It started the way a lot of modern mysteries do: with a number on a screen that didn’t quite make sense. A quick glance at the odometer turned into a double-take, because the car was showing nearly 300 more miles than expected for the month. His commute is short, the kind you barely finish a podcast on, so the math didn’t exactly… math.
When asked about it, he didn’t seem worried. He shrugged, waved it off, and offered the kind of explanation that sounds reasonable until you repeat it back out loud: errands add up faster than you realize. That might be true, but 300 miles’ worth of “errands” is a lot of grocery runs—unless the grocery store is in the next county.
Why 300 miles feels small until it doesn’t
Three hundred miles isn’t cross-country, but it’s also not nothing. It’s roughly a round-trip from New York City to Washington, D.C., or a few long loops of “I’m just popping out for a second.” On a shared car, those miles can sneak in one unmemorable drive at a time.
What makes it feel bigger is how personal cars are now—almost like diaries with seat warmers. We track fuel economy, maintenance reminders, and sometimes location history, so unexplained mileage stands out like a mystery charge on a credit card. Even if there’s an innocent explanation, the uncertainty can nag.
The errand math: plausible, but worth checking
To be fair, errands really do stack up. A five-mile trip to the pharmacy becomes fifteen when you remember the hardware store, then twenty-five when the line is long and you detour for coffee because you’re “already out.” Multiply that by a few times a week, and suddenly the odometer is quietly doing its thing.
There’s also the “I’ll just take the scenic route” factor. Some people drive to decompress, especially if work is stressful or home is busy. A few extra loops around town, a late-night drive for peace and quiet, and the miles climb without leaving a neat paper trail.
The new normal: cars are shared, schedules aren’t
Households have changed, and so have the ways we use cars. Remote work blurs the lines between “commute” and “midday escape,” and gig-style tasks—from picking up a marketplace purchase to dropping off a return—can expand what used to be a predictable routine. Even helping a friend move a chair or running something to a relative can create mileage that no one thinks to mention…