10,000 vs 12,000 vs 15,000 Miles a Year on a Lease

10,000, 12,000 and 15,000 miles a year: per month, week and day

The Federal Reserve calls 10,000, 12,000 and 15,000 miles a year the common lease allowances, and says you can negotiate other limits. To see what each one means day to day, divide it evenly across the year. The figures are rounded to whole miles; the arithmetic is in brackets.

Real driving is lumpy, so compare the monthly figure with a few months of your own odometer readings rather than one week. Our free tool works it out from two readings or from your commute and trips.

Which lenders publish which allowances

Most captive lenders set the allowance in the individual lease and publish no menu. These are the lenders whose own pages state their options, as each one words them. None of them words its options by body style, so for a subcompact SUV the same choices are the starting point; confirm with the dealer for the model you want.

Toyota's 12,000 is its low mileage lease and 15,000 its standard lease. Polestar's standard plan is up to 10,000 miles a year and its high plan as many as 15,000; Volvo's standard plan is up to 15,000, with a low plan of as few as 7,500 and a high plan of as many as 30,000. Nissan names its tiers in its rate terms. A blank cell means the lender's page does not list that option, not that it is unavailable.

Why a higher allowance raises the payment

Vehicle leases include a mileage allowance because the residual value is based on the expected mileage, the Federal Reserve explains. So 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. Volkswagen Financial Services puts it the same way: you can negotiate a higher mileage limit, but you will normally have an increased monthly payment.

The Federal Reserve works an example on a 48-month lease. Allowing 17,000 miles a year instead of 15,000 raised the base monthly payment from $244.69 to $262.67, and cut the end-of-term mileage charge from $1,200.00 to $0.00 for a driver who used the miles. Total paid: $12,945.00 on the lower allowance against $12,608.21 on the higher one.

Which automakers charge the least per extra mile

Only 7 of the 23 lenders we track publish an excess mileage rate on their own site or lease-end documents. Sorted from lowest to highest, with every other lender listed as not published:

Not published does not mean free. Under Regulation M (12 CFR 213.4(h)) your lessor must state the excess mileage charge, or how it is worked out, in your lease, so your rate is in the paperwork even when the lender's website never shows it.

Worked example: picking one allowance too low

Say you drive 13,500 miles a year and sign a 36-month lease at 12,000. You finish (13,500 - 12,000) × 3 = 4,500 miles over. At Toyota Financial Services' typical published rate of $0.15 a mile that is 4,500 × $0.15 = $675; at Rivian's published $0.30 it would be 4,500 × $0.30 = $1,350. This is arithmetic on published rates, not a quote: your lease states your own rate.

Some lenders let you buy the miles up front instead. Toyota Financial Services and Lexus Financial Services both say that at lease inception you can add the anticipated excess mileage at $.10 per mile, paid as part of your monthly payment, and Acura Financial Services says additional miles can be purchased at signing.

How to choose your allowance

• Estimate your yearly miles from two odometer readings or from your commute, other weekly driving and trips.
• Pick the smallest allowance at or above that number, and add a cushion only if you choose one.
• If you sit between two allowances, compare the higher monthly payment with your overage at the lender's rate, using the rate from your lease where the lender publishes none.
• Ask whether you can buy miles at signing, and whether unused purchased miles are refunded: the Federal Reserve says a refund policy should be stated in the lease.
• Once you sign, track your pace against the allowance each month so a shortfall shows up early.