The following is a post by MPFJ staff writer, Kevin Mercadante, who is a freelance professional personal finance blogger for hire, and the owner of his own personal finance blog, OutOfYourRut.com. He has backgrounds in both accounting and the mortgage industry.
The next time you’re considering taking a long trip, put renting a car on your list of options for that trip. There are at least five advantages to renting a car for a long trip, rather than flying or driving.
1. Saving Air Fare on Short- to Mid-Range Trips
If you typically fly to a destination that is in the 250 to 500 mile range, renting a car and driving it direct to the location can save you a substantial amount of money.
Up to 500 miles, you’re basically talking about flight time of about an hour. But it can easily take you at least two hours on each side of that flight – two hours driving to the airport and going through security, then another two hours getting off the plane and booking a rental car. You’re looking at a time investment of at least five hours should you fly.
If you decided instead to rent a car and drive the distance, you can probably get there in about eight or nine hours. Yes that is longer than the five hours we just discussed for a flight. But as we all know, flights can be delayed, or you could be bumped to another flight, which can quickly get you up to eight or nine hours – or even more.
If you rent a car instead of flying for short- to mid-range trips, you have the following advantages:
- Your time of arrival at your destination is likely to be more predictable, since you will not have to rely on the airlines or conditions at the airport.
- You will already have your car rented upon arriving at your destination.
- You will save a substantial amount of money on round-trip airline tickets, especially if you would need to rent a car at the destination.
You certainly don’t want to do the car rental option much beyond 500 miles. But if it is within that range, you can save yourself a lot of money, as well as a lot of hassle, by avoiding the airport experience entirely.
The advantages of renting a car for a trip can be even more substantial if the other option is to drive your own car there.
2. Avoid Wear-and-Tear on Your Own Car
People often choose to drive their own car on a short- to mid-range trips as a way of saving money. But on deeper analysis, the savings are not as clear as it seems at first glance.
While it is true that you will save money by not renting a car, you are in fact adding deferred expenses to the cost of using your own car as a result of putting more mileage on it.
Let’s say that you decide to take your car to a destination that’s 500 miles away – that’s 1,000 miles round-trip. Adding that many miles will not only accelerate the need for certain car repairs, but it will also cause the resale value of your vehicle drop. According to some sources, it could be as much as 10 cents per mile, or about $100 for a 1,000 mile trip.
You can generally rent a car for as little as $200 for up to seven days. If you count the decline in resale value of your car, as well as potential deferred repair costs, it may actually cost more to drive your own car than it would to use a rental.
3. Dealing With Mechanical Breakdowns is a Snap With Car Rentals
If you are driving your car and it breaks down along way from home, not only will you have to pay the cost of having it repaired in a remote location, but your trip will also be delayed, possibly by as much as two or three days.
However, if you rent a car for the trip, and the car breaks down, you simply need to call the car rental company, and they will typically replaced it within an hour or two. You’ll then be able to resume your trip, having experienced only a slight delay as a result of mechanical breakdown.
It should also be worth noting that if your own car breaks down far from home, you’ll probably pay a lot more for the repair than you would if you were on your own home turf. This is because not only will you lack access to your preferred mechanic, but you may be forced into getting the job done as quickly as possible in order to maintain your travel schedule.
4. A Rental Car May Be Newer Than Your Own Car
If your own car is more than a few years old, you could be at substantial risk of a breakdown while you’re on a long-distance trip. This is more relevant than ever since the average age if a car in the US is now at a record 11.4 years.
That being the case, you can rent a car that is typically somewhere between brand-new and no more than two years old. Such a car would likely be much more reliable on a long-distance trip, not the least of which because the car rental company maintains a regular maintenance schedule on the vehicle.
In short, the rental car may be better able to weather a long-distance trip than your own car.
5. Choosing the Vehicle That You Need
Still another issue may be that your own car is not well suited to the trip that you want to take. For example, if you have a subcompact car, and a family of four, it may get more than a little uncomfortable on a long trip, particularly if you are packing luggage.
In that situation, you may be able to rent a larger vehicle, that will be better suited to the needs of your particular trip. Though the price will be significantly higher, you can even rent a van or a large SUV, if that’s what you happen to need.
If you do have to take a trip is not more than 500 miles away, give some serious consideration to renting a car for the purpose. It’s generally both less expensive and more flexible than driving your own car, and certainly than flying. And if the car can be rented with no mileage charge, it may be more cost effective even on much longer trips.
How about you all? Have you ever rented a car for a trip instead of flying or taking your own car?
Share your experiences by commenting below!
***PHOTO: https://www.flickr.com/photos/pauliospictures/13455468185/sizes/n/
