General Discussion > Share Your Badassity

Rent a car instead of owning

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melalvai:
I wanted to share this strategy which could work in the right circumstance.

A few years ago, I started a position that was part-time, work-from-home for a few months and then, when my husband graduated, we moved to the town that my employer was in. During the 6 months before we moved, I made a trip to the other town about once a month. My husband & daughter needed to get to & from school (they aren't as bad-ass as I am, she'll bike up to a couple miles and he won't bike at all, school was 5 miles away). So once a month, I rented a car for the day.

In Missouri, there's not much in the way of public transit, trains & buses. There's even less of that for traveling between towns.

That approach worked fantastic! It cost about $50 each time. I got to drive a brand-new car that had all the bells & whistles. I got to try out a different make & model every time. I've often thought that if my husband would take up biking (he won't), we could go car-free and just rent a car when we want to visit friends and family. Now that our daughter is in college, we make more out of town trips, so it might not be quite as cost effective as owning a car, I haven't done the math lately so I'm not sure.

Just something to consider, if you don't have the cash to pay for a used car, but have to make an out of town trip. Depending on how many trips you make, it might be cheaper than owning a car. And it would be nice to have that storage space in your garage for something else...like your bicycles!

There are a few negatives though.
1) You have to have a credit card. I was able to rent from Avis with my debit card, but everywhere else requires a credit card.
2) You have to say "no" to their many optional insurances, over and over. Then you have to keep an eye on it--I once got charged for an insurance that I had declined.
3) If you are under 25, you can't rent a car. My daughter ended up having to buy a car when she went to college. She really wanted to live at college without a car, but it ended up being too hard to get around in the bike-unfriendly town, and to get home. And most importantly-- to visit her boyfriend.

BlueMR2:

--- Quote from: melalvai on November 21, 2013, 08:33:02 AM ---2) You have to say "no" to their many optional insurances, over and over. Then you have to keep an eye on it--I once got charged for an insurance that I had declined.

--- End quote ---

You do have to be careful with that though.  Make sure you run through all your own insurance to see how it would fall out.

For example, my car insurance covers rental cars too.  I covers them exactly the same as my own cars are covered.  So, let's say I own a $1000 beater with liability only on it.  I rent a $30,000 car.  Car gets wrecked and it's my fault, I end up being on the hook personally for that amount unless I added on the optional insurance.

This is where credit cards are handy.  Most (but not all!) credit cards have some form of secondary rental car insurance coverage.  So, with my liability only above, my auto insurance which would be primary normally doesn't cover it.  Then it falls onto my (very good I might add in my case) secondary credit card insurance.

thepokercab:
Nice strategy! 

My family is trying the whole rent instead of owning thing as well.  We live in a pretty bike friendly neighborhood, my wife is a SAHM and I work from home- so there really isn't a ton of need for us to own a vehicle.  We do the occasional rental for out of town trips, or day trips.  We could buy a used one at any point, but honestly, the inconvenience really hasn't been that big of a deal.  I'm now kind of shocked that people actually take their cars to places as mundane as the grocery store or library.  I bike with my daughter to school, and there are parents who live half the distance that we do, who are driving every morning.  Seems like a waste.. 

I also think not owning a car really hones your badassity  Yesterday it was raining and I (gasp!) still walked to the store.  I got a little wet but by the look of people's eyes I might as well have been a third world refugee.

I haven't done a detailed cost comparison on the rent vs own strategy, but I feel like we are coming out slightly ahead when comparing car ownership costs vs rental costs.  So far, we've taken three multi-day out of town trips, and about 3 one-day trips, and with gas we've spent around $750.00.  Extrapolate that to a year, and its around $1500.   When we owned a car, insurance + gas each month ranged anywhere from $100-$150.  So if car ownership for us averaged about $125 bucks a month, we're about even. But we ultimately come out ahead once you factor in vehicle registration costs and maintenance (which is so nice not to have to do)

For folks doing this i would recommend a good credit card.  I use the Blue Cash preferred Amex.  It provides solid insurance for rentals, plus at Enterprise you can get discounts and statement credits based on how much you spend.  So far i've got $60.00 in statement credits by using my Amex for Enterprise rentals, so that helps defray the cost. Plus, once you rent enough somewhere you eventually accrue enough points where you can get free rental days.  So far i've already gotten one free day. 

Russ:
Awesome! This is what I do on the very rare occasions I need a car (once every few months).
 
--- Quote from: melalvai on November 21, 2013, 08:33:02 AM ---I got to drive a brand-new car that had all the bells & whistles. I got to try out a different make & model every time.
--- End quote ---

I agree, this is one of my favorite parts. Not that I really like new cars any better (especially that smell...I'm shocked anybody thinks offgassing petroleum products is a *good* smell), but it's kinda fun to think "this is how the heavily indebted live!" then chuckle to myself.


--- Quote ---There are a few negatives though.
1) You have to have a credit card. I was able to rent from Avis with my debit card, but everywhere else requires a credit card.
2) You have to say "no" to their many optional insurances, over and over. Then you have to keep an eye on it--I once got charged for an insurance that I had declined.
3) If you are under 25, you can't rent a car. My daughter ended up having to buy a car when she went to college. She really wanted to live at college without a car, but it ended up being too hard to get around in the bike-unfriendly town, and to get home. And most importantly-- to visit her boyfriend.

--- End quote ---

In my experience #1 and #3 can be worked around with some smooth talk and a little luck. The debit card thing came up a couple times before I had a credit card, but I was able to do it with a deposit + manager's approval. #3 hasn't given me any trouble since the first time, now I think it must show up that they've rented to me before so I'm effectively "in"

As far as costs of renting vs. owning... renting might cost me a little more every year considering I'd buy a cheapass car, but it's worth it to me to not have to deal with the inconvenience of actually owning and taking care of a car.

melalvai:

--- Quote from: Russ on November 23, 2013, 07:46:17 PM ---
--- Quote ---3) If you are under 25, you can't rent a car. My daughter ended up having to buy a car when she went to college. She really wanted to live at college without a car, but it ended up being too hard to get around in the bike-unfriendly town, and to get home. And most importantly-- to visit her boyfriend.
--- End quote ---
#3 hasn't given me any trouble since the first time, now I think it must show up that they've rented to me before so I'm effectively "in"
--- End quote ---
Really? I'll look into that, because I thought it was a hard and fast unbreakable rule that if you are under 25 you cannot drive a rental car. She would love to sell her car if she could find another way.

--- Quote ---As far as costs of renting vs. owning... renting might cost me a little more every year considering I'd buy a cheapass car, but it's worth it to me to not have to deal with the inconvenience of actually owning and taking care of a car.
--- End quote ---
Even if the numbers work out that renting is theoretically the same, if you don't own a car you're not tempted to drive it. Owning a cheapass car can end up being more expensive because it's convenient to drive it more. The expenses incurred are direct and indirect. Direct, like gas, wear & tear. Indirect, like health, stress level, and one I've been thinking about but even less sure how to calculate-- the number of miles you drive and the type of miles (city vs highway, short vs long trips) influences your risk of a wreck. While a car ought to have a life of 200,000 or 300,000 miles (or more?), that life can get cut short at any point (not to mention your own life). And then you have to shell out for another car (and maybe deal with injuries). Sure, you have that cash squirreled away already. But then you have to make sure you have money set aside for another replacement. The less you drive that car, the less likely you are to wreck it.

It's not quite linear because an inexperienced driver-- who has driven very few miles-- is more likely to wreck than an experienced driver, so that is a factor in which MORE miles decreases the risk of a wreck. But in general, I posit that driving fewer miles will have a big impact on reducing risk.

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