# How to calculate per mile operating cost?



## crowsandcats (Sep 17, 2015)

How do you guys come up with that 30-40cents per mile figure for driving the car?


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## UberMeansSuper (Aug 3, 2015)

http://www.edmunds.com/tco.html

http://www.masilabs.com/jcarcost3.html

Or just take the amount you spend on operating your car per month (fuel, insurance, etc.) and perform an estimate on other not-as-easy-to-determine things like tire usage and other wear on parts inside the hood or on the chassis (suspension, etc.). Divide that by the miles you put on your car per month. Boom: cost per mile.

And for kickers, add in depreciation!


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## IckyDoody (Sep 18, 2015)

Per mile:

Gas cost = (price of one gallon of gas)/(your average mpg)

Depreciation = [(Current Value of your car) - (Value of your car after adding 100,000 miles and pax wear and tear)]/100,000. Use Kbb to figure this out. It's not perfect, but it's better than ignoring the cost.

Maintenance: Take all of the things that need to be done to maintain a car, brakes, tires, oil change, tune ups, timing belt ect. For each one, establish the cost for repair and estimate how many miles the part will last. For instance, for new 50,000 mile tires that cost $500.00, your cost per mile will be (cost of part-repair)/(estimated miles the part will last) or 500/50,000 = 1 cent a mile. Do this for each and add them all up.

Insurance cost = (monthly premium)/(monthly miles).

Add these together to get your cost of driving per mile.

I drive a 2004 v6 Honda accord. My cost at this moment are (.13 + .06 + .05 + .01) = $.25 per mile.
Note- per KBB, my depreciation should be 3 cents a mile, not 6. However I've allocated some costs that might normally be considered maintenance to depreciation since my car is so old.


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## crowsandcats (Sep 17, 2015)

IckyDoody said:


> I drive a *2004 v6 Honda accord*. My cost at this moment are (.13 + .06 + .05 + .01) = $.25 per mile.
> Note- per KBB, my depreciation should be 3 cents a mile, not 6. However I've allocated some costs that might normally be considered maintenance to depreciation since my car is so old.


Nice. I drive the same car, but 2005. Did your year have the trans problem? Did you ever break the front engine mount? Thanks for calculating this for me.


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## Coachman (Sep 22, 2015)

I drive a 2008 PT Cruiser and my cost per mile is $0.24. I do not include insurance, taxes or fees. If I quit driving Uber tomorrow I still pay these. They are not a cost of doing business. I'm using Edmund's estimate for maintenance and my own figure of $1,000 of repairs for 15,000 miles.

COST PER MILE
Depreciation - 0.03
Taxes & fees - 0.00
Financing - 0.00
Fuel - 0.08
Insurance - 0.00
Maintenance - 0.06
Repairs - 0.07

Total - 0.24


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## IckyDoody (Sep 18, 2015)

crowsandcats said:


> Nice. I drive the same car, but 2005. Did your year have the trans problem? Did you ever break the front engine mount? Thanks for calculating this for me.


The only non-normal problem I've had with car is a blown out radio backlite. Apparently this is common in this model. I never had it fixed, I use a flashlight to see the radio station and climate control, lol.


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## UberGNVPartner (Oct 20, 2015)

http://www.extension.iastate.edu/AgDM/crops/html/a3-40.html


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## I works for no man (Apr 29, 2015)

I drive a Kia Soul. I figure between the cost of the car, repairs and maintenance it will cost 30,000 grand to get it 200,ooo miles and will be worthless after that. That makes it 15 per mile. Gas is another 15 per mile on average. 30 cents per mile includes everything and would be cheaper if gas is less or you own the car and do not have to pay interest. You pay this 30 cents whether you have a passenger or not. At 90 cents per mile and .20 commission you are earning .72 cents per mile with pax. After cost that is 42 cents per mile. Every dead mile almost wipes out an entire mile of earnings. Your earnings only begin after subtracting dead miles. This is not pretty.


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## Michael - Cleveland (Jan 1, 2015)

IckyDoody said:


> Insurance cost = (monthly premium)/(monthly miles).


Unless you are paying for a commercial policy - or a rideshare policy per mile, do not factor insurance into your per mile cost - since you are not paying any additional insurance expense to driver TNC.


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