Rent or own a car?

[grebel]

Does anyone know of a calculator or formula that could help me with this dilemma? Currently my wife and I live without a car just fine(public transportation + biking in a city FTW). We currently rent a car 1-2 times a month for weekend trips outside of the city or for camping. We budget $175 a month to cover rentals and gas. normally we use less than this, but sometimes (never can figure it out) rentals are more expensive and we need the full amount or dip it the accrued extra. Would it be cheaper for me to buy a car mustachian style (older car, small size, good gas mileage) or continue to rent? Note that other than the weekend trips, the car would mostly sit idle (though I may consider putting it up for rent on relay rides or something similar).

Thanks for the help!

[Grog]

Hi! I'm living like you and at this moment I would never buy a car because there is a time cost associated to it, don't forget to consider that. If you rent you never have to change oil, tires and such. You never spend time on the Internet looking for some diy repair or for the cheapest insurance. You don't have to clean up your driveway/parkway from snow. You go pick it up and give it back, no stress and time consumed. Just value these things in your calculations, that are a little bit more difficult to give a cost.

[skunkfunk]

You are doing it right. A cheap car at $2k will accrue maintenance costs per mile, true, but you are paying insurance per time, not miles. Figure 50 a month for insurance, however much you spend on gas, and a set of tires every 6 years and you're already ahead with the rental before even figuring depreciation and other maintenance.

My 2 cents.

[GumbyPickles]

Probably not at $2,000/yr for rentals.  However, that's probably a hassle, so there's some extra money there too

[Beric01]

1-2 times per month? No way you want to own a car. Just check out one of the numerous car-sharing companies. At 1-2 times per month, you could practically hire a cab!

Hi! I'm living like you and at this moment I would never buy a car because there is a time cost associated to it, don't forget to consider that. If you rent you never have to change oil, tires and such. You never spend time on the Internet looking for some diy repair or for the cheapest insurance. You don't have to clean up your driveway/parkway from snow. You go pick it up and give it back, no stress and time consumed. Just value these things in your calculations, that are a little bit more difficult to give a cost.

I really have to agree with this perspective. With no car I have less stress and anxiety. I don't have to worry about parking in an illegal spot, or even regular maintenance. I don't need to worry about buying gas or the cost of gas. My bike is the only thing I have to take care of, and if that has an issue I can just use mass transportation. Repairs to a bike are also much cheaper than a car.

I need a car more like 1-2 times a year, and I can normally just catch a ride with others, or plan ahead (even take a flight if necessary). But a car rental or taxi would be fine with me if needed.

[grebel]

Thanks for all the input! its easy to just focus on the cost of the vehicle + insurance and gas and not think about repairs, etc.

Car share services are abundant around here, but not really useful for our purposes. They're mostly designed for around town driving, including limits on mileage, etc, whereas when we use a rental we're driving at least 200 miles and staying for multiple days.