How Many Miles Do I Need on a Lease?
Before you sign, work out how far you really drive. Use two odometer readings from your current car, or your weekly routine, and see which mileage allowance covers it and what choosing one allowance lower would cost.
Quick answer
How many miles do I need on a lease? Take the miles you drive in a year, from two odometer readings or your weekly routine, and pick the smallest allowance that covers it. The Federal Reserve calls 10,000, 12,000 and 15,000 miles a year the common allowances, and says you can negotiate other limits.
Source: Federal Reserve
Estimate Your Yearly Miles
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How to Work Out Your Lease Miles
Choose how to estimate
Use two odometer readings from the car you drive now, or describe your routine: commute, other weekly driving and road trips.
Go to the formEnter your numbers
Odometer: two readings and the date of each. Routine: one-way commute miles, commute days a week, other miles a week and road-trip miles a year.
Compare allowances
See your miles per year and over the lease term, the smallest published allowance that covers it, and what one allowance lower would cost at a published per-mile rate.
How Many Lease Miles: FAQ
Answers sourced to the lenders and the Federal Reserve.
It depends on the allowance you choose when you sign, from the options your lender offers. The Federal Reserve says most leases limit you to 12,000 or 15,000 miles a year. Some lenders publish other options: Acura Financial Services offers 7,500, 10,000, 12,000 or 15,000 miles a year, and Volvo Car Financial Services offers plans from as few as 7,500 to as many as 30,000.
Enough to cover how you really drive. Take two odometer readings from your current car, subtract the earlier from the later, divide by the days between them and multiply by 365. Then pick the smallest allowance at or above that number, adding any cushion you want yourself.
You pay a charge for every mile over your allowance when you return the car. Among lenders that publish a rate, it runs from $0.15 to $0.30 per mile. The Federal Reserve says it often costs less to negotiate a higher mileage limit in the lease than to pay for excess miles at the end.
Yes, with some lenders. Volvo Car Financial Services publishes a high mileage plan of as many as 30,000 miles a year, and Mazda Financial Services offers a High Mileage Lease Option for anticipated mileage beyond 15,000 a year. Expect a higher payment: the Federal Reserve explains that the lessor should reduce the residual value to reflect the higher expected mileage, which increases the monthly payment.
How this estimate works
- From your odometer: miles per year = (later reading - earlier reading) ÷ days between the readings × 365. Readings a few months apart smooth out one unusual week.
- From your routine: miles per year = (one-way commute × 2 × commute days a week + other miles a week) × 52 + road-trip miles a year.
- The allowance shown is the smallest published option at or above your estimate: the common 10,000, 12,000 or 15,000 miles a year, or the options your chosen brand's lender publishes.
- A dollar cost appears only when the lender publishes a per-mile rate. 7 of the lenders we track do; the rest set it in your lease.
Why more miles cost more each month
Vehicle leases include a mileage allowance because the residual value is based on the expected mileage, the Federal Reserve explains. When you negotiate extra miles, the lessor should reduce the residual value to reflect the higher expected mileage, which increases your monthly payment and should decrease or eliminate the end-of-term charge for excess miles. Excess mileage charges can range from 10 to 25 cents per mile or more, it adds.
Sources
- Common allowances: Federal Reserve, What you can negotiate
- Excess mileage range: Federal Reserve, End-of-Lease Costs
- Acura mileage options: Acura Financial Services
- Volvo high-mileage option: Volvo Car Financial Services
- Mazda high-mileage option: Mazda Financial Services glossary
Already in a lease? Use the lease mileage calculator to check your pace.
