Whats your mileage?

[Lappy]

Having changed employment earlier this year, I now estimate my annual mileage to be around 8K and 3K of this will be towing. At my previous place of employment, I commuted by cycle and this was around 2.5K per annum and my annual towing was still in the region of 3K per annum.
My fuel consumption whilst towing is around 17-18 mpg and solo around 25mpg. Too old to try and cycle to work now, due to the further distance and also not enough safe cycle lanes to use.

Regards

 

[SteveW77]

My annual mileage is 15000/16000 of which towing is usually 6000 miles a year

 

[colin-yorkshire]

hi Prof.
I have never thought the towing ratio of solo miles to towing was ever high enough to buy/use a dedicated tow car so never owned one. even from the early 70's it was clear the mileage ratio did not stack up.
I have never towed one on epic trips or used one on the continent where the overall mileage per trip would add any great percentage to it.
in the most part the van was used purely for holidays average 3 weeks a year. the other 49 being solo and out of the 3 weeks it was used for towing probably only towed for 4 or 5 days.
as a ratio for the average year it would probably work out around the 5% mark if my sums are right 600 miles towing out of a annual mileage of 12,000 it is more or less the average over the last 40+ years.
to be honest I never really factored in the towing aspect when sourcing a new/used car but thinking about it suppose it did alter the mind set a little as the car you chose would have to be capable of towing so may have been bigger than I would have chosen had it not been for the van..
this in the end increasing the overall cost of running the car and I suppose owning a van.
now retired my mileage has dropped dramatically to less than 3000 miles a year but dont tow a van any more so doesn't count.

 

[ProfJohnL]

Thank you everyone who has supplied driving data, but I must ask again to think carefully about the figures you have supplied because i have a suspicion they are all likely to be slightly over embellished. My reason for thinking this is It easy to forget that when on holiday and teh caravan is pitched, there can be quite a lot of running around visiting attractions, shopping, and eating out, Consequently when i asked for towing mileage I was really meaning towing and not just holiday mileage

Just to remind every I'm interested in your total annual mileage done in your car (s) and how much is towing.

Cheers

 

[Hutch]

Thank you everyone who has supplied driving data, but I must ask again to think carefully about the figures you have supplied because i have a suspicion they are all likely to be slightly over embellished. My reason for thinking this is It easy to forget that when on holiday and teh caravan is pitched, there can be quite a lot of running around visiting attractions, shopping, and eating out, Consequently when i asked for towing mileage I was really meaning towing and not just holiday mileage

Just to remind every I'm interested in your total annual mileage done in your car (s) and how much is towing.

Cheers

Prof, you ask us in a question about our mileage, and we answer, then you question our answers, many people do a 100 mile round trip for 25 weekends a year, a 2500 average . More miles than people think.

 

[otherclive]

John
Mine was actual towing mileage just slightly rounded.

 

[Tugger-Ian]

Having purchased a new caravan in January this year I have been recording towed mileage. Currently standing at 3750 and overall tow car mileage 10k per annum.

 

[SteveW77]

My mileage is taken from the Phantom tracker site.
This monitors the mileage covered by the van, not the car.
Two trips to the south of France plus a meander through Germany down to Venice or Vienna and Saltzburg not to mention the weeks away in this country, soon clocks up the miles. Surely that's the point of being retired and having a van.

 

[ProfJohnL]

Prof, you ask us in a question about our mileage, and we answer, then you question our answers, many people do a 100 mile round trip for 25 weekends a year, a 2500 average . More miles than people think.

Hello Hutch

I'm trying to drill down through teh figures, and it just occurred to me that some people may have forgotten that for a large part of their holiday mileage they may not actually be towing. I'm just trying to get clarity, but at the same time to enlighten readers into actually thinking about what they do.

My underlying idea is to try and get a better picture of the needs of caravanners in terms of tow cars. This stems from other threads where the government's proposals to eliminate IC engines in new road vehicles by 2040 means caravanners will have to look carefully at what cars are available, and to be able to weigh up the running costs of options.

We know that towing puts a lot more load on the tow vehicles engine, this is borne out by the poorer fuels consumption figures, But it seems that newer cars are even more sensitive to heavier loads, and the fuel consumption suffers disproportionately more than with many current vehicles. ( see the Volvo XC90 thread)

Being able to work out the costs of running both solo and towing will allow the caravanner to decide if a particular tow vehicle is viable, but the costs will depend heavily of the proportion of solo to towing mileage.

What I am acutely aware of is I wont be able to gather a fair balance of figures to be able to ascertain a national average ratio, because not all caravanners read this forum, and even less will respond, its only the likely to be the hardened few who are also most likely to to proportionately more towing mileage.

As you rightly point out there are some caravanners who tow virtually every weekend, which is perhaps extreme, but the other extreme may be those who tow just one a year, and may only go ten miles. But its my hunch that about 75% of caravanners will be doing between 10 and 15% of their total annual mileage across all cars in the household.

So far its proving to be quite interesting.

 

[Craigyoung]

And if the price of petrol and diesel keeps going up it's getting more and more expensive to go away !! Still do it though ! For a cheap weekend away we still looking at £4o in the tank - and that's not even full in the towing car !!

 

[colin-yorkshire]

Prof, you ask us in a question about our mileage, and we answer, then you question our answers, many people do a 100 mile round trip for 25 weekends a year, a 2500 average . More miles than people think.

Hello Hutch

I'm trying to drill down through teh figures, and it just occurred to me that some people may have forgotten that for a large part of their holiday mileage they may not actually be towing. I'm just trying to get clarity, but at the same time to enlighten readers into actually thinking about what they do.

My underlying idea is to try and get a better picture of the needs of caravanners in terms of tow cars. This stems from other threads where the government's proposals to eliminate IC engines in new road vehicles by 2040 means caravanners will have to look carefully at what cars are available, and to be able to weigh up the running costs of options.

We know that towing puts a lot more load on the tow vehicles engine, this is borne out by the poorer fuels consumption figures, But it seems that newer cars are even more sensitive to heavier loads, and the fuel consumption suffers disproportionately more than with many current vehicles. ( see the Volvo XC90 thread)

Being able to work out the costs of running both solo and towing will allow the caravanner to decide if a particular tow vehicle is viable, but the costs will depend heavily of the proportion of solo to towing mileage.

What I am acutely aware of is I wont be able to gather a fair balance of figures to be able to ascertain a national average ratio, because not all caravanners read this forum, and even less will respond, its only the likely to be the hardened few who are also most likely to to proportionately more towing mileage.

As you rightly point out there are some caravanners who tow virtually every weekend, which is perhaps extreme, but the other extreme may be those who tow just one a year, and may only go ten miles. But its my hunch that about 75% of caravanners will be doing between 10 and 15% of their total annual mileage across all cars in the household.

So far its proving to be quite interesting.

that throws up some interesting scenarios John. as there must be a point where a van is uneconomical to own and use. of course there is no limit as to choice. but still. if I had thought about a break down the actual cost of van ownership I may well have given up decades ago.

 

[Martin24]

Prof, you ask us in a question about our mileage, and we answer, then you question our answers, many people do a 100 mile round trip for 25 weekends a year, a 2500 average . More miles than people think.

Hello Hutch

I'm trying to drill down through teh figures, and it just occurred to me that some people may have forgotten that for a large part of their holiday mileage they may not actually be towing. I'm just trying to get clarity, but at the same time to enlighten readers into actually thinking about what they do.

My underlying idea is to try and get a better picture of the needs of caravanners in terms of tow cars. This stems from other threads where the government's proposals to eliminate IC engines in new road vehicles by 2040 means caravanners will have to look carefully at what cars are available, and to be able to weigh up the running costs of options.

We know that towing puts a lot more load on the tow vehicles engine, this is borne out by the poorer fuels consumption figures, But it seems that newer cars are even more sensitive to heavier loads, and the fuel consumption suffers disproportionately more than with many current vehicles. ( see the Volvo XC90 thread)

Being able to work out the costs of running both solo and towing will allow the caravanner to decide if a particular tow vehicle is viable, but the costs will depend heavily of the proportion of solo to towing mileage.

What I am acutely aware of is I wont be able to gather a fair balance of figures to be able to ascertain a national average ratio, because not all caravanners read this forum, and even less will respond, its only the likely to be the hardened few who are also most likely to to proportionately more towing mileage.

As you rightly point out there are some caravanners who tow virtually every weekend, which is perhaps extreme, but the other extreme may be those who tow just one a year, and may only go ten miles. But its my hunch that about 75% of caravanners will be doing between 10 and 15% of their total annual mileage across all cars in the household.

So far its proving to be quite interesting.

that throws up some interesting scenarios John. as there must be a point where a van is uneconomical to own and use. of course there is no limit as to choice. but still. if I had thought about a break down the actual cost of van ownership I may well have given up decades ago.

Hotels are for the people that can't afford a caravan :evil:

 

[otherclive]

After seeing the outfits at Harbury Fields this week I think your correct as our outfit is distinctly budget, but it does allow us hotel and long haul holidays too.

 

[Hutch]

Hotels are for the people that can't afford a caravan :evil:

How true, so far this year £145 new tyres, £ 175 service, £305 insurance, £225 new circuit board for the fridge, £ 850, without the cost of sites etc. And consumables.
Now, where is that hotel.
And Prof, towing mpg 25 to 28 , non towing 35 average. I only reset the average mpg before a towing trip, and then after. Be good to se what you come up with in the end.

 

[Dustydog]

Ok Prof I see what you want.
Taking our last Scottish tour I reckon 1500 was towing and 600 solo from sites touring. This was a traditional touring holiday staying at a number of sites over a four week period.
Holidays to Cornwall the caravan stays on the same pitch for the two weeks. Car is used solo most of the holiday. So towing is 500 ish and solo 600ish.
Whilst it's not my scene there is some advantage to the motor caravanner who tows a small smart car for solo purposes.

 

[emmerson]

Hotels are for the people that can't afford a caravan :evil:

How true, so far this year £145 new tyres, £ 175 service, £305 insurance, £225 new circuit board for the fridge, £ 850, without the cost of sites etc. And consumables.
Now, where is that hotel.
And Prof, towing mpg 25 to 28 , non towing 35 average. I only reset the average mpg before a towing trip, and then after. Be good to se what you come up with in the end.

Hutch, if we're going to drift into cost per year of owning a caravan, that is a whole different can of worms!
If you have a new van costing say, £20,000, how long must you keep it, and how often use it, to make it cost effective?
In my case, and I'm sure you're all getting bored with me banging on about it, but anyway, I bought my almost-40 year old Royale 19 years ago for £2,500. Aside from routine items (brakes, tyres etc) it has cost me nothing! (I service it myself). This equals £131 per year.
My insurers are quite happy to value it at three times its cost, so if I sell it now (and I have offers), I stand to make a nice little bit of pocket money.
But what would I replace it with? Nothing modern comes close.
(Check out the Retro Caravan Club UK; there's a lot more like me!)
Between the caravan and the Range Rover, I reckon I've had the best bargains of my life, and had more fun than I could shake a stick at.
Now that is value for money!

 

[SamandRose]

Prot, the towing figure I gave originally was actual towing (albeit estimated rather than accurately measured), not total holiday miles.

The solo mileage included business and personal. Over the course of a year it probably averages out at roughly 50:50 but the proportions vary widely from one month to the next.

My suspicion, which seems to be being borne out by the replies to date is that there won't be a reliable correlation in percentage terms between towing and non-towing mileages, because the variances in non-towing mileages are just too wide. As a simple example, I could change my job next year and the new role might involve less or more solo driving, but the towing distance would probably remain fairly similar each year.

If you're interested in mpg, my Passat (2015 2.0 TDI 150bhp) returns 50-55mpg solo (largely on motorways) and 29-32mpg with a 1250kg caravan behind.

 

[otherclive]

Prot, the towing figure I gave originally was actual towing (albeit estimated rather than accurately measured), not total holiday miles.

The solo mileage included business and personal. Over the course of a year it probably averages out at roughly 50:50 but the proportions vary widely from one month to the next.

My suspicion, which seems to be being borne out by the replies to date is that there won't be a reliable correlation in percentage terms between towing and non-towing mileages, because the variances in non-towing mileages are just too wide. As a simple example, I could change my job next year and the new role might involve less or more solo driving, but the towing distance would probably remain fairly similar each year.

If you're interested in mpg, my Passat (2015 2.0 TDI 150bhp) returns 50-55mpg solo (largely on motorways) and 29-32mpg with a 1250kg caravan behind.

Your mpg are not dissimilar to mine with a 170bhp 2.0 tsi 4wd Superb towing 1300kg.

 

[ProfJohnL]

Hello Sanandrose

I made it clear at the outset that the results I will get from this forum will not be typical, and there will be wide variations. That has be borne out but never the less the information people are posting is both interesting and it does have some value.

I only asked for further clarification so I can have a greater confidence in the information already supplied, and hopefully more to come.

I should also point out that this survey is not being carried out for any organisation, its just me and my peculiar interest in such things. However I am encouraged to see a number of posts have indicated its has expanded their own thoughts on the matter -

I wonder if the concept of looking at towing to non towing mileage considerations has already made a difference to anyone?

 

[Lutz]

Interesting to see differences between typical UK driving mileages and those on the Continent. Living here in Germany I do about 15000 miles a year in my own car (all of which are private as I am retired), of which approximately 6000 were towing this year, but last year it was only about half that. However, I'd have to add another 2000 to 3000 miles in rented cars when on trips overseas in order to get the total yearly mileage.