Don’t learn from your mistakes… it’s less painful to learn from other people’s mistakes! Summer road trips offer plenty of these teachable moments, and over the years we’ve seen many people learn the painful way. When planning to take the family on a long “are we there yet?” road trip, your first concern must be whether you’re sure your carriage will make the trip. Even if you’re sure your vehicle is able (and we can help determine that part) you also need to think about the toll the trip will take on it. Driving your own vehicle has advantages, but renting a vehicle makes the depreciation, wear and tear, and reliability someone else’s problem. Also, rentals generally can be more accommodating, get better mileage, have nicer accoutrements and ensure a trouble free experience.
If you decide to rent, we have a tip for you… we deal with Enterprise Rentals for all our in-shop car rentals, and they always do us right. We work mostly with the Clackamas location on 82nd Avenue, so give ’em a call and tell ’em we sent you! (We’ll still handle things here if you want a rental while your vehicle is being serviced, but you can call Enterprise directly for your personal rental needs.)
So when should you rent rather than drive your own car on a long trip? Here are some pointers on mechanical issues, and then an article from The Simple Dollar that grinds the numbers on a trip from Duluth to Dallas to show you the economic side of the equation as well…
If your current vehicle has super high miles or has known serious problems then the rent/drive question is easily solved. If you’re driving a newer, well-maintained vehicle then that answer is easy as well. If you don’t fall into either of these categories then here are a couple things to think about…
- If you your vehicle has high mileage (say more than 125,000 miles) and you haven’t been keeping up on recommended maintenance and repairs, then you shouldn’t try to start right before a road trip. You could spend a lot of money ineffectually playing catchup or psychic Ouija Board fixit. No amount of pre-trip money is a guarantee against break-down. You can take care of the things you’re aware of while something that’s issued no previous warning is waiting to fail instead. Don’t try to play catchup… rent in this case.
- If you’re reasonably current on maintenance and repair, you should still have your vehicle inspected before leaving. If you’re pretty confident or going for a shorter trip, our 90-point inspection might be appropriate. It’s designed to quickly identify problems that can be caught without digging deeply into your vehicle. If you’re less confident of your vehicle or if you’re planning a longer trip then we’d likely recommend our Comprehensive Inspection instead; a much more in-depth evaluation. In either case, our Service Advisors will gladly tell you what impact any issues might have on your trip.
- NO INSPECTION OR SERVICE IS A GUARANTEE. No matter how thorough the inspection or how much money is spent, there are always issues that can cause a high mileage (or any mileage for that matter) vehicle to fail. A pre-trip vehicle inspection can give you guidance and confidence, but your vehicle might still spring a surprise on you. A cell phone and roadside assistance like Better World Club or AAA are wise protections.
- Don’t wait till the last minute! Scheduling well in advance for vehicle service or inspection makes it easier to get an appointment, but there’s a strong mechanical reason as well. It’s a good idea to have a test-drive period after any repair to make sure all went well. If a defective part was installed you’ll have a chance for it to fail locally; if a repair didn’t fix a problem you’ll have a chance to return for inspection. You don’t want either of these things happening to you when you’re half way to vacationland.
- Another decision point renting vs. repairing is balancing the mileage against the time you’ll be out. If you’re planning a multi-week trip then the rental bill might seem prohibitive… you’ll either have to save a lot of money or be very worried about your existing vehicle to make it worthwhile. Renting makes the most sense for high trip mileage, short-duration trips. We’ll close with an article from The Simple Dollar that goes into the economic balance in more detail…
Is Renting a Car Cheaper for a Long Road Trip?– By Trent Hamm on The Simple Dollar, May 08, 2015
Monica wrote in with a question that I thought deserved a detailed answer…
I’m going to be driving from northern Minnesota to Dallas, Texas for a week this summer, then returning home. I own a 2008 Toyota Corolla with 34,000 miles on it. I’m trying to figure out if it’s more cost effective to rent a car for this trip or to drive my own car.
It’s going to be really hard to find an exact answer for you given the variables, but I can give you a good estimate that should guide you.
First, let’s get some numbers. I’m going to assume that you live in Duluth, Minnesota, so the length of your trip is 1,100 miles. We’ll assume that you’re going to drive 300 miles while in Dallas, so your round trip will be pretty close to 2,500 miles.
A 2008 Toyota Corolla gets 29 miles per gallon, according to fueleconomy.gov, which is my source for such data. At your current mileage (and making some default assumptions about your Corolla), it’s worth $11,282 according to Kelley Blue Book. After the 2,500 miles of driving, your car would devalue to $11,182, which means that the road trip would devalue your car by $100.
You’re also going to be on the hook for half of an oil change if you drive your own car. It also pushes you along on the rest of your maintenance schedule, which is difficult to estimate but does have a significant cost. Commute Solutions identifies the maintenance cost per mile for driving a car as being 5.3 cents, which means that over the course of the trip, you’ll rack up about $132.50 in maintenance costs (including oil changes).
Now, if you’re renting an economy car, you’re going to be paying about $250 for the rental for the round trip. I looked at several different rental companies that function out of Duluth such as Hertz and Enterprise and found several different estimates for a weeklong trip. I did use coupon codes to get those quotes.
A 2011 Chevy Aveo (the “example” economy car that is mentioned on Enterprise’s website) gets 30 miles to the gallon, compared to the 29 mpg of your current car. That means, over the course of the trip, you’re going to eat up three more gallons with your own car, costing you about $12.
Now, if you were to get a 2011 Toyota Prius for that “economy” price, you’d get 50 miles to the gallon, compared to the 29 mpg of your current car. That means, over the course of the trip, you’re going to eat up 36 more gallons than with your own car, costing you $144 (assuming gas prices are at $4 this summer).
In this example, then, the cost of renting a car with a similar fuel efficiency to your own is roughly equal over the long run. The catch, of course, is that many of the costs associated with your own car are delayed. You don’t pay for the maintenance now and the depreciation doesn’t affect you now. Those things impact you later down the road.
However, if you rent a car that’s significantly more fuel efficient than your own, you’ll likely save a little money by renting. Again, the costs of renting are up front, where many of the costs of using your own car are delayed.
Of course, this all depends on the rental rate you’re able to get and the car availability. If you’re able to lock in a highly fuel efficient car in conjunction with a strong coupon or other offer, you may find it cheaper to rent. Otherwise, you’re probably better off driving your own car on this trip.
In the end, there are some factors that make renting a more appealing option: a long trip over a short time period, an increase in fuel efficiency, and the availability of coupons or other discounts makes renting compelling. Without at least some of those factors, though, I’d lean toward driving the car I already had, and if the costs were close, I’d use my own car because of the lower hassle.
