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That's very good for you. But as I already explained, the (rare) road trip I took last week in my own car resulted in: cracked windshield, stained seat, dented door and hood damage from bugs. I wish it would have happened to a Hertz rental instead of my car. My fault.
If you return a Hertz rental with a dented door and a stained seat or a cracked windshield you will pay a HUGE price for the damage I guarantee it. So, it's no difference. You think you can get a rental car and bang it up? Good luck with that.
As for bugs, they are easily cleaned if you use the right cleaners.
I do rent a car for road trips because I don't put a lot of miles on my car and I want to keep it that way.
Why? Your car is still depreciating and your cost per mile is going to be ridiculously high plus you are not enjoying your vehicle. Makes no sense at all.
Say after 5 years your car still has only 25,000 miles, you will not get much in value for the low miles because nobody wants to pay that kind of money for a 5 year old car... you may get a little bit more but not much. Meanwhile you have paid a ton in depreciation, now divide that by 25,000 miles and you have paid some absurd amount for your cost per mile... so your motivation to save money or save your car makes no sense whatsoever because you don't do either. By paying for the rental you are effectively double paying - i.e. paying for your car while it depreciates and then in addition paying for the rental.
Why? Your car is still depreciating and your cost per mile is going to be ridiculously high plus you are not enjoying your vehicle. Makes no sense at all.
Say after 5 years your car still has only 25,000 miles, you will not get much in value for the low miles because nobody wants to pay that kind of money for a 5 year old car... you may get a little bit more but not much. Meanwhile you have paid a ton in depreciation, now divide that by 25,000 miles and you have paid some absurd amount for your cost per mile... so your motivation to save money or save your car makes no sense whatsoever because you don't do either. By paying for the rental you are effectively double paying - i.e. paying for your car while it depreciates and then in addition paying for the rental.
But what if he wants to keep his car for 15 years and needs to keep the milaege low so it'll last that long?
If you return a Hertz rental with a dented door and a stained seat or a cracked windshield you will pay a HUGE price for the damage I guarantee it. So, it's no difference. You think you can get a rental car and bang it up? Good luck with that.
As for bugs, they are easily cleaned if you use the right cleaners.
Done it many times. Varying degrees of damage and dirt and dog hair. Never been charged by Hertz or Avis or Budget.
Not sure what kind of road trips you are taking? I took my car right after break in period on a trip from LA to Vegas, since I have taken several other trips and my car looks practically brand new. Road trips did nothing to it. Why would it? I am confused. Damage from road debris and such is more likely in city driving than cruising on a highway in desolate areas.
On the contrary. My car stays pretty much immaculately clean and damage free in the city mostly parked at my house. No rocks hitting the windshield or debris scratching the hood as I drive 15 miles an hour to the dentist, car wash, airport, library, grocery store and back (all about 2 miles round trip from home).
After I get it detailed and repaired, it's not going on any more road trips, believe me!
I do rent a car for road trips because I don't put a lot of miles on my car and I want to keep it that way. And when driving around town by myself, my car stays clean. Add other people on a road trip and the inside doesn't look so good anymore.
I never used to buy the rental company's insurance until one time I was in a hurry and wanted to get the rental done so when they asked about the insurance, I just said "sure." Best thing I ever did. I rent through Costco Travel and my spouse is automatically covered as an additional driver through them. It just so happens he was driving the car when a deer ran out in front of us. The car was totaled. We didn't have to pay a cent and the only question the rental company (Hertz) asked is "Do you need another car?"
Now I get the insurance and I know I don't have to worry. If absolutely anything happens, it's covered. To me it's worth the peace of mind. I know my own insurance would also cover it, but there would be a deductible and it would just be more of a hassle if anything happened.
Chance of damage driving one mile to the grocery store is smaller than chance of damage driving 200 miles to grandmas house.
Did you take stats in college?
I am actually a statistician with a financial firm, so the answer would be "yes."
So since you want to get into stats; you have left out several variables, such as time of day driving, road conditions, type of road (hwy vs city), geographic area, time of year, how many individual trips, etc.
For you to assess if the 200 mile trip induces a higher chance of damage than a one mile trip, you would need to enter those factors. A simple example of this is the percent of accidents within 25 miles of a person's house, which is far more than those further than 25 miles. Another example is the number of traffic deaths between midnight and 5:00am is higher than outside those hours, despite less cars on the road.
I am actually a statistician with a financial firm, so the answer would be "yes."
So since you want to get into stats; you have left out several variables, such as time of day driving, road conditions, type of road (hwy vs city), geographic area, time of year, how many individual trips, etc.
For you to assess if the 200 mile trip induces a higher chance of damage than a one mile trip, you would need to enter those factors. A simple example of this is the percent of accidents within 25 miles of a person's house, which is far more than those further than 25 miles. Another example is the number of traffic deaths between midnight and 5:00am is higher than outside those hours, despite less cars on the road.
Like I said, there's a higher probability of damage the more miles you drive.
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