{
  "slug": "courtesy-vehicle-cost",
  "title": "Courtesy Vehicle Cost Calculator",
  "heading": "Courtesy Vehicle / Loaner Cost Calculator",
  "category": "financial",
  "url": "https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/courtesy-vehicle-cost",
  "summary": "The true monthly cost per loaner car, and what it's really doing to your margin.",
  "description": "A loaner fleet feels free once it's paid off, but depreciation, insurance, maintenance, registration, and lost service-bay revenue from the tech time spent shuttling and prepping loaners are all real costs that rarely get allocated back to the repair orders that use them. This calculator adds up fixed ownership cost, per-use variable cost, and shuttle labor time to produce a true cost per loaner-day and per loaner-use, so you can decide whether to keep growing the loaner fleet, cap it, or start charging a modest loaner fee on lower-margin jobs. Many shops that add this up for the first time are surprised to find each loaner use costs $15-$35 in fully loaded cost once shuttle labor and insurance are included, which matters when loaners are handed out on every $90 oil change instead of reserved for bigger repairs that justify the retention value.",
  "formula": "Monthly Fixed Cost = Depreciation + Insurance + Registration ÷ 12. Cost per Use = (Monthly Fixed ÷ Uses per Month) + Variable Cost per Use + (Shuttle Minutes ÷ 60 × Labor Rate).",
  "dateModified": "2026-09-30",
  "run_url": "https://www.revenuelab.fyi/api/public/calc?tool=courtesy-vehicle-cost",
  "inputs": [
    {
      "id": "vehicleValue",
      "label": "Loaner vehicle value",
      "kind": "number",
      "hint": null,
      "default": 18000,
      "unit": "$",
      "min": 0,
      "max": null
    },
    {
      "id": "usefulYears",
      "label": "Useful life",
      "kind": "number",
      "hint": null,
      "default": 5,
      "unit": "years",
      "min": 1,
      "max": null
    },
    {
      "id": "insuranceYear",
      "label": "Insurance per year",
      "kind": "number",
      "hint": null,
      "default": 1400,
      "unit": "$",
      "min": 0,
      "max": null
    },
    {
      "id": "usesMonth",
      "label": "Loaner uses per month",
      "kind": "number",
      "hint": null,
      "default": 40,
      "unit": null,
      "min": 1,
      "max": null
    },
    {
      "id": "variablePerUse",
      "label": "Fuel, cleaning, wear per use",
      "kind": "number",
      "hint": null,
      "default": 8,
      "unit": "$",
      "min": 0,
      "max": null
    },
    {
      "id": "shuttleMin",
      "label": "Staff shuttle/prep minutes per use",
      "kind": "number",
      "hint": null,
      "default": 20,
      "unit": "min",
      "min": 0,
      "max": null
    },
    {
      "id": "laborRate",
      "label": "Loaded staff labor rate",
      "kind": "number",
      "hint": null,
      "default": 24,
      "unit": "$/hr",
      "min": 0,
      "max": null
    }
  ],
  "outputs": [
    {
      "id": "costPerUse",
      "label": "True cost per loaner use",
      "format": "currency",
      "hint": null,
      "primary": true
    },
    {
      "id": "fixedMonthly",
      "label": "Monthly fixed cost (dep + insurance)",
      "format": "currency",
      "hint": null,
      "primary": false
    },
    {
      "id": "shuttleCost",
      "label": "Shuttle labor cost per use",
      "format": "currency",
      "hint": null,
      "primary": false
    },
    {
      "id": "monthlyTotal",
      "label": "Total monthly loaner cost",
      "format": "currency",
      "hint": null,
      "primary": false
    }
  ],
  "worked_example": {
    "inputs": [
      "Loaner vehicle value: 18000 $",
      "Useful life: 5 years",
      "Insurance per year: 1400 $",
      "Loaner uses per month: 40",
      "Fuel, cleaning, wear per use: 8 $",
      "Staff shuttle/prep minutes per use: 20 min",
      "Loaded staff labor rate: 24 $/hr"
    ],
    "outputs": [
      "True cost per loaner use: $26.42",
      "Monthly fixed cost (dep + insurance): $416.67",
      "Shuttle labor cost per use: $8.00",
      "Total monthly loaner cost: $1,057"
    ]
  },
  "how_to": {
    "title": "How to use this",
    "steps": [
      "Enter loaner vehicle value ($).",
      "Enter useful life (years).",
      "Enter insurance per year ($).",
      "Enter loaner uses per month.",
      "Enter fuel, cleaning, wear per use ($).",
      "Enter staff shuttle/prep minutes per use (min).",
      "Enter loaded staff labor rate ($/hr).",
      "Read your true cost per loaner use on the right — it updates as you type.",
      "Hit Share to keep the scenario or send it to someone."
    ]
  },
  "scenarios": [
    {
      "name": "Conservative",
      "description": "Lower-end numbers — what if things land soft?",
      "values": {
        "vehicleValue": 11000,
        "usefulYears": 3,
        "insuranceYear": 850,
        "usesMonth": 24,
        "variablePerUse": 5,
        "shuttleMin": 10,
        "laborRate": 14
      }
    },
    {
      "name": "Typical",
      "description": "Defaults — the most common real-world setup.",
      "values": {
        "vehicleValue": 18000,
        "usefulYears": 5,
        "insuranceYear": 1400,
        "usesMonth": 40,
        "variablePerUse": 8,
        "shuttleMin": 20,
        "laborRate": 24
      }
    },
    {
      "name": "Ambitious",
      "description": "Higher-end numbers — what if things really pop?",
      "values": {
        "vehicleValue": 29000,
        "usefulYears": 8,
        "insuranceYear": 2250,
        "usesMonth": 64,
        "variablePerUse": 13,
        "shuttleMin": 30,
        "laborRate": 38
      }
    }
  ],
  "limitations": [
    "Results are estimates before tax, fees, and inflation unless an input explicitly covers them.",
    "Rates are treated as fixed for the whole period — variable-rate products will drift from this projection.",
    "This is educational maths, not financial advice. Check anything contractual with the lender or your accountant."
  ],
  "faq": [
    {
      "q": "Should I charge customers for loaners?",
      "a": "Many shops reserve free loaners for repairs above a dollar threshold (say $500+) and charge a modest $10-$20/day fee below that, or skip the loaner entirely on quick services. That keeps the retention benefit on big-ticket repairs while not subsidizing $80 oil changes."
    },
    {
      "q": "Does a loaner actually retain customers, or is it just a cost?",
      "a": "It works best as a retention tool for multi-day repairs where the alternative is losing the customer to a shop that offers a ride or loaner. For same-day work, a shuttle or Uber credit is usually cheaper per use than fleet ownership and insurance carrying costs."
    },
    {
      "q": "Is renting loaners instead of owning them cheaper?",
      "a": "Depends on utilization. Below roughly 25-30 uses a month per vehicle, a rental or subscription fleet program often beats ownership once depreciation, insurance, and maintenance downtime are counted. Run both numbers before committing capital to purchase a fleet."
    },
    {
      "q": "What maintenance costs am I forgetting?",
      "a": "Loaners rack up miles fast from repeated short trips and get driven by people who don't own them, so tires, brakes, and interior wear degrade faster than a personal vehicle's average. Budget maintenance at 1.5-2x a typical customer vehicle's mileage-adjusted rate."
    }
  ],
  "related": [
    "https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/car-count-aro",
    "https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/shop-supplies-recovery"
  ],
  "license": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "citation": "RevenueLab — Courtesy Vehicle Cost Calculator (https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/courtesy-vehicle-cost)"
}