How many miles are you driving in retirement?

[brett]

7K on the daily driver last year. 3K on the ragtop last summer.

That is it. But we are typically overseas 3-5 months a year.

My strong preference would be to pay for car insurance a per mile basis although our insurer does as for an estimate every year at renewal time.

 

[Markola]

I almost always meet the date for my next oil change before I meet the recommended mileage.

 

[zippy2020]

Our average got dragged down by the pandemic/lockdown. In 15 months we only totaled 880 miles, LOL!

We drive only 2-4x/week, bunching errands/appts and taking the opportunity to dine out (my personal hobby). Once every 6-8 weeks we take a driving trip around our region, on a 3-5 day trip. It all stays within a 200-300 mile radius.

When we first retired we traveled more. But have definitely slowed down. Our average pre-pandemic was about 7K/yr. Now it's more like 5K/yr.

 

[Tom52]

I bought my current vehicle on July 3, 2024. In the last 8 months we gave driven it 3500 miles, so we will average about 6000 miles per year. We are already getting the under 7500 miles per year discount on the insurance. My insurance is costing about $0.13 per mile.

My classic car I drive about 250 miles per year so my insurance on that is costing an average of $2 per mile driven.

 

[drdsunny]

I was just thinking about this the other day. Retired Apr. of ‘17. Since then I have put 75k miles on an F350 pulling a 5th Wheel, then 62k miles on our Dutchstar Motorhome with an additional 92k miles on the F150 we tow. Our cars over that whole time is about 25k. All together about 255k miles in 8 years.

 

[indiajust]

I was 20-25k a year from 1984 to 2008. Lots of long trips during unemployment stints and downtime. Since 08 I have been more like 6k/yr. Almost all in one big trip.

 

[fruitful]

About 18k miles per year. Large metro area - DFW - with family groups a 60-mile round trip in opposite directions. Drove more like 25-30k miles before retirement. Now I drive to visit friends, do volunteer work, take DH to dr appointments, church, grocery....it adds up.

 

[tmm99]

I don't drive a lot. I didn't drive a lot when I wo*ked either. I bought a Honda Accord in 2004, so my car is over 20 years old, and the mileage on my car now is only about 90,000 miles. Since my retirement, I think I have driven probably less than 2,500 miles per year.

 

[AudiDudi]

Not me, but my grandfather bought a brand new 1969 Chevy Nova. When he died in 1979, the car had about 6500 miles on it.

 

[hotwired]

The last thread on this subject, mostly "driving cost" related, was 9 years ago and some people were still working.

I am an 81 year old widower and I drove 19,500 miles between 2/2024 and 2/2025. Seems like a lot, but I drove a lot before I retired, and I see no reduction in sight. When I was working, I drove more, as I did engineering consulting projects primarily in the energy business (oil & gas, refining, chemical plants, etc), Since I live in The Great State of Texas, a lot of work was done easier by driving, although I flew a lot too. Long drives are easy here as there is a great highway system between the big cities and speed limits are 75 in most areas and higher in a few others (Zoom, Zoom!)

These days, I meet friends most every morning for coffee/breakfast, go on shopping trips, play golf, visit my daughter, take short trips to visit local friends, go out to dinner with friends, etc. Seems like each day I rack up between 50 - 100 miles on the car. My long drives in previous years were to Connecticut and back with some friend visit stops in other states along the way. I have one such trip on the plan for this year and expect to drive about 4,500 miles.

When DW was alive, we took several driving trips to visit her family in California and Wisconsin. My longest drive in 2024 was about 1,250 miles to visit a close friend for a few days in western Missouri.

I am used to driving a lot and have no physical issues to slow me down of hinder my ability. I also drive at night as I have no issues doing this and never had cataracts or other issues that would make night driving difficult. I do wear glasses, though.

So what's everyone driving on an annual basis these days now that COVID has passed (for the most part)? Am I an outlier here with my large accumulation of miles driven annually?

5,000 to 6,000 miles per year... We JUST retired completely (though one could argue we've been retired since 2017, only managing my own apartment buildings from then until we sold the last one this past January). We just bought brand new 2024 Tundra for me (replacing my 2010 Tundra bought new in 2009!), 2025 Grand Cherokee L for her. I realize now i could probably get by with a Corolla! But foregoing a pickup for me would be like entertaining the thought of a nursing home for most

 

[hotwired]

We have the Realdrive discount with Mercury Insurance so we have to prove our low mileage every year.
2016 Focus RS 1,232 miles/year
2017 VW GTI 2,915 miles/year
We took two long road trips to explore the South and the Northeast but we flew in and rented cars for both.
We pay only $94.33 a month ($566.76 every 6 months) for both cars.

You've won the low mileage bad *ss award!

 

[KarenF]

We are driving less than we used to. We drove the Subaru about 12,000 miles last year, and about half that was business miles for my small pet sitting business. We did do a couple of road trips to Florida last summer in our Ford Expedition, one with friends and one with grandkids, and then sold that car and leased an EV. The lease is for 30,000 miles over 3 years and we have driven about 4500 miles in 5 months.

 

[Elizrogers]

The last thread on this subject, mostly "driving cost" related, was 9 years ago and some people were still working.

I am an 81 year old widower and I drove 19,500 miles between 2/2024 and 2/2025. Seems like a lot, but I drove a lot before I retired, and I see no reduction in sight. When I was working, I drove more, as I did engineering consulting projects primarily in the energy business (oil & gas, refining, chemical plants, etc), Since I live in The Great State of Texas, a lot of work was done easier by driving, although I flew a lot too. Long drives are easy here as there is a great highway system between the big cities and speed limits are 75 in most areas and higher in a few others (Zoom, Zoom!)

These days, I meet friends most every morning for coffee/breakfast, go on shopping trips, play golf, visit my daughter, take short trips to visit local friends, go out to dinner with friends, etc. Seems like each day I rack up between 50 - 100 miles on the car. My long drives in previous years were to Connecticut and back with some friend visit stops in other states along the way. I have one such trip on the plan for this year and expect to drive about 4,500 miles.

When DW was alive, we took several driving trips to visit her family in California and Wisconsin. My longest drive in 2024 was about 1,250 miles to visit a close friend for a few days in western Missouri.

I am used to driving a lot and have no physical issues to slow me down of hinder my ability. I also drive at night as I have no issues doing this and never had cataracts or other issues that would make night driving difficult. I do wear glasses, though.

So what's everyone driving on an annual basis these days now that COVID has passed (for the most part)? Am I an outlier here with my large accumulation of miles driven annually?

 

[Elizrogers]

The last thread on this subject, mostly "driving cost" related, was 9 years ago and some people were still working.

I am an 81 year old widower and I drove 19,500 miles between 2/2024 and 2/2025. Seems like a lot, but I drove a lot before I retired, and I see no reduction in sight. When I was working, I drove more, as I did engineering consulting projects primarily in the energy business (oil & gas, refining, chemical plants, etc), Since I live in The Great State of Texas, a lot of work was done easier by driving, although I flew a lot too. Long drives are easy here as there is a great highway system between the big cities and speed limits are 75 in most areas and higher in a few others (Zoom, Zoom!)

These days, I meet friends most every morning for coffee/breakfast, go on shopping trips, play golf, visit my daughter, take short trips to visit local friends, go out to dinner with friends, etc. Seems like each day I rack up between 50 - 100 miles on the car. My long drives in previous years were to Connecticut and back with some friend visit stops in other states along the way. I have one such trip on the plan for this year and expect to drive about 4,500 miles.

When DW was alive, we took several driving trips to visit her family in California and Wisconsin. My longest drive in 2024 was about 1,250 miles to visit a close friend for a few days in western Missouri.

I am used to driving a lot and have no physical issues to slow me down of hinder my ability. I also drive at night as I have no issues doing this and never had cataracts or other issues that would make night driving difficult. I do wear glasses, though.

So what's everyone driving on an annual basis these days now that COVID has passed (for the most part)? Am I an outlier here with my large accumulation of miles driven annually?

The last thread on this subject, mostly "driving cost" related, was 9 years ago and some people were still working.

I am an 81 year old widower and I drove 19,500 miles between 2/2024 and 2/2025. Seems like a lot, but I drove a lot before I retired, and I see no reduction in sight. When I was working, I drove more, as I did engineering consulting projects primarily in the energy business (oil & gas, refining, chemical plants, etc), Since I live in The Great State of Texas, a lot of work was done easier by driving, although I flew a lot too. Long drives are easy here as there is a great highway system between the big cities and speed limits are 75 in most areas and higher in a few others (Zoom, Zoom!)

These days, I meet friends most every morning for coffee/breakfast, go on shopping trips, play golf, visit my daughter, take short trips to visit local friends, go out to dinner with friends, etc. Seems like each day I rack up between 50 - 100 miles on the car. My long drives in previous years were to Connecticut and back with some friend visit stops in other states along the way. I have one such trip on the plan for this year and expect to drive about 4,500 miles.

When DW was alive, we took several driving trips to visit her family in California and Wisconsin. My longest drive in 2024 was about 1,250 miles to visit a close friend for a few days in western Missouri.

I am used to driving a lot and have no physical issues to slow me down of hinder my ability. I also drive at night as I have no issues doing this and never had cataracts or other issues that would make night driving difficult. I do wear glasses, though.

So what's everyone driving on an annual basis these days now that COVID has passed (for the most part)? Am I an outlier here with my large accumulation of miles driven annually?

When I lived in Mansfield and worked in Arlington, I got temporarily assigned to our office in Richardson on 75. I had to do that round trip for about 6 months. That drive home on Friday evenings was insane and that was over 25 years ago. Fortunately, we convinced management that our extra driving counted as work time even though we were salaried.

The last thread on this subject, mostly "driving cost" related, was 9 years ago and some people were still working.

I am an 81 year old widower and I drove 19,500 miles between 2/2024 and 2/2025. Seems like a lot, but I drove a lot before I retired, and I see no reduction in sight. When I was working, I drove more, as I did engineering consulting projects primarily in the energy business (oil & gas, refining, chemical plants, etc), Since I live in The Great State of Texas, a lot of work was done easier by driving, although I flew a lot too. Long drives are easy here as there is a great highway system between the big cities and speed limits are 75 in most areas and higher in a few others (Zoom, Zoom!)

These days, I meet friends most every morning for coffee/breakfast, go on shopping trips, play golf, visit my daughter, take short trips to visit local friends, go out to dinner with friends, etc. Seems like each day I rack up between 50 - 100 miles on the car. My long drives in previous years were to Connecticut and back with some friend visit stops in other states along the way. I have one such trip on the plan for this year and expect to drive about 4,500 miles.

When DW was alive, we took several driving trips to visit her family in California and Wisconsin. My longest drive in 2024 was about 1,250 miles to visit a close friend for a few days in western Missouri.

I am used to driving a lot and have no physical issues to slow me down of hinder my ability. I also drive at night as I have no issues doing this and never had cataracts or other issues that would make night driving difficult. I do wear glasses, though.

So what's everyone driving on an annual basis these days now that COVID has passed (for the most part)? Am I an outlier here with my large accumulation of miles driven annually?

 

[Elizrogers]

The last thread on this subject, mostly "driving cost" related, was 9 years ago and some people were still working.

I am an 81 year old widower and I drove 19,500 miles between 2/2024 and 2/2025. Seems like a lot, but I drove a lot before I retired, and I see no reduction in sight. When I was working, I drove more, as I did engineering consulting projects primarily in the energy business (oil & gas, refining, chemical plants, etc), Since I live in The Great State of Texas, a lot of work was done easier by driving, although I flew a lot too. Long drives are easy here as there is a great highway system between the big cities and speed limits are 75 in most areas and higher in a few others (Zoom, Zoom!)

These days, I meet friends most every morning for coffee/breakfast, go on shopping trips, play golf, visit my daughter, take short trips to visit local friends, go out to dinner with friends, etc. Seems like each day I rack up between 50 - 100 miles on the car. My long drives in previous years were to Connecticut and back with some friend visit stops in other states along the way. I have one such trip on the plan for this year and expect to drive about 4,500 miles.

When DW was alive, we took several driving trips to visit her family in California and Wisconsin. My longest drive in 2024 was about 1,250 miles to visit a close friend for a few days in western Missouri.

I am used to driving a lot and have no physical issues to slow me down of hinder my ability. I also drive at night as I have no issues doing this and never had cataracts or other issues that would make night driving difficult. I do wear glasses, though.

So what's everyone driving on an annual basis these days now that COVID has passed (for the most part)? Am I an outlier here with my large accumulation of miles driven annually?

I was a big traveler when I was younger. And before I retired. Whenever possible I preferred to travel by car and I did the driving. Living in a North Dallas suburb, just running errands would rack up 50-100 miles a day due to the size of the MetroPlex and distance to events and shopping. I used to go to New Orleans a couple times a year, Oklahoma once or twice a year (cousins there) and still make an annual trip to family cemetery in Arkansas (about 500 miles round trip in one day). Now, that I'm retired, I only drive about 5,000 miles a year, even being chauffeur for many friends/neighbors who no longer drive, or can't drive at night. Changes since retiring in 2019: 1) I've lost a lot of travelling companions, 2) Acquired 3 cats I can't leave for more than a day trip, 3) Much less income which seems depleted just maintaining the house by myself now. So, less "spending" money, means more staying home, which causes less driving/traveling. Not what I planned for my retirement but I was forced to retire about 10 years before I wanted which curtailed deposits to my retirement funds that much earlier, so had to adjust. So, you do drive nearly 4x more miles than I do, but probably not more than other retirees with lots of out-of-town friends and family. I do envy your ability to travel.

 

[Out of Steam]

I was a big traveler when I was younger. And before I retired. Whenever possible I preferred to travel by car and I did the driving. Living in a North Dallas suburb, just running errands would rack up 50-100 miles a day due to the size of the MetroPlex and distance to events and shopping. I used to go to New Orleans a couple times a year, Oklahoma once or twice a year (cousins there) and still make an annual trip to family cemetery in Arkansas (about 500 miles round trip in one day).

Fortunately, most of what we need is within a 15 minute drive from home, and our furthest-away appointments are only about 25 minutes away. As I noted earlier in this thread, I'm still driving a lot.

But it's been a long time since I've taken a 500 mile one-day trip, to pick my daughter up at a summer camp. She's now approaching 30.

 

[Badger]

My wife has a 2019 Hyundai with less than 28k miles and my 2020 Hyundai just turned 22k miles. We bought them new and so far no mechanical issues. However, the paint on both vehicles went bad and had to be repainted. Hyundai finally agreed to repaint some of my wife's car but refused to honor their warranty for mine that had the same problems so it had to come out of my pocket. I hope they don't have mechanical issues in the next 5 years (56k miles and 44k miles). But never again Hyundai. Maybe by then we will just be driving around the beach in a golf cart.

 

[YellowSubmarine]

During my 37 year career, I drove on average 32000 miles per year covering the E. Midwest region. Now, I am lucky to see more than 8k/year and most of that is Ohio - Florida cycles. I don't miss driving, hotels or restaurants.

 

[Koolau]

So far this year, I've filled my gas tank twice.

 

[gamboolman]

About 12,000 per year ish....

 

[ls99]

Likely more miles than w*rking days. I don't keep track. Fairly frequent trips to Pittsburgh, trips to my camp, 50 mile round trip to go figure skating, often 30 mile round trips for coffee and....

Don't go to local coffee shop or greasy spoon unless on the way back from elsewhere. If I am going to crank up one of the vehicles might as well drive more than 15 miles, short trips are hard on oil, engine.
Spaking of oil, Caddy is getting one today, with stop at coffee shop, will be over 50 mile round trip. Heh, what do I do all day?

Price of gas? I just don't give a damn.

 

[COcheesehead]

I have had my new truck for 14 months and I have less than 5000 miles on it.

 

[COcheesehead]

So far this year, I've filled my gas tank twice.

I think I am exactly the same. Once in February and again last week.

 

[Koolau]

So far this year, I've filled my gas tank twice.

I think I am exactly the same. Once in February and again last week.

And I've only got about 90 miles on the most recent tank!

 

[CO-guy]

So far this year, I've filled my gas tank twice.

I think I am exactly the same. Once in February and again last week.

Same.