Another point is that the rental is not always available, at least at a reasonable price. I drive most of my kilometres during certain seasons: Christmas, East

Another point is that the rental is not always available, at least at a reasonable price. I drive most of my kilometres during certain seasons: Christmas, Easter holiday, school holidays (when visiting parents etc). These are exactly the times when very many others also want to make similar trips, so the rental companies are out of capacity, or rather, there is surge pricing.