4-month stay -- Long term car rental? Lease? Use car purchase? (Orlando: rental car, real estate)

[TenerifeSharon]

Hi,
We've rented a house in Solivita (Poinciana) from December - April and are now looking to solve the vehicle problem. We live in Europe so, obviously, can't bring our car from home. Any suggestions from anyone here about a long-term (4 month) car rental, short lease, used car purchase (perhaps with buy back possibility at end of our stay)? Where can I start searching?

For that short a period, would it even make sense to buy a used car -- considering the price of insurance, tags, etc.? The high cost of Rental car insurance would be covered (if we keep it to 30 days for each rental agreement) with our Visa/Master card.

Thanks for any help or advice.

[Guntersville Boomer]

Why don't you try getting a quote from Enterprise Rental car, they do month to month rentals, someone I work with has one and it runs about $695 a month but covers any repairs/maintenance. You might also want to check with a company called "Car Maxx", it is big here and they specialize in dealing in used cars, ask them if they have a used car they could suggest that you could buy, drive for 4 months and resell back to them without losing too much value.

[TenerifeSharon]

Thanks for the 2 good suggestions. The rental situation is the most obvious one, and I have the possibility of doing it through a consolidator here in Germany - billiger-mietwagen.de: Mietwagen Preisvergleich (Meta - Preisvergleich) The prices are comparable to those of Enterprise, but would include full CDW, liability etc. If we rent with my husband (who is German) as primary driver, no problem -- I am not allowed to be the renter because I have a U.S. passport. Their prices are excellent (approx. €550 per month = $800) since they all all-inclusive.

Will look into Car Maxx -- might be a great alternative for the lengthy period.

[annerk]

The problem with a long term rental is that after 30 days, it becomes a lease, and there are legal technicalities between the two contracts, particularly in terms of insurance.

The best bet would be four back-to-back rentals. You'll probably need to swap out the car to make it a legal rental, but I don't see that being a huge deal.

[Mugatu]

Originally Posted by annerk

The problem with a long term rental is that after 30 days, it becomes a lease, and there are legal technicalities between the two contracts, particularly in terms of insurance.

The best bet would be four back-to-back rentals. You'll probably need to swap out the car to make it a legal rental, but I don't see that being a huge deal.

This is exactly right. I worked for a rental car company when I lived in Orlando and we had some long term customers like this. They would come in every 30 days and we would write up a new rental contract for them, and give them a different vehicle.

[cfIfan]

You may want to check out Hertz. They offer month to month leases aswell

[TenerifeSharon]

Thanks to all for the answers up to now. We are working on the alternatives and I'll post here when we decide on something.

[annerk]

SIXT has a terrible reputation, at least as far as the Orlando airport location is concerned. Additionally they aren't allied with any other US rental agency, so if you break down in an area where they don't have a location (which with only three areas with locations in the US, that's a lot of real estate), you could be completely screwed waiting for a replacement vehicle for days on end.

[mr&mrssunshine]

i think any type of purchase/buy back will be problematical with regard to license,nsuranc,registration etc.

go long term hire , it may cost a bit more but its less hassle.

one tip. dont rent at the airport . find an off site location
e have family coming down from Boston in March

if they pick up acar at TPA for a month its over 400 bucks more than renting the next day at local Hertz....I just have to pick them up, but it saves them a bundle. Hertz will do 3-4 month rnetal via the web

also check various country sites Hertz.com and hertz.co.uk give me differing rates ...and its always cheaper to pre-pay

[Alayna188]

If you’re buying a used car, you will need to check the general condition of the car. A poorly maintained vehicle could cause you a string of problems later on.If buying privately, used cars are usually ‘sold as seen’, so check everything carefully.