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Been renting cars for long roadtrips for over 25 years. I baby my cars to a degree, and it is easier for me to enjoy the trip when I have a rental that I do not need to obsess about. I start to consider if greater than 5 hours one way, but our trips are usually longer. If doing lots of miles and can get a rental for around $250 per week - - it is a non-brainer for me.
I can see several reasons where renting makes a lot of sense and it is something that I do. 1) Size of vehicle is perhaps the easiest . . . big vehicles are expensive to purchase and expensive to put gas in year-round. If you only really need that convenience once, maybe twice, a year, then it makes a lot of sense to just rent it and save the money the rest of the year with a smaller, more economical vehicle. Trucks are like this for me. I would really love to have a truck, but really using the “truck” aspect of it a handful of times a year, does not make much sense from a financial point of view. 2) Long distances. As Zippyman pointed out . . . can I borrow your car for a month for $500? By the way, I plan on bringing it back with at least 5,000 more miles on it. Even better . . . I would like to borrow your car for a road trip for a “long” weekend. I plan on putting over 1,500 miles on it . . . here is $75. Would you readily take any of those deals? 3) People who lease. 4) Business. If I have to drive for business, I very rarely use my own vehicle. Even though I get reimbursed for the mileage, it is not worth it in the long run. I do this is even with a 30+mpg vehicle that cost about $20k new. The more miles that I put on a vehicle, the closer I get to having to buy a new one . . . not an expense I look forward to. 5) Pleasure. Sometimes it is just nice to drive a new/different vehicle. A convertible or sports car is a good example. For most people, these are expensive and impractical vehicles. Easier to just rent them for a day or two and not live with them all year.
tough to beat a $9.99 Enterprise rental (weekends from 'off-airport-sites') They will even come fetch you, or deliver the car to your door!
Just be careful with those off airport sites. Read the contract very carefully. Some will state only use in specific states (home state) whereas the airport sites normally don't have that restriction.
Renting always. For long trips and for short. I don't own a car. The perks of a city - walkable distances and all sorts of public transport. Once a month I rent a car to do bulky purchases. The rest of the month - light groceries. Twice a year I rent for long trips. All in all, it is cheaper than owning a car - neither having monthly payments, nor parting with a large sum of money at the outset. I am not ruling out buying a car, sometime in the future. But, driving new rented vehicles (my rented cars have all been under 8000 kms), it sets your standards high...
I think you are dumb not to rent if you are putting a lot of miles on. I have a 2015 CR-V with 35,000 miles. Whenever I leave the area, I rent. It's not as nice as my ride but I am not putting miles on it for a trip I could've done by air.
I usually do. If my own vehicle were to have a breakdown far from home it would be a hassle to have to find a shop, wait for the repair, possibly have to take time off work, etc..
With a rental I can simply call an 800 number and tell them to bring me another one.
That's how I approach it, too. Plus, it's fun to try out a new car with no need to keep it. For instance, I'd never buy a convertible but I got one once for a California vacation with my niece. We had a great time tooling around Los Angeles with the top down. I always buy used and usually choose rather utilitarian vehicles. So I enjoy driving a sports model when I'm touring, or having a nice car when I'm valeting at hotels or restaurants, something I never do at home.
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