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I just Googled this for awhile but got nowhere without filling out a bunch of forms. I just want a general idea----anyone know a ball-park figure for a decent sedan (Camry or some such) to rent for 2 to 3 months? We sold our cars to move overseas but may come back to visit....
Round-trip and we are retired with excellent driving records. If anyone has had any experience with this, I'd appreciate hearing about it.
Oh, I just realized we no longer have car insurance, so that may nix that whole idea?
Your price is going to be somewhat dependant on what market (location) you will be renting in.
Word of advice- Airport locations often tack on additional fees/taxes...rent local.
That assumes you have a vehicle already insured. And best to actually contact the bank/credit card and actually confirm what is covered and what is not covered with a MasterCard/Visa.
This insurance is secondary.
Only American Express offers - at an additional cost - and you have to apply for it - primary insurance.
Best to read up on what your own credit card covers.
Good advice. Since I own a few cars in the US I never stopped to think whether the coverage offered by my credit card was primary or secondary insurance.
My wife is actually a continuous renter and she opts for full coverage due to company policy. I checked her last receipt from National and it was $586 for a 15 day mid-size rental. The base rate was $35/day which I assume is a corporate rate. Maybe OP can negotiate and get a corporate rate since he's doing a 3-month rental.
My daughter works for Enterprise. I had a rental for a full month and paid $356 for a full size. I got her discount which I believe was 55%, but it was mandatory to use their insurance which drove the cost up. It is true, do not rent from the airport. It cost significantly more. I have a mid-size for three days next week for 62 bucks and some change.
One tip she told me was if you are renting from a tourist destination you can ask for a "drive out" discount. For example, if someone is leaving Florida in April, May or early June and will drive the car to a northern state, they will receive large discounts IF they know to ask about it. Some agents are kind enough to bring up up, but many won't bother. If you were going round trip, you could still get the discount if you were bringing it back in the fall when it the season picks back up in Florida (or similar). Another tip was if you know anyone at all who works for a rental car agency, ask for their friends and family discount of 10-15% (only parents/kids/siblings get the actual employee discount of 50%+).
As others said, it may be cheaper in the long run to buy a cheap, but reliable used car.
The issue with buying a car, is selling it at the end. If you want a quick sale, then you may not get a good price for it, and having the rental car (which wouldn't be a beater and would probably have been serviced and in good shape) might be easier and more reliable.
I know people who came to the US for a few months for a Route 66 roadtrip (they're from overseas), and they had a hard time selling their vehicle afterwards - they ended up leaving it with a friend to sell. The friend tried, but frankly, selling a car that didn't belong to her wasn't her number one concern, and she was a little annoyed about having to do it - the car eventually sold after a couple months, and for less than what the couple had been hoping to get (but it was better than nothing).
nhgirl1970 has some great tips. Also, checking with an agency that specializes in long-term rentals may be better than going to the short-term rental places (which I'm guessing would cost more).
You can find companies that specialize in long term car rentals aks short term leases. They do not offer daily rentals.
You can buy a serviceable car for about $2500. turn it around for a quick sale after a couple of months for $1000. Insure only for liability (obviously). Do not repair anything.
Out of curiosity, I went to the one site I know definitely allows long-term rentals: Turo.com. It's like AirBnB, you just rent someone else's car. You can also purchase insurance through the site itself. Here's a reasonable three-month rental.
I have done long-term rentals and they can be a bit expensive, but you can break up a longer period into two or three shorter rental periods with the major agencies if you are remaining in the area and exceed the maximum number of days allowed. I once had to switch four cars that way because of my corporate insurance policy and rental car limitations, yet wound up having a hotel bill that was about the size of a phone book. You do need insurance that is valid in the US, or you will have to buy the policy. I have also found that better rates are negotiated with the customer service personnel and managers, not the online quotes. For a mid-size, I would expect to pay around $1k a month.
I have Aussie friends who when they come for a visit do buy a used car and then sell it, usually driving from California to New York, stopping at many places between the two coasts. They usually buy a Volvo or Mercedes in the $10-$12k range, and have had decent luck, losing less in selling it than it would cost for a rental, including one they sold to my cousin who wanted a car to park on the street in Brooklyn rather than a third garage fee. For a shorter trip, two weeks or less, they do rent, however.
I have had long-term through leasing companies as well, who are not in the business of airport car rentals. With one, I was switching cars every couple of months because of mileage, but had a corporate rate for the car.
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That assumes you have a vehicle already insured. And best to actually contact the bank/credit card and actually confirm what is covered and what is not covered with a MasterCard/Visa.
This insurance is secondary.
Only American Express offers - at an additional cost - and you have to apply for it - primary insurance.
Best to read up on what your own credit card covers.
All these cards offer primary insurance at no additional cost:
Chase Sapphire Preferred Card.
United MileagePlus Explorer Card.
Ritz-Carlton Rewards Credit Card.
Fairmont Visa Signature Credit Card.
Ink Plus Business Credit Card.
CitiBusiness / AAdvantage Platinum Select World MasterCard.
Sometimes it is better to call your local car rental places and see if the manager or his assistant wants to give you a deal. I remember more than 10 yrs ago I got H3 hummer for about $900 per month from enterprise. It was a sweet deal at that time in NW region. I know people who got an Altima for a month from insurance through enterprise and the bill was around $1000-$1100 but they might have special rates for insurance companies.
Out of curiosity, I went to the one site I know definitely allows long-term rentals: Turo.com. It's like AirBnB, you just rent someone else's car. You can also purchase insurance through the site itself. Here's a reasonable three-month rental.
Thanks so much for all the good answers. I looked at this Turo site, and maybe it would work.
I wish my dad was still around. He always had a spare car or 2 he kept for relatives or furloughed missionaries. I guess he wasn't worried about them wrecking the cars....
When we spent a couple months in Hawaii, the car rental was more costly than anything else!
I can anticipate insurance being a problem, since we let ours lapse after selling our cars. We don't have the type of credit cards mentioned.
We had toyed with the thought of keeping our 22-yr-old beater Nissan truck, but where to store it, keeping insurance/registration, someone to look after it....and it wasn't fun to drive either!
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