xuni4everx

if you are driving that much, have you consider buying Japanese car?
i have 06 Toyota Avalon, purchased $31,000, currently have 289k miles, still running great. All i did was oil change every 5000 miles, brake, tire, and transmission oil flush. I am pretty confident it will last over 350k miles.

piper28

Couple of notes. I think you're short-changing the domestic cars these days, and quite frankly, I'm not overly convinced the Japanese ones are quite as good as they used to be in the long term endurance category. The reality these days is that *all* cars are doing a lot better job of lasting a longer time, one reason used car prices are up.

That said, just because a car can last 300k miles doesn't mean I really want to still be driving it by that point. One, I do find that the maintenance costs start really adding up after a while. And our roads around here are bad enough that any car with that type of milage, you're going to be doing more than just oil changes on it. I've lost track of the number of tie rods that I've replaced over the years, and struts aren't all that uncommon either. (The Passat also went through a high number of half-axles.) Cars take a lot of abuse around here, we have 3 seasons, winter, pothole, and construction. I'd also bet that there are far more cars (japanese or otherwise) that at 300k are far more likely to be somewhat problematic than they are to run smoothly with never any problems. And after a while, the potential of getting stranded at the side of the road can get pretty old.

Oh, and of course, both my wife and I have the occasional meeting where the parking lots are not exactly welcoming of foreign cars. It's generally not too hard to work around, but I would say it would play a factor in anything we bought down the road, especially since the american cars really are doing a lot better with longevity these days.

(Couldn't see this while initially responding, but afterwards saw that you were southern california. You folks don't get the freeze/thaw cycles that we get on our roads that really tear them up, and in general, your roads are in far better shape than anything we have here. I've driven out there, and comparatively it's pretty smooth. The difference that makes on a car's life and maintenance cycle is not insignificant. Heck, some of our dirt roads are better than the paved roads, we've got a great example of that on the west side of town - you leave the dirt stretch and wonder whether you entered a war zone.)

Mrp Alert

For the second time in my life, I sold my primary vehicle and am renting full time at LAS. I am going to have to try Tony King's KLM trick on my next rental where miles and points promotions are less important than vehicle cost. Weekly rentals are relatively easy to find at an affordable price at LAS. Sixt's entry to our local market has compressed pricing offering great values all over the place. Avis has gone as low as $89 / week and Hertz has hit $99 / week while Sixt, Ace, and Fox have priced daily rentals as low as $7 / day for up to two weeks. Next week, I have a one-way rental to LAX for $1 / day no drop fee. Renting with a corporate credit card or Chase credit card with primary collision coverage keeps me protected. I am listed as a secondary driver on a family member's car as a backup in case of insufficient coverage from the cc company, but I have never had an issue. I know a FTer who rents a new car every day for WN credit. It is just up to to you whether it is worth a daily trip to pick up a new car and how much time you want to invest in finding the best deal. You can earn a lot of miles renting cars as I have done over the past few years.

xmlsoa

Interesting. I'd appreciate any tips on getting the best deals in the SF Bay Area.

IsleOfMan

I receive a ~$500/month car allowance from my company. I'm supposed to have a Car/SUV "representative of the company"... basically PCAR/SFAR or better, less than 5 years old, and under 100k miles. I currently have ~$500/month payment on a '12 Genesis but thinking way ahead about possibly renting instead of buying when it's time to replace per the company's policy. The only time I would be without the rental would be when traveling, which only comes out to around 6-8 days/month. I would be renting from ATL.

Under these circumstances, is anyone renting PCAR or better instead of owning? Or is everyone renting ICAR and using ES? If it's ES, how are you doing in terms of staying in PCAR/SFAR or better? I don't want to be in base Altimas/Malibus/Chargers or even new Impalas all the time. If the '15 200C becomes as common as the old-style, I wouldn't complain much there compared to anything else FCAR or lower.

Does reserving PCAR make permanent renting uneconomical in general?

Thanks in advance!

piper28

As I recall, when doing a monthly rental with my contract code, the PCAR ends up being not much more for the month than an FCAR. I don't remember the exact difference, but I think it was less than $50 for the month. But that said, I found the location I rented from tended not to really have much in the way of PCAR type cars around (or at least I couldn't find them, my trials and tribulations with that are in the DTW thread, and I know there's a guy in there that has much better luck with it than I do ). But in the year that we've been doing this, I think I ran across a PCAR once on the ES aisle, and that was an Impala 2LT, which I wouldn't really consider a PCAR, I'd take a Fusion Titanium over the 2LT trim any day. (That said, like I said, others have had better luck than me).

DTW for whatever reason seems to run about 80% crossovers to 20% cars based on my experience.

(If I remember properly, my contract rate the FCAR rate is something like $1/day more than the ICAR rate, so at ES, that's why the difference between PCAR and FCAR is so small. If I thought I could reliably get PCAR's at DTW, I'd probably reserve them more often.)

xmlsoa

How on earth did you pull that off? I am in SF Bay and need to do this for 1-3 months and would love tips on how to do this for best rates.

My criteria is simple:

- Reliable
- Fuel Economy
- Bluetooth enabled (for Phone +GPS) + USB (charging)

Bonus (not critical):
- Trims such as XM or GPS etc.

kxc262

Because rental car rates are negotiable if you rent longer at a time...

You already asked this in another thread, and it honestly seems like you did not even take the advice that other members have offered.

xmlsoa

What do you think? I have taken it and have talked to a few local editions. They do not seem to be quoting anything below what the ONLINE engine seems to be quoting.

So, if there are some 'specific' tips to negotiating this please guide me.

xmlsoa

Are there some 'specific' tips to negotiating this please guide me.

I have talked to a few local editions. They do not seem to be quoting anything below what the ONLINE engines (Costco & some Corporate AWDs) seems to be quoting.

What are the tips and tricks to making the Manager quote lower than the BEST online rates? AND how far below those BEST rates can they be taken?

Please advise.

Tony King

It all depends on the manager; some will lower the price and some won't. You may want to compare prices from other agencies and if another is lower, print a copy of that off and see if the manager will match or beat that price.

Otherwise it seems that some of the local neighborhood Enterprise locations have more flexibility on pricing then the National locations at the airport.

Right now I'm just on a "long term rental" using the now defunct KLM contract ID. The station manager told me I can keep extending the rental out for up to a year.

xmlsoa

I will call them all and see what goes. Which KLM ID is this (for airport/ local)? Works with National? I will try it out as well.

ElmhurstNick

Defunct, as in no longer available.

jisaac

Contemplating this right now. As an Avis CC (yes I know wrong forum) I rent at intermediate rates and usually drive a 3-series, Infiniti M or G, or when I want a Tahoe/Navigator. Right now I am about to dump my daily driver not because I don't love it, but because my warranty runs out at 100k and BMW has spent over $30k on repairs in the past two years ($11k of that is a transmission). Annually I average being in town 3 of 4 weeks a month so I am thinking it would work out in my favor. Essentially it is an unlimited mile lease.

surfshadow

Are you using any discount/AWD codes on top of your CC status to book at intermediate rates?