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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Op- We have dealt with this a few different ways. Our experience is different every year. Like you, we have had very conscientious APs who understood car usage to be a privilege, but also APs who felt entitled to do whatever they wanted with our car.

For the record, we have two cars. Our minivan was unintended to be the general kids transportation car, but since AP#2, we decided to not let APs use it anymore. They are just not comfortable with a car of that size, and after two fender benders realized it would end up being costly year after year. The other car was intended to be my car to commute to work but is now used for AP to transport kids and for her personal usage (except on weekend where we share). It’s a smaller car and I don’t care as much if it gets dented now and then (and believe me, it is definitely well dented now after 5 APs).

I don’t want to nickel and dime for gas and maintenance, and I don’t have time to write down mileage every time anyone uses the car. In the past, we have asked APs for a stipend for car usage (anywhere between 10-20 per week). It worked super well for AP #2, and everyone was happy. For APs 3 and 4, it lead to blatant abuse. I think the idea of having a stipend was misconstrued as ‘do whatever you want with the car’. One AP would easily clock 100 miles per day in personal usage alone (probably being the driver for every other AP in our county).

This year, we have gone back to not charging anything for car usage, but requesting to limit usage to 100 miles per week (personal use only, excluding attending cluster meetings and going to school). I also give more information about public transportation in our area (we are walking distance to train station to major metro area, and to two buses to smaller local centers), and encourage carpooling, as well as alternating meeting places with AP friends. This year has been great, and car usage has been a non-issue.[/quote]

Thanks- this is helpful!  Do they write down the miles each time they use it for personal stuff?  For other posters, I'm referring to reimbursement for gas only, not maintenance. That said, I do think that a policy that discourages driving cross-country or to areas that are easily served by public transportation saves on maintenance, is better for the environment, discourages wastefulness, encourages healthy habits like walking, diminishes the stereotype that Americans drive gas-guzzling vehicles everywhere they go, and lessens the risk of drunk driving (for which I have a zero tolerance policy).  [/quote]

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