How to Compare Tyre Cost per Mile: The Method, a Worked Example, and the Factors That Matter

How to compare tyre cost per mile is a question about value, not about price alone, and the only way to answer it honestly is to divide the price by the miles the tyre is expected to last. A cheap tyre that wears out quickly can cost more per mile than a dearer tyre that lasts, and a dearer tyre that lasts no longer costs more per mile than the cheap one. This page gives you the method, a worked example with every assumption stated, and a table you can use to look up the cost per mile at three prices and three mileages. All prices and mileages in the examples are labelled as examples, because real prices change and real mileage depends on the car, the roads and the driver.

For how to compare tyre cost per mile, the point is this: Comparing two tyres on cost per mile only works if the comparison is like-for-like, and that means holding the mileage constant. The method is simple: take the price of each tyre, divide it by the same assumed mileage, and the lower cost per mile is the better value on the numbers. Change the assumed mileage for one tyre and not the other, and the comparison stops meaning anything, because the answer will follow the assumption rather than the tyres. The table on this page uses the same three mileages for every price, so the comparison stays honest at each end of the range.

The cost-per-mile formula — how to compare tyre cost per mile

On this page, how to compare tyre cost per mile is the case in point: The formula is cost per mile equals tyre price divided by expected mileage. For a set of four, divide the price of all four by the total miles, which gives the same answer as working out one tyre and multiplying by four. The formula looks trivial, and it is, but the discipline is in the inputs: the price must be the price you actually pay, and the mileage must be an estimate you are willing to defend, stated openly rather than hidden. A cost per mile quoted without its price and mileage is a number without a meaning, and it should not be used to compare tyres.

How to compare tyres on cost per mile — how to compare tyre cost per mile

On this page, how to compare tyre cost per mile is the case in point: The comparison also has to count what the formula leaves out. Wet grip, braking distance, noise and comfort do not appear in a pence-per-mile figure, and a tyre that is cheapest per mile is not automatically the best tyre for the car. A tyre with poor wet grip can be cheap per mile and still be the wrong choice, because the cost that matters in the wet is not measured in pence. Read the cost per mile as one input to the decision, alongside the label ratings and the conditions the tyre will face.

Worked example — how to compare tyre cost per mile

For how to compare tyre cost per mile, the point is this: Take a tyre that costs £130 as an example price, with an assumed mileage of 30,000 miles. The cost per mile is £130 divided by 30,000 miles, which is £0.0043 per mile, or 0.43p per mile. A set of four at the same example price costs £520, and over the same 30,000 miles the set costs 1.73p per mile for all four tyres together. Over 12,000 miles a year, one tyre at this cost per mile would cost £52.00 in tyre wear for the year, and a set of four would cost £208.00. Change the price or the mileage and the answer moves with it, which is exactly what the table below shows.

Tyre price (example) 20,000 miles 30,000 miles 40,000 miles
£90 0.45p 0.30p 0.23p
£130 0.65p 0.43p 0.33p
£205 1.02p 0.68p 0.51p

The table uses example prices only. Read across a row to see how the cost per mile falls as the assumed mileage rises, and read down a column to see how it rises with the price. The comparison is only valid within a column, because each column holds the mileage constant. That is the point this page works through for how to compare tyre cost per mile.

What changes the cost per mile — how to compare tyre cost per mile

For how to compare tyre cost per mile, the point is this: The worked example on this page shows the sensitivity directly. At a short assumed mileage, the difference between a cheap tyre and a dearer one is small in pence per mile; at a long assumed mileage, the dearer tyre's extra life has more miles to spread its price over, and the gap can reverse. That is why the table shows three mileages instead of one: the answer to which tyre is cheaper per mile can change with the mileage you assume, and a buyer who only checks one mileage can reach the wrong conclusion.

  • On this page, how to compare tyre cost per mile is the case in point: Purchase price: the starting point of the calculation, and the only part that is fixed at the till.
  • Taking how to compare tyre cost per mile as the case in point: Expected mileage: the divisor, and the part that varies most — it depends on driving, pressure, alignment, load and road surface.
  • For how to compare tyre cost per mile, the point is this: Driving style: hard acceleration and braking wear tread faster and push the cost per mile up.
  • For how to compare tyre cost per mile, the point is this: Tyre pressure: under-inflated tyres wear their shoulders and can lose thousands of miles of life.
  • On this page, how to compare tyre cost per mile is the case in point: Alignment: a car that scrubs its tyres on one edge wastes tread that should have been miles.
  • On this page, how to compare tyre cost per mile is the case in point: Load: a heavily loaded car, or one that tows, wears its tyres faster than the same car running light.

Common mistakes — how to compare tyre cost per mile

  • Taking how to compare tyre cost per mile as the case in point: Comparing two tyres using different assumed mileages, so the cheaper result is an artefact of the assumptions rather than the tyres.
  • For how to compare tyre cost per mile, the point is this: Quoting a tyre's mileage as a fact, when it is an estimate that depends on the car, the roads and the driver.
  • For how to compare tyre cost per mile, the point is this: Forgetting that a set of four costs four times one tyre, and dividing the single-tyre price by the mileage of the set.
  • Leaving fitting and balancing out of one tyre's figure and including them in another's, so the comparison is not like-for-like. That is the point this page works through for how to compare tyre cost per mile.

How to compare two tyres on cost per mile — how to compare tyre cost per mile

On this page, how to compare tyre cost per mile is the case in point: Work out each tyre's cost per mile with the same assumed mileage, using the price you were actually quoted for each one. Then test the sensitivity: what happens if the dearer tyre lasts 25 percent longer, and what happens if it lasts no longer at all? If the dearer tyre only wins when you assume a much longer life, ask whether that longer life is plausible for your car and your driving. Check the label ratings for wet grip, fuel efficiency and noise at the same time, because the cheapest tyre per mile is not automatically the best tyre for the car. Finally, remember that fitting, balancing and disposal are real costs too — include them in both tyres' figures or in neither, but never in only one.

Related calculations — how to compare tyre cost per mile

Frequently asked questions

How do I work out the cost per mile of a tyre?

On this page, how to compare tyre cost per mile is the case in point: Divide the price of the tyre by the number of miles you expect it to last. For example, a tyre that costs £120 as an example price and lasts 30,000 miles as an assumed mileage costs 0.40p per mile. For a set of four, divide the price of all four by the total miles, or work out one tyre and multiply by four. Always state the price and the mileage you assumed, because the answer changes with both.

What mileage should I assume for a tyre?

There is no fixed figure, because mileage depends on the tyre, the car, the roads, the pressures and how the car is driven. Use a range rather than a single number — the table on this page shows three mileages — and pick the one that matches your driving. A tyre's real-world mileage is never a fact you can quote; it is an estimate that the method tests. That is the point this page works through for how to compare tyre cost per mile.

Is a more expensive tyre cheaper per mile?

For how to compare tyre cost per mile, the point is this: It can be, if it lasts long enough to make up the higher price. Divide each tyre's price by the same assumed mileage and compare the results directly. A dearer tyre that lasts half as long again can cost less per mile than a cheap tyre that wears out early, while a dearer tyre that lasts no longer costs more per mile.

Does the cost per mile include fitting?

Taking how to compare tyre cost per mile as the case in point: The simple formula uses the tyre price alone, so fitting, balancing and any valves or disposal charges are not in it. If you want a fuller figure, add the fitting cost to the tyre price before dividing by the mileage, and say that you have done so. Comparing a fitted price with an unfitted price will give a misleading answer.

For how to compare tyre cost per mile, why do two identical tyres cost different amounts per mile?

On this page, how to compare tyre cost per mile is the case in point: Because the mileage is different. Pressure, alignment, load, road surface and driving style all change how long a tyre lasts, and the same tyre on two cars can wear at very different rates. That is why the cost per mile is a method with stated assumptions, not a property of the tyre itself.