How Many Lease Miles Should You Get Per Year?

The best car lease deals offer 10,000 miles yearly and a low monthly payment. But how feasible is it to drive only 10,000 miles per year? After all, used cars with an average of 10,000 annual miles tend to fetch much higher prices. 

How to calculate your annual mileage 

If you’re unsure how many miles you’ll need annually and how much it costs to lease a car with that mileage, you’re not alone. However, there’s a simple calculation you can do to guess how many miles you need for your lease. The same applies to a car subscription.

Miles driven per week X 52 weeks = Annual mileage

You can also estimate your miles with a monthly equation if you prefer: 

Miles driven per month X 12 months = Annual mileage

These formulas are a start, but having context to your weekly or monthly mileage counts can give you a more accurate representation of your annual mileage. Take the following example as a demonstration of what annual mileage might look like for a typical family:

This table represents miles driven with a single vehicle. Your commute is 25 miles one way or 250 miles for a five-day workweek. A weekly visit to the grocery store is only about 2 miles, and you might drive up to 35 miles per week between after-school activities, date nights, eating out as a family, or participating in family activities on the weekends. 

If we take the total miles driven in a week (342 miles) and round that up to 350 miles per week, we get 18,200 miles driven in a year from the equation below: 

350 miles per week X 52 weeks = 18,200 miles

If your lease only includes 10,000 miles per year, you’d be over half your mileage count by Year 1. Granted, you can supplement some of your mileage with a separate family car. However, this mileage doesn’t account for family road trips or summer vacations. 

Most dealerships and leasing companies advertise between 10,000 and 15,000 miles annually. However, some companies offer high-mileage leases with upwards of 30,000 annual miles. 

You’ll pay less for a short-term car lease with a lower annual mileage limit. However, high-mileage leases can help you save money if you know you’ll exceed the limit and want to avoid the corresponding penalty fees. 

If you want to avoid paying an excess mileage charge when you return your lease, paying attention to your odometer as you go can make a big difference. Most penalties are between $0.10 and $0.25 per mile, while some can be over $0.30 per mile. While that might not seem like much, an extra 1,000 miles could cost you between $100 and $250 at these rates.  

Short of keeping an eye on your mileage count each time you get behind the wheel, you can also try the following methods to avoid paying mileage-based fees at the lease end: 

• Estimate your annual mileage before you seek out a lease
• Plan your driving routes carefully 
• Use or rent a second car for longer trips 
• Purchase additional miles upfront
• Opt for a higher-mileage lease 

It’s difficult for most people to see a few years into the future, which is why FINN offers car subscriptions to better fit your lifestyle. With FINN, you can choose between several mileage limits based on a single year rather than several at a time. Instead of driving toward a moving target, you can accurately plan your routes within the year to avoid incurring penalty fees. 

The total mileage allowed for a lease depends on how long a lease on a car is and how many miles you pay upfront. Most 3-year leases come with anywhere from 30,000 to 45,000 miles. An annual limit of 12,000 miles puts 3-year leases at 36,000 miles for the lease term, which is what most leasing companies will advertise to entice customers with low monthly payments. 

You can lease a car with bad credit, but can you lease a car intending to drive over 15,000 miles yearly? Yes, through a high-mileage or unlimited-mileage lease. Unlimited-mileage leases can cost significantly more than your typical 36,000-mile lease. Many choose unlimited-mileage leases over paying steep fees for exceeding established mileage limits. 

Unlimited-mileage leases cost more because the leased car has a lower residual or resale value at the end of the lease. When mileage tends to correlate to additional wear and tear, excessive mileage means the car will be worth much less when the lease ends. It could need new powertrain components, major service interval work, or even a new paint job. 

However, the advantages of a high-mileage or unlimited-mileage lease attract many business customers. This type of lease allows a company to lease a car and then wash its hands of the vehicle when the lease ends. Leasing that vehicle can also tie up less capital, which is a plus for most businesses. While you’ll still pay for excessive mileage if you exceed the agreed-upon amount, many high-mileage limits cover up to 100,000 annual miles or more.

Figuring out how to get a high-mileage lease can be challenging, especially since most dealerships will charge you more if you are upfront about needing to drive further. However, you can still obtain a high-mileage lease and pay less than you would in excessive mileage fees. It’s a good idea to contact dealerships about high-mileage leases with an estimate already in mind. Note that the availability of high-mileage leases will depend on the dealerships in your area.   

Lessees tend to focus on the origination of a lease, but many wonder, “What happens at the end of a car lease?” Most leases end with one of the following possibilities: 

• You can trade in a leased vehicle
• You can walk away
• You can lease another car
• You can purchase your lease (if the dealership/leasing company allows it)
• You can buy a separate car

The beauty of a car lease is that you can walk away from it without any obligations. This arrangement allows you to choose your next move without any strings attached.  

The more miles you can get on your lease, the better. Estimate your annual mileage rate before you shop, and you can find a more accurate quote for your lifestyle. You can compare lease terms among several leasing companies and dealerships to find the best deals. 

Include a FINN car subscription in your comparison shopping. You can use the exact mileage estimates that you established previously. FINN offers 6- and 12-month subscriptions that allow you to estimate your required annual mileage more accurately. Indeed, limiting your driving each week or month is much easier than aiming for vague yearly limits.