5 ms·

Forgive me, since I don't own a car: Wouldn't it be cheaper to rent a car if you're only going to use it once a week or so? I mean, with the payment itself, pl

Forgive me, since I don't own a car: Wouldn't it be cheaper to rent a car if you're only going to use it once a week or so? I mean, with the payment itself, plus insurance, plus gas, regular maintenance, is it worth the price?

ghaff 5y ago
It would probably be cheaper but less convenient. I was in a ski house once with people who lived in Manhattan (carless) and every weekend they came up there was lots of planning and overhead associated with the rental car. Manhattan is obviously extreme but most people who can afford to do sso would rather just have a car they can jump into when they want to.
milkytron 5y ago
I don't have a car either for this exact reason. I could get a car, but the costs are just insane when compared with the alternatives. $8-10k a year in savings is usually what I come out to.
- perl4ever 5y ago
  Do you find, in general, that buying smaller slices of things from service providers tends to be cheaper?
  - ghaff 5y ago
    It depends how often you use them. Personally, $8-10K/year seems expensive unless you aren't trying to economize. I have an 11 year old ~$40Kish vehicle that I wouldn't typically pay $1K/year for maintenance and less on insurance. But there is certainly some point at which it makes economic sense to just rent, especially if you are paying to park the car. In a city with difficult parking I wouldn't pay to own a car to use every couple of months. But if you're going to be paying a few thousand dollars for local rentals for trips, plus some Uber, plus deliveries, plus some Zipcar, it starts to become pretty attractive to just own a car if only for the convenience.
    - milkytron 5y ago
      Yup, I live in a somewhat dense area with decent transit and bike commuting options. A car is more of a luxury than a necessity here and they are taxed heavily (insurance is also expensive where I live). I rent cars maybe once every few months, uber about the same amount, and never really get delivery service unless I'm with others and alcohol is involved. I fortunately do have a garage, but I use it as a gym and workshop area. I do plan on maybe getting a car at some point, but with my current lifestyle it just doesn't make sense. Also the car market seems to be in shambles right now.
    - mrep 5y ago
      > 11 year old ~$40Kish vehicle that I wouldn't typically pay $1K/year You have a high end bmw or something? New toyotas are cheaper than that with practically no maintenance. I myself spend $840 a year on insurance + 100 oil change/checkup and that is it besides gas.
      - perl4ever 5y ago
        Maybe they mean the price new was $40K. An 11 year old BMW is worth close to fourteen thousand than forty thousand.
  - milkytron 5y ago
    I do, but the smaller slices don't come out to the same size as what they would if I owned a car myself. I use rentals, ubers, and delivery services sparingly. If I owned, I'm sure I would drive a decent bit more. The other commenter said that 8-10k is expensive (which it is), the big hit there comes mainly from registration fees, taxes, insurance, and parking, all of which are not cheap where I live unless I were to buy a relatively old car that has significantly depreciated, since that's how those fees are assessed.
perl4ever 5y ago
Well, how much does it cost you to rent a car for a weekend? I just checked and it appears to be over $300 for the tiniest clown car available near me. That is roughly triple the federal mileage reimbursement rate (assuming 10Kmi per year), so I'm guessing renting every week would be more expensive than owning. Moreso if you drive very little, because insurance, gas, and maintenance are less when you drive less. They're not pets; they don't have to be fed and walked when you're not interacting with them. But I would be more concerned about the cost of having things delivered. I'm not sure if the scenario you are thinking of is going to the store to get a week's groceries, or to the mountains to snowboard. I'm also wondering whether the context is "every software engineer makes at least $500K" or "all the people with $1000 in their checking account will be first against the wall when the revolution comes".

ghaff 5y ago

It would probably be cheaper but less convenient. I was in a ski house once with people who lived in Manhattan (carless) and every weekend they came up there was lots of planning and overhead associated with the rental car. Manhattan is obviously extreme but most people who can afford to do sso would rather just have a car they can jump into when they want to.

milkytron 5y ago

I don't have a car either for this exact reason. I could get a car, but the costs are just insane when compared with the alternatives. $8-10k a year in savings is usually what I come out to.

perl4ever 5y ago
Do you find, in general, that buying smaller slices of things from service providers tends to be cheaper?
- ghaff 5y ago
  It depends how often you use them. Personally, $8-10K/year seems expensive unless you aren't trying to economize. I have an 11 year old ~$40Kish vehicle that I wouldn't typically pay $1K/year for maintenance and less on insurance. But there is certainly some point at which it makes economic sense to just rent, especially if you are paying to park the car. In a city with difficult parking I wouldn't pay to own a car to use every couple of months. But if you're going to be paying a few thousand dollars for local rentals for trips, plus some Uber, plus deliveries, plus some Zipcar, it starts to become pretty attractive to just own a car if only for the convenience.
  - milkytron 5y ago
    Yup, I live in a somewhat dense area with decent transit and bike commuting options. A car is more of a luxury than a necessity here and they are taxed heavily (insurance is also expensive where I live). I rent cars maybe once every few months, uber about the same amount, and never really get delivery service unless I'm with others and alcohol is involved. I fortunately do have a garage, but I use it as a gym and workshop area. I do plan on maybe getting a car at some point, but with my current lifestyle it just doesn't make sense. Also the car market seems to be in shambles right now.
  - mrep 5y ago
    > 11 year old ~$40Kish vehicle that I wouldn't typically pay $1K/year You have a high end bmw or something? New toyotas are cheaper than that with practically no maintenance. I myself spend $840 a year on insurance + 100 oil change/checkup and that is it besides gas.
    - perl4ever 5y ago
      Maybe they mean the price new was $40K. An 11 year old BMW is worth close to fourteen thousand than forty thousand.
- milkytron 5y ago
  I do, but the smaller slices don't come out to the same size as what they would if I owned a car myself. I use rentals, ubers, and delivery services sparingly. If I owned, I'm sure I would drive a decent bit more. The other commenter said that 8-10k is expensive (which it is), the big hit there comes mainly from registration fees, taxes, insurance, and parking, all of which are not cheap where I live unless I were to buy a relatively old car that has significantly depreciated, since that's how those fees are assessed.

perl4ever 5y ago

Well, how much does it cost you to rent a car for a weekend? I just checked and it appears to be over $300 for the tiniest clown car available near me. That is roughly triple the federal mileage reimbursement rate (assuming 10Kmi per year), so I'm guessing renting every week would be more expensive than owning. Moreso if you drive very little, because insurance, gas, and maintenance are less when you drive less. They're not pets; they don't have to be fed and walked when you're not interacting with them. But I would be more concerned about the cost of having things delivered. I'm not sure if the scenario you are thinking of is going to the store to get a week's groceries, or to the mountains to snowboard. I'm also wondering whether the context is "every software engineer makes at least $500K" or "all the people with $1000 in their checking account will be first against the wall when the revolution comes".