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The cost of a car isn't just gas, you have to amortize the cost of the car depreciating, the maintenance, registration, etc. For a quick example, https://www.ne
by wardedVibe 5y ago
The cost of a car isn't just gas, you have to amortize the cost of the car depreciating, the maintenance, registration, etc. For a quick example, https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/loans/auto-loans/total-cost-owning-car https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/loans/auto-loans/total-co... has a monthly cost of 690 using average (used) values and 0 dollars for gas. So you can drive 17 days a month and still come out ahead renting. There are services like zipcar, or [hourcar](https://hourcar.org/individual/ https://hourcar.org/individual/) that make renting significantly more convenient, though the costs are marginally higher if all of your trips are full day.
I've done this calculation multiple times in my life, and because I mostly get around via bike (perks of living in college towns which have to invest in non-car infrastructure), its never been worth buying a car.
- jjav 5y agoI spent $4205 on car expenses last year, not including fuel (since I'd pay fuel separately on a rental car as well). That's for two cars (spouse & I), so I'll say $2100 per car. The cheapest rental car I could find (searched kayak.com) is $72/day. So, renting could only be cheaper if I used a car less than 2100/72 = 29 days per year. But that's not counting cost or inconvenience/time of getting and returning that rental car. The few times I'd had to rent a car I've had to get an Uber ride to get to the rental place and then back home, so that adds another $20 or so to the rental.