[SUX VR40 Rider]

It costs an average of $0.72 a mile to operate my Jeep. That includes everything involved with owning it and is based on driving an average of 10,000 miles a year.

I calculated how much it has cost me to own and operate my bicycle since 2001 when I purchased it. It is an average of $431.25 or $0.28 a mile based on riding an average of 1,500 a year. That is $0.44 a mile less than operating my Jeep.

I was using the $0.72 a mile average to calculate how much money I earned/saved for riding bike vs. drive my Jeep for commutting to/from work or running errands. Going foward I am going to use the average of $0.44 a mile for the amount earned/saved for riding my bike and not using my Jeep.

Because I was using the wrong figures to determine amount earned/saved by riding bike vs. driving my Jeep and not the average figure I should have been using, because the amount of money I am putting into my bike this year to get it in operational order and because the 2 amounts zero each other out I am starting with a blank figure this year and using the $0.44 a mile average.

 

[Industry_Hack]

Fuel, registration, maintenance and insurance for my car comes out to around $0.17 per mile. Giving away my Jeep was a good call.

 

[SUX VR40 Rider]

Fuel, registration, maintenance and insurance for my car comes out to around $0.17 per mile. Giving away my Jeep was a good call.

What kind of car do you have where that is the average cost per mile?

 

[Industry_Hack]

Scion xB.

Of course, I'm not including the purchase price, because I paid cash when it was new, and so I've never had a car payment to make. Doing so would really skew the annual cost of ownership, since there's no reason to figure it into my budget. I did forget to include new tires at roughly 36k, which would add about one cent per mile over the life of the car so far.

For what it's worth, my Harley probably costs me $0.70 per mile. But that's because it sits during the winter.

 

[SUX VR40 Rider]

The national average of $0.72 a mile is based on a large sedan. I figure my Jeep Compass is about equal to that.

 

[CTD50]

I never did the computations to the mile; I figured mine by the month, since the only real variables would be mileage-based, and you HAVE the vehicle every day of the month.

Registration, for my last old car, worked out to just over $2 a month.
Insurance (PL/PD) was $30 a month.
Regular maintenance averaged about $15 a month.
GAS, now... even at the gas prices back then (last I paid for gas for that car was $1.50 a gallon), it was hitting me for $50-80 a month! I didn't gas up the car the last month I had it, because I hardly drove it the month before; so, there was no need to siphon.

Based on that, my $2K bike, even with new parts, paid for itself over a year ago.

I like that....

 

[Industry_Hack]

The national average of $0.72 a mile is based on a large sedan. I figure my Jeep Compass is about equal to that.

So you took a random figure as your basis? That's rather pointless.

I drive roughly 9k per year in my car. Fuel economy varies between 25 and 33MPG, with 30 being easy to consistently maintain. Gasoline fluctuates between $2.60ish to almost $2.90, so I took $2.80 as my average cost per gallon. Throw in two oil changes at just under $30 each, registration is $160, and insurance is about $700 for the year.

 

[SUX VR40 Rider]

So you took a random figure as your basis? That's rather pointless.

I drive roughly 9k per year in my car. Fuel economy varies between 25 and 33MPG, with 30 being easy to consistently maintain. Gasoline fluctuates between $2.60ish to almost $2.90, so I took $2.80 as my average cost per gallon. Throw in two oil changes at just under $30 each, registration is $160, and insurance is about $700 for the year.

No, it is not a random figure. The Compass is considered a sport wagon and is about as heavy in weight as a sedan, 3,200 pounds GVW and costs about as much brand new, about $20,000. Mine has a 4 cylinder engine and gets about 25 to 30 mpg. The national average also figures in everything associated with maintenance, insurance, etc. Though I own it, no payments and the law says I have to at least have liability, I carry full coverage insurance with comp. and collision.

 

[Industry_Hack]

No, it is not a random figure. The Compass is considered a sport wagon and is about as heavy in weight as a sedan, 3,200 pounds GVW and costs about as much brand new, about $20,000. Mine has a 4 cylinder engine and gets about 25 to 30 mpg. The national average also figures in everything associated with maintenance, insurance, etc. Though I own it, no payments and the law says I have to at least have liability, I carry full coverage insurance with comp. and collision.

Seeing as how the advertised MPG is 23/28, your figures seem a bit high. If it's 4WD, the real world economy is definitely lower than that. (Edmunds long term test managed a high of 25.9 mpg, a low of 12.7 mpg, and an average of 17.3 mpg)

And again, this "national average" is pointless. Toyota gave me three free oil changes with my Scion, and I used to get $14 oil changes (with a coupon) in SoCal. Here, I can pay $20 with a coupon, or $28 without. And I get them closer to 5k than 3k. Based on those figures, annual oil changes could vary from $28 and $84. Insurance in SoCal was $1,500.00, vs $800 where I live now. And that's gone down as well. Insurance and registration vary widely by driver and state. What I'm getting at is that if you want to calculate your savings from bike riding, at least start with a real world figure.

My bicycles do not replace my car for any significant trips. Owning them won't save me any money. And I'm certain that there's no savings in owning a Harley. It may get slightly better fuel economy than my car, but it also encourages me to take the long way home from work. And it requires the high octane fuel. Throw in one good weekend ride with my girl on the back, and it's easy for me to burn more fuel through the motorcycle in a week than I do in my car. But it's worth every cent. The same could be said of the money I spent on bicycles.

 

[Nigal]

So you took a random figure as your basis? That's rather pointless.

I drive roughly 9k per year in my car. Fuel economy varies between 25 and 33MPG, with 30 being easy to consistently maintain. Gasoline fluctuates between $2.60ish to almost $2.90, so I took $2.80 as my average cost per gallon. Throw in two oil changes at just under $30 each, registration is $160, and insurance is about $700 for the year.

9K a year? Damn I'm jealous. I bought a new Nissan Cube in August and have 23,000 on it already and will have over 50K on it by the time August rolls around.

 

[wild]

last year I baught a Dodge 1500 crew cab short bed, with a Hemi, it realy will pass every thing bot a gas station, 16 mpg summer 14 mpg winter :hate:. it is a year old and has only 4500 miles on it. The bed is so short you can't put a bike in there and close the tail gate

 

[Industry_Hack]

9K a year? Damn I'm jealous. I bought a new Nissan Cube in August and have 23,000 on it already and will have over 50K on it by the time August rolls around.

How do you like the Cube? That's one of the cars my fiance' is considering. By the way, that 9k is only because of trips to SoCal and a couple trips to Vegas. That accounts for around 2k. I try to commute by motorcycle as much as possible.

 

[funetical]

Fuel, registration, maintenance and insurance for my car comes out to around $0.17 per mile. Giving away my Jeep was a good call.

??? If your trying to save money sure... but come on you had to sell your Jeep? I need a new car and I just don't want to let go of my XJ. I love it.

 

[Industry_Hack]

??? If your trying to save money sure... but come on you had to sell your Jeep? I need a new car and I just don't want to let go of my XJ. I love it.

No, I didn't sell my Jeep, I gave it to my ex-wife. Seeing as how I got the house, car, motorcycle, really big TV, and two of the dogs, I had no problem letting her have that can of crap.

 

[funetical]

Well your entitled to your opinion no matter how wrong it is. How did you get all of it? Prenup?

 

[Industry_Hack]

Well your entitled to your opinion no matter how wrong it is. How did you get all of it? Prenup?

Nope. I told her I'd get everything, and she could get out. We're on much better terms now. That marriage put an $85k hole in my savings.

 

[Nigal]

How do you like the Cube? That's one of the cars my fiance' is considering. By the way, that 9k is only because of trips to SoCal and a couple trips to Vegas. That accounts for around 2k. I try to commute by motorcycle as much as possible.

I really like it. It's small on the outside but big on the inside. I went from a 39mpg Yaris to a 30mpg box so that's about the only thing I don't like about it. But then again, it's got all the earo of a brick. It's built on the Versa platform and the engine is their oldest design so I don't expect too much trouble from it.

 

[Nigal]

No, I didn't sell my Jeep, I gave it to my ex-wife. Seeing as how I got the house, car, motorcycle, really big TV, and two of the dogs, I had no problem letting her have that can of crap.

I was going to say, "Nice way to get even.". You got all the good stuff and she gets an oil spot in her drive way. LOL!

 

[funetical]

I was going to say, "Nice way to get even.". You got all the good stuff and she gets an oil spot in her drive way. LOL!

It's transmission fluid but whatever.

 

[Industry_Hack]

I was going to say, "Nice way to get even.". You got all the good stuff and she gets an oil spot in her drive way. LOL!

I had put a 3" lift and 31" tires on it, so it had the death wobble. I kinda feel bad, but she wanted the damn thing in the first place. I couldn't stomach the cost of building another Landcruiser, but it still seems cheaper to spend 2-3x as much for a more reliable vehicle.