Detroit leases 302 vehicles monthly for $151,190

The city of Detroit leases 301 vehicles at a monthly cost of $151,190.37, according to a document obtained through a records request.

Employees of the Motor City must drive Detroit’s 143 miles of roads to check plumbing, mow fields, trim trees and police the area.

Detroit uses a mix of makes and models:

• 120 Ford F-150s
• 119 Chevy Impalas
• 60 Ford Transit 350s
• 40 Ford F-350s
• 37 Ford Escapes
• 29 Ford Rangers
• 20 Chevy Bolts
• 14 Jeep Cherokees
• 14 Chevy Malibus
• 5 Ford Transit 250s
• 3 Chevy Tahoes
• 2 Ford Explorers
• 2 Ford Mavericks
• 1 GMC Yukon

The city owns most of the vehicles it drives, John Roach, director of media relations for Detroit, told CapCon in an email.

“The entire city Fleet across all departments is more than 2,000 vehicles, so only about one and seven are leases. The rest are purchased outright. Of the smaller group of lease vehicles, most of them are lease-to-own. But there are other vehicles that we intentionally lease for shorter periods of time because they need to be cycled out of service more quickly. Most notably, that applies to undercover police vehicles which can’t be used for too long before they run the risk of being recognized.”

The make and model of those undercover vehicles was redacted.

Detroit has a fleet of more than 3,000 vehicles, according to a recent press release from Mayor Mike Duggan.

The city employs between 8,000 and 9,000 people. Only some of those people get vehicles.