AAA: Driving costs increased 1.9 cents per mile in the last year
Every year, AAA runs a study which they refer to as "Your Driving Costs" which calculates the average costs of owning and operating the five top-selling models in three popular size classes: small, medium and large sedans. This year, the study indicates that the average cost of driving a passenger vehicle in the United States has increased 1.9 cents per mile in the last year; up to 54.1 cents per mile. High gas prices and additional taxes, among other things, have overcome the downward trend set by maintenance, full-coverage insurance and depreciation. Want to save some green? AAA suggests a pretty obvious option: consider choosing a smaller vehicle or a minivan over an SUV. The annual average cost of driving a small sedan is $6,320 per year, while a large sedan costs $9,769 per year. Your average minivan will run you $8,644 per year, compared to $10,448 for a four-wheel-drive mid-size SUV. Besides the cost savings, we'd be remiss if we didn't point out that the smaller sized car will likely include a smaller-sized engine emitting less CO2 into the air.
Want to know more? The entire report can be downloaded in .pdf form from this page.
[Source: AAA]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
GoodCheer 6:28PM (4/04/2008)
It seems to me that their metric fails to reflect changes in purchasing habits of drivers. Instead of looking at 5 models in each of three categories, they might look at the top 15 selling models total. If people are buying more small cars, that cost reduction would be better reflected as more of the top models would be in smaller car classes. While this effect may be taking place within model categories, it will not produce as dramatic (or representative) an effect.
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Karkus 5:01PM (4/07/2008)
Good points, Good Cheer.
I always thought those mileage reimbursements employers sometimes pay were kind of high until I saw this 54 c/mile number.
Our midsize 2004 Prius over 4 years/65000 miles has cost 27 c/mile (based on sales tax, depreciation, tags, title, comprehensive+collision insurance, all fuel and maintenance).
That doesn't even include the state and federal tax rebates we got(>$3000), which would lower that number down to ~22 c/mile.
And for those of you who would answer that I'll have to pay a few grand for a new battery every 100,000 miles (highly unlikely), even that worst case scenario would only add a few cents per mile.
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David Nichols 3:29PM (9/29/2008)
All I wanted to know when I came to this site was the cents per mile in regards to taxes. Then, I discovered a place that cared about a point of view whenever there is less ommissions the world IS a better place. I've studied the the truck's or car's miles per gallon as a hobby for years, but I'd never heard such a compelling argument, based on cost feasibility alone, that'd probably convince more people to come around to a smaller car, because you can't convince everybody about going green, but cost is convincing. I'd like to suggest a couple of articles, which I wrote that'll help everyone with their cost per mile by making their current vehicle use a little less gas: try a better exhaust system, magnaflow exhaust, or try an inspiring article about how to take an extra grounding wire and to get better fuel mileage: Jalopy: The Great American. If I may suggest going this route, because based on my experience in selling cars for a time, the most expensive thing sometimes is going through the expense of buying a new vehicle. So much money is made off of you, that depending on what vehicle you'd be switching to, you may just loose money going to a more efficient vehicle and be better off doing some modifications on the current car or truck.
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David Nichols 4:06PM (9/30/2008)
For my last post I suggested articles that'll help folks decrease their gas cost per mile. To find the Great American Jalopy article, which will give you a simple grounding wire, gas saving tip, come here: http://autobravado.blogspot.com/2008/08/jalopy-great-american_9076.html.
To find comments about a type of exhaust system that will help with your fuel mileage and only help the environment in the end visit here: http://virileauto.blogspot.com/2008/09/magnaflow-exhaust.html.
And, to read a general article on the truck's or car's miles per gallon, which may give you several ideas of where to proceed next in reducing your gas cost per mile visit here: http://autobravado.blogspot.com/2008/09/trucks-or-cars-miles-per-gallon.html.
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