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I have a Hyundai 2007Sonata with over 100k miles on it. I am wondering whether I should rent a car to travel to upstate NY from Charleston SC or not. The care is in pretty good shape although I had to put a new starter and battery last year. Just had an oil change and the mechanic said that every thing looks great.
So what do you think? Should I rent or drive my own car for the tip to NY and back?
I'd take your own car, since it's got plenty of miles on it already.
When I take long trips (1000+ miles) myself, I almost always get a cheap rental. It's worth it to keep the miles low on my car and to not have to worry about rock chips.
Rent. Splurge yourself. Have peace of mind. I stopped using my cars for long trips. No point adding mileage and then hassle with repairs. Rentals are cheap.
My son took his Mazdaspeed on a trip from Kent WA to Boise area. That trip ended being $2500 worth OOP, as car broke down and he paid mobil mech and then still had to tow her home. Not worth.
1: are you going to keep the car you have for a few more years, or are you planning on buying a new one fairly soon?
2: is the car you have now reliable? would your trust it on a long trip?
3: can you do some of your own repairs if needed?
4: do you have a good roadside assistance program if needed?
if you are planning on buying a new car soon, then i say rent something that you are planning on buying so you can get an real idea of whether or not you will like driving the new car or not.
when i went on long trips, i always drove my own car. the last trip my brother and i went on together, we rented a car because we didnt feel that the cars we had at the time would make the trip without issues.
One question is insurance. If you don't carry collision and comprehensive on your personal car the rental won't have it either. Unless you pay for it. Wrecking a rental is bad news. They come after you for loss of use in addition to damages. Make sure you have done your homework on coverage.
And issuing the blanket statement of....oh my credit card covers it with out spending 10 to 15 minutes learning about what your credit card covers doesn't cut it.
If you really want to know what you are saving by keeping the miles off of your personal car play around with KBB or Nada used car prices. Enter your current mileage and get the used price. Then subtract 5000 miles and see how much the value goes up. You might be surprised to see it really doesn't mater much.
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