JohnnyP

Since we're in the mood for updates ... I've been doing this now for 9 months. It has been rather unexpected, but as I'm looking to purchase a relatively rare car, it allows me to be selective and shop for the best price on that. Like piper28 other than a few odd looks from friends when I show up with a different car every few weeks, it's been great.

I've been very religious about keeping a spreadsheet on my costs. Early in the experiment, I was swapping out up to twice per week to take advantage of super inexpensive "last minute" weekend deals, but that left me paying top dollar for three days during the week. So, when possible, I've switched to weekly and/or monthly contracts depending on my travel schedule. The best aspect of this is that I don't "pay" for a car to sit in my driveway (or parking garage) when I'm not here.

So including the days I travel at $0 cost, my blended daily rate with taxes and fees is $21.97 ($659/month including taxes and fees) so far for 9 months. Including fuel, it's about $28/day. Based on my ownership calculations, including depreciation, insurance, repairs and fuel costs, as long as I'm getting a vehicle with an MSRP of over $30,000 it's a wash.

As an Executive Elite, I always book a premium and usually end up in a decent vehicle (e.g. Volvo S60 or Genesis). In all these 9 months, they have only once extended me a truly "luxury" vehicle like a BMW. The added benefits, as mentioned earlier, including being able to swap out for a different car at-will ... always having a clean, new model car ... etc.

The annoying bits have been the often lack of better options on the car (e.g. crappy sound systems, lack of heated seats occasionally, no rear cam, etc.) and the occasional roll-of-the-dice with car colours and selection (hated those two days I ended up in a Chevy Cruze!).

Does it make sense for us? Financially it's a wash with some clear qualitative pros and cons. We're continuing to shop for a vehicle, but this gives us the flexibility to negotiate with a great BATNA. I currently earn free rental days, which is helpful for the occasional one-way trip.

nyctoatl

Does anyone just do this for weekend rentals? I travel for work Monday-Friday so I would only need the car from Friday afternoon through Monday morning.

I have been contemplating this for some time now and this thread has me close to finally jumping in.

drzoidberg

I primarily rent weekends, although more recently (in the past year) have been renting several times during the week too. It's great, beats owning a car.

traveller001

You don't have to.. but it would be wise to have a non owner policy or umbrella coverage that would protect you especially if you could be viewed as having deep pockets.

dwbf11

Yes, I do this for mileage deferral purposes a couple weekends a month at least. Given the weekend rates plus the 1-2-F earning right now (and standard EE free day earning structure), it works out economically. My average weekend all in (including paying for airport parking of my personal vehicle) is under $50.

dtremit

That's remarkable. I just did the math for Boston, and it'd be $65 just for parking and taxes to redeem two free days

s3n

We've been doing this for 8 years now, mixing 2-3 weekend rentals per month with free days and/or the local car-sharing programs for the few times that we need wheels during the week.

It's probably costing us $200-250/month on average for transportation costs, which includes a couple week-long rentals during holiday periods for family vacations (some of which we'd have to rent anyways).

Sometimes it's a pain having to remember to book and take the time to pick up a car, but it still beats having to deal with the headaches (and unexpected expenses) of car ownership in a big city!

combiblock

does it make sense doing this only with National and not others such as Enterprise/Avis/Hertz

i have within a walking distance Enterprise to rent a car, reading some of the posts above, it seems like Enterprise is the worst amongst all.

i have amex card that gives me status. I only need car for weekends... thinking of selling 1 of our cars and live with rental car as and when we need it

is it not advisable to do this with enterprise?

cfischer

yup. Rent for weekend when I need a car @ $9.99 per day from Enterprise with credit to Emerald club between September and May. For rentals from June till August I use my free rental days and it all works out perfectly for me.

s3n

Yeah, absolutely it does. You just have to run the numbers and decide if it's worth the bit of extra hassle to pick up a car every weekend to save money vs. the expense and responsibility of maintaining your own car. Renting from only one location will let you establish a relationship with the counter agents which in my experience leads to only good things. ;-) Just be *really* nice to them right from the get go.

I rented from Avis for a year while they were running an amazing Weekender program at my location. Even though they only had counter service, the agents always had my contract prepped and the keys waiting for me ahead of time, which made pickup a breeze. I always got the best car they had on hand too.

s3n

Earthlings

How is renting from Avis differ from National for the permanently renting?

fayewolf

Been reading this thread because I'm stressed over this rental thing. My car got totaled by a drunk driver who ran a red light. I am ordering a new one but will take 2 months to get because I want the exact options I wanted. I want to minimize my rental fee of possible. So far, hertz has pretty good deal, at around $100/week but requires pre pay which I cannot do, because my job requires me to fly about once a week for 2 days or 3.

Ideally, I would do weekly for cheapest rate, and work around days I'm not around. I live in the Bay Area and there are a few location around me.

I tried using the codes from first page and I'm not getting anything below $250/week for economy. I have hertz gold member, not sure if they will match status.

Also for insurance , I don't have a car anymore obviously, I have Amex, do I need the non owner insurance?
Any advice?

Earthlings

Fayewolf, shouldn't you still have insurance from your policy before? Or cancelled it because your car was gone and you are looking into a new policy for your new car? I would of just kept your old insurance and had it for your brand new car so you would still have insurance for a rental car. Not sure if your insurance included rental cars.

fayewolf

I can keep old policy, but thought I could cancel till I get new car. Insurance only cover rental for a week after check has been cut.

peteropny

If you're happy with your old policy, keep it, the savings won't be that high for 2 months.