In 2017 I rented a car for a day in Auckland, New Zealand, for $30. It was from a quirky "dings and dents" car rental, and the car was indeed quite lovely besid

In 2017 I rented a car for a day in Auckland, New Zealand, for $30. It was from a quirky "dings and dents" car rental, and the car was indeed quite lovely besides having a few major cosmetic crinkles in the door panels. The one employee working there was nice enough to drive us to the airport after, and he explained that they owned all of their inventory outright. He said that the other rental companies all leased or financed their inventory, and they struggled to keep enough cars rented out year round while also dealing with large seasonal demand peaks. Their company, meanwhile, had very low overhead for their size of inventory, and could weather arbitrarily long dry spells without worry.