Yesterday my 2016 Subaru Crosstrek passed the 100,000-mile mark. I knew the odometer was close to rolling over, but I didn’t observe the magic moment when the digits all changed at once. I was too busy daydreaming about things I needed to do. The event made me wonder though how my odometer miles and driving habits compare with other drivers.
The Crosstrek has a 6-digit odometer that’s always visible when the ignition is on no matter which of the two trip meters you have in view. So there’s no good excuse for missing a 100K mile event. I was just leaving Allyn after a banking errand when it happened. A quick glance at the odometer showed that it was already reading 100000. I probably missed seeing the rollover by two tenths of a mile or so. The odometer now shows 100006 (see photo).
The Subaru is the seventh vehicle that has crossed the 100,000-mile mark under my ownership. That’s in 60 years of owning cars. Yes, I keep cars for a long time. Three of my vehicles went from 0 (or near there) to 100K miles while I owned them as I bought them new. One of those three (my 1999 Toyota Tacoma) has traveled 216,000 miles in all and is the only 100,000+ miler I still own except for the Subaru. Because I sold the rest of them when their mileage was between 100,000 and 200,000 miles, does that mean the Subaru’s days are numbered? Not right now. It’s easily the best vehicle I have ever owned in terms of features and money spent on maintenance.
Only one of the seven (a 1955 Chevy Bel Air) was worth a blog entry until now, and that’s because it was a collector car. Of course, only 5 significant numbers rolled over to 0 in its case unless you count the 10ths digit. But as the post about the Chevy says, with the six-digit odometers in modern cars, you have to reach 1,000,000 miles to see all zeroes.
So how do the age and mileage of my vehicles and my driving habits compare to American averages? It varies.
According to federal data, licensed drivers drive about 12,200 miles per year. I have averaged 9760 miles each year in the Subaru, well under the average. But if you include the roughly 2000 miles I drive the Tacoma each year, I’m almost Mr. Average on that metric. Higher gas prices—especially this spring—haven’t changed my driving habits although I think twice now about each trip I take.
The combined age of my two vehicles (37 years) is above the United States fleet average. Despite all those new fancy SUVs and gargantuan pickup trucks you see on the road, the average age of light duty vehicles (cars and trucks) is 12.8 years. That breaks out to 14.5 years for cars and 11.9 for trucks. The Subaru (at 10+ years) is in the same ballpark in age as other American cars while the Tacoma (at 27 years and semi-retired) is a grandfather when compared to other trucks.
Finally, let’s look at how my total mileage per vehicle compares to the U.S. average, which is roughly 165,000–170,000 miles on light duty vehicles. My Subaru with 100K miles is below average and my Tacoma at 216K miles is above average. When combined (316K miles), they are below the U.S. average (335K for two vehicles).
While yesterday’s rollover was pretty much a non-event since I missed it, at my age it could be the last time it happens in one of my vehicles. That is, unless I buy a collector car with mileage near the 100K milestone.
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