# Lowest miles per year on a car? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 23, 2010, 8:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lowest-miles-per-year-on-a-car/530100 "2010-02-23T08:40:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Rico](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rico/32/3582_2.png) [@Rico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rico)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2010, 8:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lowest-miles-per-year-on-a-car/530100/1 "2010-02-23T08:40:04Z")
Inspired by [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=553235): What’s the lowest miles per year on a car you currently or formerly owned? I currently have two contenders: A 2002 Oldsmobile with 31,000 miles on it. So the answer for that would be 31,000/8, or 3,875 miles per year. And my trusty 2001 Ford F-150 with 56,000 miles on it. 6,222 miles per year. ---
**Author:** ![Dereknocue67](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6de8d8/32.png) [@Dereknocue67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dereknocue67)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2010, 10:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lowest-miles-per-year-on-a-car/530100/2 "2010-02-23T10:03:31Z")
2008 Toyota (purchased latter 2007) with 8300 miles. Averaging about 3825 per year. However, this may increase rapidly should the accelerator stick. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2010, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lowest-miles-per-year-on-a-car/530100/3 "2010-02-23T11:12:59Z")
My current car is a Geo Prizm 2001, 9 years old. Just recently went over 60,000 miles. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2010, 11:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lowest-miles-per-year-on-a-car/530100/4 "2010-02-23T11:15:28Z")
I inherited one from a great-uncle, which had been parked on the same spot for 6 years (the car, not the uncle). I don’t remember what was its total mileage by the time it went for parts, after being driven by Uncle (who only took it for the occasional Sunday trip out of town) by 19 years, then 6 years parked, 1 year in my hands and 5 in my brother’s. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2010, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lowest-miles-per-year-on-a-car/530100/5 "2010-02-23T12:16:50Z")
I had my great-grandmother’s 1987 Chevy Celebrity from 1995-2004. It had 89,000 when I sold it, 55,000 more miles than it had put on it the first seven years. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2010, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lowest-miles-per-year-on-a-car/530100/6 "2010-02-23T13:39:45Z")
1992 Subaru with 40,000 miles on it. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2010, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lowest-miles-per-year-on-a-car/530100/7 "2010-02-23T13:50:31Z")
My Dad has a 1996 Dodge truck with bout 12,000 miles on it. ---
**Author:** ![FordTaurusSHO94](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f07891/32.png) [@FordTaurusSHO94](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FordTaurusSHO94)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2010, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lowest-miles-per-year-on-a-car/530100/8 "2010-02-23T15:39:40Z")
If motorcycles count, my 2005 Yamaha FZ6 barely has over 6000 miles. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2010, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lowest-miles-per-year-on-a-car/530100/9 "2010-02-23T15:49:21Z")
Just to be clear, are these everyone’s principal/sole vehicles? I thought we were low - up until last month we had a 2000 Sienna and a 2003 Matrix, each with around 75k on them. Under 9k per year for a family of 5 drivers. Gave the Matrix to my kid and traded in the minivan. Now, my new daily driver has 45k on it since a complete rebuild in 85, something like 1800 per year. But I just bought it in November and expect to put a few more than that on myself. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2010, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lowest-miles-per-year-on-a-car/530100/10 "2010-02-23T16:02:07Z")
I used to have a 1971 Plymouth station wagon that I bought new. Traded it in 13 years later with about 85,000 on it, which is about 6500 miles/year. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2010, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lowest-miles-per-year-on-a-car/530100/11 "2010-02-23T17:19:35Z")
Just activated the insurance on my car with a 5k per annum max. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2010, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lowest-miles-per-year-on-a-car/530100/12 "2010-02-23T17:38:06Z")
I’ve only ever owned one vehicle at a time. The first was a 1994 Mitsubishi compact pickup. It had 78,000 miles when I sold it after 13 years and 2 months. That’s 5,900 miles a year. My current vehicle is a 2007 Ford F-150, which I’ve driven about 19,000 miles in 2 years and 10 months. That’s 6,700 miles a year. ---
**Author:** ![Snickers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Snickers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snickers)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2010, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lowest-miles-per-year-on-a-car/530100/13 "2010-02-23T20:12:34Z")
I have a 1985 Corvette with 38,000 miles on it. No, it’s not my daily driver - I store it in winters, so it gets driven maybe 7-8 months a year. In summer, I generally drive it all but one day a week; that last day I drive my daily driver Mazda just to keep it in good form. That’s a little over 1500 miles a year. ---
**Author:** ![Hakuna\_Matata](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e4f/32.png) [@Hakuna\_Matata](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hakuna_Matata)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2010, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lowest-miles-per-year-on-a-car/530100/14 "2010-02-23T20:33:47Z")
1994 Mazda Miata with 38000 miles on it. I purchased seven years ago with 9000 miles so I am putting about 4000 miles a year on it. It isn’t my daily driver in the winter but is in the summer. Our other vehicle is a 2004 Sport Trac with 80,000 miles on it that we bought new-- so 13,333 miles a year. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2010, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lowest-miles-per-year-on-a-car/530100/15 "2010-02-23T21:57:55Z")
I have a 1991 Mustang GT with about 80,000 miles on it, so that’s about 4,200 miles per year averaged out over 19 years. But it had 75,000+ when I got it, since then it probably only gets driven 200 miles a year or less. ---
**Author:** ![corvidae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/898d66/32.png) [@corvidae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/corvidae)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2010, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lowest-miles-per-year-on-a-car/530100/16 "2010-02-23T22:41:46Z")
I got my minivan at the end of 2005 and we’re not quite at 20,000 kilometers yet. I drive it most days, but the driving is very local - my job is close by and the rest is mostly carpools and grocery shopping. ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2010, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lowest-miles-per-year-on-a-car/530100/17 "2010-02-23T23:05:05Z")
I have a Mazda 626 which was bought new ten months ago. It has 4,500 kilometres on it. That will make it roughly 4,000 miles per annum. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2010, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lowest-miles-per-year-on-a-car/530100/18 "2010-02-24T00:22:37Z")
I got 8 cars and 8 bikes (depending on how you count em) and spread out my miles between about 10 of them. I guess the “winner” in this case is a 69 Ford that gets about 3 miles every few years or so. Same for a couple of 85 Yamahas. Since I don’t work, I don’t “daily” drive, but for everyday stuff I work most all the others into the mix depending on what I’m doing. I got a “family” car, good for fast, long trips. A “camper-hauler” truck, a “beater” truck for rocks, garbage and heavy stuff, an “economy” truck for small, long-distance loads, a Jeep for when I need excercise 😉 , sports car for fun, beater car for beater trips, etc. etc. etc. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2010, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lowest-miles-per-year-on-a-car/530100/19 "2010-02-24T03:03:53Z")
It is a little unfair to compare someone’s second or third car with the unique car in my family. I drove a Honda Civic bought in 1990 for 17 years and it had a total of 106,000 km (about 66,000 miles). I sold it in May 2007 and bought a new Honda Fit, which I have driven under 9500 km (about 6000 miles) in nearly three years. About half of that distance has been in 5 round trips between Montreal and NYC. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2010, 9:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lowest-miles-per-year-on-a-car/530100/20 "2010-02-24T09:23:18Z")
Mine was sole car for whomever drove it. The uncle simply was a “weekend driver” who eventually got Parkinson’s but for some reason didn’t sell the car (and neither his wife nor her sister, who lived with them, could drive); I used it to go to work 15km away (less than 10 miles); my brother used it to drive from our town to the town where he went to college and/or to the town where his girlfriend lived: they form a triangle 1h to each side, he’d drive it 3h most on any given week. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lowest-miles-per-year-on-a-car/530100.md?page=2)