Splitting road trip cost with friends? (camping, rent, hotels, roadtrips)
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Hey guys, my 2 friends and I are going to take a long road trip (1.5-2 months) around the United States with one of our cars (too expensive to rent a car since 2 of us are a tad under 25). If one person provides their car how would you guys factor in their cost since after all they are putting the mileage/ wear and tear on their car (paying significant less on gas perhaps? - if yes then how so)? Would you calculate the pre-road trip maintenance/check-up in? Any advice is greatly appreciated.
Also appreciated is any cool destinations in the US that are worth visiting.
We are either taking a 2011 midsized SUV that's newer with less miles (48k) with documented history (con: gas mileage) vs. a 2005 midsize sedan with 100k+ miles with iffy maintenance
A simple method: every time there is a cost to incur, ask the riders to cover it, and allow them to determine what is fair.
ALL expenses should be split among the three participants evenly. I would not try to think of oil and wear and tear. Just accept those as normal costs of owning a car and don't pass them on to your friends.
Before the trip, get your car serviced (tune up, oil change, etc.), and that should also be split between all three people.
Tip: pick someone to hold onto the receipts for shared costs, and to write the names of those sharing the cost on each receipt.
Math aside - the key is to make sure your co-passengers know what expectations exist before setting out. It might be a good idea to give them rough estimates of their costs before you all get in the car so there are fewer hurt feelings/bruised egos later.
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See the National Parks, Scenic Byways of USA, and do a lot of CHEAP camping Free Campgrounds for RVs
When in SF, stay at Ft Mason Youth Hostel (near Wharf / Marina district) free parking and fun! EZ walk to most of SF!
For the 'car'...expense (Best to use a minivan (25mpg) or Camper conversion van (20mpg).)
Calculate a 'cost of ownership' and share between all. (usually $0.05 - $0.10 / mile on my rigs). Figure in a 20,000 mile ownership cost and amortize accordingly (tires / maint / insurance / depreciation)
I ONLY have diesels, so... 50mpg on FREE cooking oil (no fuel expense).
When we have done 'joint' road trips. We often cover 100% expenses / day and rotate who pays for what (this might not be 'fair', but can be hassle free and 'close' to fair) . One day food / one day fuel / one day lodging. then rotate.
With a trip that long I do figure you'd have to account for the wear and tear on the car. There really is no way to figure an exact value of the wear and tear on the car so I'd just figure out something all of you can agree upon. It could be the person providing the car doesn't pay for gas, or maybe he only pays for a much smaller percentage of gas than the other two. Ex. maybe the two friends alternate paying for gas for the first 8 fill ups then on the 9th the car owner pays, and so on. Something like that would work well I think. If you can't agree then maybe you need to find some new friends.
I would say, as a round number to simplify it, just exempt the car owner from the gas cost split. One person contributes the car, the other two pay for the gas, tolls, parking etc.. If the cost of the gas comes to, say, $900, each of the other two pay $450 each, instead of $300, and the car owner is saved $300 for putting in the car.
One person should apply ahead for a credit card that gives a hefty cash back on gas purchases., and put it all on that card. Another person can get another card, with cash back on hotels. Sort it out later when the CC invoice comes in. Don't use American Express, it's not accepted anywhere.
Another hint: Since one of the two prospective cars will be left behind, suspend the insurance on it while you are gone (if it's not going to be used by anybody else and is parked off-street). It just takes a phone call to your agent. Reinstate it the day you get back, another phone call. Could save you $100 or so.
You can start with the US IRS standard business mileage rate (which is based on an annual study of the fixed and variable costs of operating an automobile, including depreciation, insurance, repairs, tires, maintenance, gas and oil) of 57.5 cents per mile, and split it three ways.
After considering that, you may decide that renting a car isn't that expensive afterall.
My friends and I have a rule: if it's too complicated to determine then either forget about it or make up something (even if it's a token gesture).
In this case, I'd propose that one person provides the car (and insurance and any maintenance/repair that may be required on the trip) and the other two pay for the gas.
Agreed If you supply the car and are responsible for all needed repairs and any related maintenance and cost i'd think the other two members of the party should pay for all the gas,all other expenses on the trip non car related should be split 3 ways.
The most logical way to do it is to use the IRS mileage. Car owner pays for all gas, service, etc. Mileage is multiplied by whatever the current IRS rate is, divided by three and each of the passengers pays their share to the vehicle owner. Tolls are split three ways.
Well, apart from splitting gas and tolls evenly, I'd split any repairs that are needed while on the road, as well as your monthly insurance payments for the duration of the roadtrips. Going off of what someone else mentioned above, for general use, I'd just make up a number beforehand ($100-$200/person or something like that), even if its not an accurate portrayal of the use. Or you could do what @annerk wrote, but that way can be very pricey once you've factored in gas, tolls, etc. depending on how far you're traveling (and at a 1.5-2 month road-trip, I'd assume that you're putting at least a couple thousand miles on your vehicle).
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