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For me it's not about saving miles. It's about lowering the likelihood of irreparable damage to the car.
The car is in very good condition, 11 years old with 207-thousand miles on it. The more I keep it OFF the road -- (the less I drive it, period, for that matter) -- the longer I'll have it. My usual commute is less than five miles a day.
I was rear-ended in my last paid off car which was not as old and had viewer miles. And the insurance company totaled the car. I begged them not to. Sure I got a few thousand dollars for it. But that wasn't enough to replace my car and NOT have me go back to car payments. I was willing to fix the darn car myself. But they wouldn't insure it again for collision. And if I had used the totaled out amount to buy the car back, then I'd have to get a salvage title. From what I saw there wasn't likely and frame damage just my rear bumper handing off. I don't think that card HAD to be totaled.
I think they just looked at the car, age/miles -- didn't think about what was best for me. And just summarily said it was totaled.
My experience with all that just put a bad taste in my mouth about having a paid off car in damn good condition totaled and now I'm pack to car payments, when in my opinion it didn't really have to be that way.
This is an extremely good argument in favor of rentals also.
It is a chip that has/is spreading into a crack. I first said chipped, then I said cracked. And in fact it's the same thing.
Windshield has to be replaced. Even if it wasn't cracking, it would still need to be replaced because I don't believe in chip repairs, especially when they are deep and in the driver's sight line.
And you think if this had occurred on your rental car do you think you should be responsible for repairing of the windshield on the rental?
And you think if this had occurred on your rental car do you think you should be responsible for repairing of the windshield on the rental?
If this had occurred on a rental car, a variety of things could have happened:
1. Neither I nor they would have noticed the chip (most probable scenario, considering this has happened to me once before)
2. If I/they would have noticed the chip, they would have shrugged it off as no big deal
3. If I/they would have noticed the chip and made a stink about it, they would have either charged my card or filed a claim with my insurance. Even with this scenario, the amount of time I would have had to spend on the repair would be MINIMAL, compared to what I have to go through now (just for the chip, to say nothing of the other crap I have to get fixed/cleaned):
spend hours on the phone with body shop and insurance company,
take car to get estimate,
take car to get repaired,
wait hours for car to get repaired, etc.
Location: San Ramon, Seattle, Anchorage, Reykjavik
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I always drive my own car but then I keep cars for a long time and don't care about depreciation. The places where I live, cars typically rust away before they wear out so I might as well crank up the miles.
I used to rent a car for road trips when I owned a Jeep Wrangler (a TJ). A rental car was a ton more comfortable to drive long distances, and used a heck of a lot less gas which virtually paid for itself.
Lately I have just used my Charger as it is terrific for road trips. I also only commute 22 miles a week (I only commute 1 day a week) and as such, excessive mileage due to road trips or wear and tear hardly seems an overriding concern as I only have 9800 miles on it in 16 months, 50% of that being road trips.
Mileage alone cannot be assumed to be the cause of damage. City driving exposes your car to much more surrounding traffic with dump and construction trucks throwing up all sorts of debris. City roads tend to have more potholes than interstate highways. City driving involves parking more frequently where you are exposed to dings from other cars and things like shopping carts. Tight parking spots in the city can cause all sorts of inadvertent damage - low curbs etc.
If you are trying to avoid damage to your car by avoiding highway driving then that does not sound like a great plan. IMO, the risk of city driving is more than highway driving.
In addition you may have a really nice car and renting those kinds of cars are expensive. Rental companies are in the business of making money, do you really think they would rent you a car of the same caliber for cheaper than the cost to own it? Of course not.
Yeah, you can buy a Lexus and park it then rent a Corolla for a long distance trip but what is the point of buying the Lexus then if you are going to drive a Corolla? Makes no sense to me!
Mileage alone cannot be assumed to be the cause of damage. City driving exposes your car to much more surrounding traffic with dump and construction trucks throwing up all sorts of debris. City roads tend to have more potholes than interstate highways. City driving involves parking more frequently where you are exposed to dings from other cars and things like shopping carts. Tight parking spots in the city can cause all sorts of inadvertent damage - low curbs etc.
If you are trying to avoid damage to your car by avoiding highway driving then that does not sound like a great plan. IMO, the risk of city driving is more than highway driving.
In addition you may have a really nice car and renting those kinds of cars are expensive. Rental companies are in the business of making money, do you really think they would rent you a car of the same caliber for cheaper than the cost to own it? Of course not.
Yeah, you can buy a Lexus and park it then rent a Corolla for a long distance trip but what is the point of buying the Lexus then if you are going to drive a Corolla? Makes no sense to me!
I regularly rent mid-size cars for $10 a day through Costco Travel. I would rather the rental Hyundai get all messed up than my car.
The city driving that I do is a few miles back and forth to run errands, speed limit under 20 mph in all zones. Zero trucks, zero street parking, zero tight parking. Parking is in big spacious parking lots. No debris hitting the windshield or car, or people dinging my doors under those conditions.
I regularly rent mid-size cars for $10 a day through Costco Travel. I would rather the rental Hyundai get all messed up than my car.
The city driving that I do is a few miles back and forth to run errands, speed limit under 20 mph in all zones. Zero trucks, zero street parking, zero tight parking. Parking is in big spacious parking lots. No debris hitting the windshield or car, or people dinging my doors under those conditions.
I'm curious what kind of driving one does if they never go over 20 and never run into trucks. Must be all neighborhood streets. You are the definite exception.
No. I rent a car for vacations because the wear and tear already on my vehicle makes it impractical to drive on a long trip.
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