Triscuitmeniscus t1_jecrjf9 wrote on March 31, 2023 at 1:41 AM

Reply to comment by hawkiron in I make 42k and I work from home 4 out of 5 days a week. I signed a 60k offer onsite 23 miles there and back 45 min, 45 min back. Does this make any sense? by RemarkableCell1859

I don’t think the Fed mileage reimbursement rates are directly applicable like that. Whenever I’ve done the math on my used Mazda3 I end up with something like less than half the Fed rate. Maybe if I was buying a new $50k car every 5 years and getting $10k for a trade in it would work out that way, but I’ve always felt the reimbursement rates were set that way as a gift to employees who get mileage reimbursed or use it as a deduction. I’m saying that as someone who is regularly reimbursed for using my vehicle.

munchies777 t1_jed7tap wrote on March 31, 2023 at 3:57 AM

Yeah, it’s definitely way high if you have a cheaper used car. By those mileage rates, even after gas and maintenance I would have depreciated my used car 4 times over by now.

hawkiron t1_jeerl4g wrote on March 31, 2023 at 2:14 PM

Certainly it's based on worst case scenarios. Though even if you cut in half it's still a chunk of change worth considering. Keep in mind 11.5k miles at the median gas price ($3.50/g) by itself is ~$1350 with a car doing 30MPG. 11.5k miles is also a couple of oil changes, potential increase in insurance costs, and you're going to see a lot of general failures of parts after a few years.