Renting a vehicle may even protect it a little more
Updated 6/25/2024
If you’re planning a road trip this summer then this article is for you! It might be impossible to avoid bad weather, annoying family, or expensive tourist traps, but there is one thing that can help ensure safe, fun, and smooth summer driving. Whether you’re planning to drive in the city, around the state, or across the country, YOU SHOULD HAVE YOUR VEHICLE CHECKED FOR SAFETY AND RELIABILITY BEFORE YOU GO! Bring it in for service and checkout well BEFORE you plan on heading out, because NOTHING ruins a road trip faster and more completely than a vehicle that dies on the road. Sometimes people put off this all-important vehicle check until the day before they leave, but here are some reasons this could put your trip in jeopardy…
ALWAYS get your vehicle checked out before a long trip!
Although a consistently maintained should be ready for travel at a moments’ notice, you should still have it checked. There might be some developing issue that hasn’t shown symptoms yet, and it’s much better to catch it now than when it leaves you stranded. Even if nothing major is about to fail a check of fluids, brakes, tire treads and pressures, lights, and other critical systems can give you extra confidence.
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.
If you aren’t able to get your vehicle in for a pre-trip checkup and it starts acting erratically right before you hit the road, it’s not necessarily too late. PLEASE call us! We can’t always squeeze in break-downs and emergencies without appointment, but we’ll do our absolute best to get you going in time for your trip. Even if there’s not enough time to fix your issue we may be able to give advice to keep you from actually breaking down, or there may still be time to get you into a rental car instead.
But DON’T wait till the last minute to do it!
IN THE BUSIEST PARTS OF THE SUMMER OUR “NEXT AVAILABLE APPOINTMENT” MAY BE SEVERAL DAYS FROM THE DAY YOU CALL. This can cause real problems if you have a short window of availability or an impending departure date. A perfect example is the recent client who called on a Wednesday to schedule service that Thursday for a trip that Friday, but we were already full for the week and there was absolutely no way to get him in. We try not to ever say “no” to our clients, but if we don’t have availability then we don’t have a choice.
Another reason to leave as much leeway as possible is that short repair timelines leave no margin for error if something unexpected pops up. For instance, some engine leaks can take two days to repair. We can’t fix it, much less fix it right, if you drop it on a Friday and need to leave Saturday. Or, suppose your vehicle’s problem would be a quick fix but the only part to do it comes from a supplier in Orlando? Little glitches like this are all the more frustrating because they’re completely avoidable with a little advance planning, so please, PLEASE call us with enough time to give you the quality service you expect and deserve!
You should even allow a few days AFTER service before your trip
The only way to be sure repairs were successful is to test them in the real world, so ALWAYS LEAVE A COUPLE DAYS FOR A SHAKEDOWN PERIOD BEFORE YOU HEAD OUT OF TOWN. Repairs can fail for many reasons- parts may be faulty, the Technician may have made a mistake, the original diagnosis may have been wrong, problems can develop in related systems after the first repair, or the original problem may have masked another problem no one knew about. If you’ve allowed enough time, we can still get things fixed properly before you leave.
We can help if you DO run into problems on the road
If you’re our client then we will help you any way we can, anywhere you are. We can’t send a Technician to Minnesota to fix you up but we can give you advice over the phone that might be helpful. If you find yourself broken down and have to use a local shop we can still be useful by sending the shop complete repair records, or by offering a second opinion if you’re not sure they’re giving you good advice. Also, all our work carries a 24-month-24-thousand-mile nationwide warranty that can be extremely useful. If you are out-of-town and have a problem, or if you can’t reach our shop at 503-230-2300, then call 877-252-4609 and explain what’s happening. They’ll refer you to a local shop that will take care of you.
Give us a call if you have ANY questions
Don’t wait until things actually break down to call us… many questions can be solved with a quick call to 503-230-2300 or email to tomdwyer@tomdwyer.com. Our non-commissioned Service Advisors will be glad to discuss any vehicle concerns you might have. If you’re in doubt about anything, a quick call could save a lot of vacation headaches!
Consider renting a vehicle for certain kinds of trips
Even if you’re sure your vehicle is up to the trip you still need to think about the toll the trip will take on it. Driving your own vehicle has advantages but renting a vehicle turns the depreciation, wear and tear, and reliability into someone else’s problem. Also, rentals are generally newer, get better mileage, have nicer accoutrements, and ensure a trouble free experience.
When should you rent instead of driving your own car? If you drive a newer, well-maintained vehicle then the rent/drive question is easy. You should drive, unless you want something special like a convertible or RV. If your current vehicle has super high miles or has serious problems you haven’t addressed then the answer is easy as well… you should rent.
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, but something that’s issued no previous warning may be waiting to fail instead. Don’t try to play catchup… rent in this case.
- Another factor is the balance between the mileage and the time you’ll be out. If you’re planning a multi-week trip then a rental bill might be prohibitive. Renting makes the most sense for high mileage, short-duration trips. If you’re going to be spending most of your trip in the car, it might make sense to rent for comfort, security, or both.
- Renting a vehicle can give added protection in case of breakdown. We called the rental agency we work with, Enterprise, and asked what happened if you break down in the middle of nowhere in one of their vehicles. If it’s a mechanical problem, anything from a broken belt to a busted transmission, you’re covered by your rental agreement. They’ll get you into a new vehicle and your trip can continue. It’s a little less sure if you get a flat or get into an accident. If you got the roadside protection package with the rental then you’re covered, but if not then you’re in the same situation you’d be in with your own personal vehicle.
- Renting offers options. You may rightly love your Camry, but for a once-in-a-lifetime road odyssey you might want something special. Convertibles or RV’s are just some of the choices. If you’re able to, this might be an opportunity to splurge on some special treatment for yourself.
Play it safe… plan for things to go wrong.
No matter how well you plan things can still go wrong, but you can be prepared. Make sure you have a roadside assistance package, either through AAA, your insurance, or some other provider. Make sure it’s paid up and active. Know what it covers, and know the contact number if you need to use it.
Digging deep, deep, deep into the weeds
We hope we’ve given you good guidance, and good general tips on when to rent or drive your own. But for those of you out there who love crunching the numbers, here’s the article you really want. Trent Hamm grinds the numbers on a trip from Duluth to Dallas to show you the economic side of the equation in all its gory detail. His blog, The Simple Dollar, is no longer active or we’d link to it. But his excellent piece from 2015 really shows the thought process if you want to make the right decision down to the penny.
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.
