Renting a car for long trip... Good or Bad idea? (rental car, coupon)

[Keeros318]

I'm considering renting a car for a trip to NY in November. I simply don't want to put the mileage on my car. I've never rented a car for a round-trip this long, and was wondering if I'm overlooking any issues or problems with doing so. Normally, I get "unlimited" miles when I rent a car, but the round-trip to NY is ~1,200 miles. I'm just wondering if anyone else has done this before. Not necessarily to NY, but anywhere. If so, what was your experience like?

[carolinadawg2]

I do it every year to go visit my wife's family in Pennsylvania at Thanksgiving. Works great. Enterprise is usually the most convenient because they have non-airport locations, but some others do too. Just check the hours of operation for the location you use, so you don't try to return the car at 7:00 PM, when they close at 6:00 PM, for example.

Sometimes its cheaper to rent for an entire week, as opposed to 4 or 5 days, so play around with the dates. I usually use priceline.com

[Keeros318]

Originally Posted by carolinadawg2

I do it every year to go visit my wife's family in Pennsylvania at Thanksgiving. Works great. Enterprise is usually the most convenient because they have non-airport locations, but some others do too. Just check the hours of operation for the location you use, so you don't try to return the car at 7:00 PM, when they close at 6:00 PM, for example.

Sometimes its cheaper to rent for an entire week, as opposed to 4 or 5 days, so play around with the dates. I usually use priceline.com

Thanks for the feedback!! I am planning to visit my family for Thanksgiving this year and am strongly considering the rental. I am also going thru Priceline. Thanks for the tips you mentioned above. Will definitely keep it in mind.

[GoPhils]

I do it often for the same reason of not wanting to put the miles on my own car. Taxes are usually lower at non-airport locations.

I have to use Avis for work so not sure how different the others are but I believe in most cases as long as you pick up and drop off from the same place you get unlimited miles.

Only concern of course is if anything happens to the car. I know most people say not to get the insurance. Many credit cards actually include some rental car insurance if you use it to pay for the rental, so you would probably want to check on that.

[Keeros318]

Originally Posted by GoPhils

I do it often for the same reason of not wanting to put the miles on my own car. Taxes are usually lower at non-airport locations.

I have to use Avis for work so not sure how different the others are but I believe in most cases as long as you pick up and drop off from the same place you get unlimited miles.

Only concern of course is if anything happens to the car. I know most people say not to get the insurance. Many credit cards actually include some rental car insurance if you use it to pay for the rental, so you would probably want to check on that.

Thanks for the feedback!! I checked with my personal insurance company (Allstate) and they confirmed that I would be covered on rentals under my full coverage policy.

[Feltdesigner]

I used to do it all the time. Once my car is older I will do it again. Why put miles on an older car when you can rent one? Especially if heading north on the winter

[Wolf Howl]

I look at it a little differently. If I need a larger vehicle, or different vehicle type than what I own for the trip, then I will rent. But, if my normal vehicle fits the needs than I'd rather pocket the $300+ that a rental would cost for the week, plus the time to get it to the rental office/paperwork/etc and use my own. A vehicle is a depreciating asset regardless of whether I put those 1200 miles on it this week or next week.

Certainly if your car might not mechanically be up to the challenge than that's a different story for sure.

[thepalmtrees]

Like wolf said, you won't be putting a full $300 (cost of the rental) in wear and tear and depreciation I'm sure, unless your car is already on the brink. So it would be more expensive to rent a car.

[momtothree]

Last time I rented a car from enterprise, the unlimited mileage was only for SC, GA and Virginia. I happened to be going to Atlanta so it wasn't a big deal. But the salesperson did say if I went out of those states, I would have to pay for mileage and other fees. So clarify with them if the unlimited mileage apply to a road trip to NY.

[Feltdesigner]

Originally Posted by momtothree

Last time I rented a car from enterprise, the unlimited mileage was only for SC, GA and Virginia. I happened to be going to Atlanta so it wasn't a big deal. But the salesperson did say if I went out of those states, I would have to pay for mileage and other fees. So clarify with them if the unlimited mileage apply to a road trip to NY.

This is why I use Budget. Unlimited miles in any state and I can usually find a 20% off coupon on retailmenot.com