This is Sharon, she has been renting Caroline and I cars for our long road trips for more than five years now. Sharon is the franchise owner of a local outlet of Budget Rent A Car at 17023 N. Black Canyon Highway in Phoenix. Living in Phoenix, It is a rarity to do business with the same person for such a long period of time and we are super appreciative of it. Our car was due yesterday but I was so exhausted and short of time that I requested an extra day for the same rate and sure enough, lucky me, got it. Unless Sharon is planning on retiring early, we will continue doing business with her long into the future.
Do you find it cheaper to rent a car when you travel instead of driving your own car?
Ive made 3 trips to CA in my 2006 WRX this year. I only have 8,000 miles on it so far, but 3k+ of them are from those trips to So. Cali.
Im wondering if in the long run its better/cheaper to rent a car.
Absolutely I find it cheaper to rent. When I consider that we devalue our car at a rate between twenty ($0.20) and thirty cents ($0.30) per mile – according to the Automobile Club (AAA) it is closer to sixty cents ($0.60) per mile including operational costs, then your extra 3000 miles has knocked off between $600 and $900 of value and up to possibly $1800 including tires, oil, battery, belts, and the other related expenses and devaluations of owning and operating a car.
To rent a car for a week here in Arizona, a small to midsize will cost about $175 a week. On one particular trip we put 7500 miles on a rental over a period of 20 days which cost about $550 to rent as opposed to lowering the value of our car between $1500 and $2250, not forgetting to mention lowering the life expectancy of the car.