends around the country. I still have 500K miles at AA from my road warrior days, plus all 3 cars are old clunkers that we're not comfortable taking too far from home.

 

[Sunset]

Dropped to around 8K between 2 cars, but this year have to take care of something far away, so looks like 1 vehicle will get 20K on it, the other will be about 3K.

Next year we will be back to 8K, with extra for some long road trips.

 

[MBAustin]

My volunteer commitments have required a lot of driving since I ER'd - about 40-50% of my 10K per year gets the charitable mileage deduction. Overall mileage has dropped a little without the daily commute but not as much as I had expected.