4 ms·

Their mileage limit is 90 miles/day. My car has cost me £0.65/mile for all costs excluding fuel (which would I imagine be the big cost difference between the U

by to3m 14y ago

Their mileage limit is 90 miles/day. My car has cost me £0.65/mile for all costs excluding fuel (which would I imagine be the big cost difference between the UK, where I am, and America). I don't believe my car is even terribly expensive as cars go - TCO over 2 years so far would barely buy you a small hatchback - but at $10/day, I'd still be losing out simply based on the valet driver driving it ;) OK, so maybe if you ignore the cost of the car/insurance/car tax (since I would pay these anyway, whether I hire the car out or not), and focus only on repairs and servicing, because these are roughly proportional to distance driven, the cost is £0.07/mile. 90*0.07 = £6.30, which is pretty much $10. Perhaps my car is just more expensive to run than average (perhaps due to its age), or I take needlessly good care of it for a second-hand one, or whatever, and/or maintenance is super-cheap in America. But add in the risk of your average rental driver taking less care of your car than normal, quite apart from the bother of sorting out speeding and parking tickets, and it's starting to feel like I wouldn't be earning enough money from it to make up for the potential hassle.

toki5 14y ago
What if you include the value of not having to pay for airport parking? (in cases where e.g. you couldn't find a ride to the airport)
- to3m 14y ago
  Well, true enough. (You also save money on the taxi, if the alternative were taking one.) I just think there's a certain value to be attached to the bother of having the thing hired out with some random driving it while you're not around. I don't have an actual figure for what this value is, but my gut says that it's not sure airport parking is quite expensive enough to make up for it :) I'd want to be at least certainly making a profit on the basic rental, no matter what happens. (But then again, it's probably unlikely that every renter will drive it 90 miles per day. Additionally, perhaps the free carwash and valet clean should swing me more than it does. And maybe I've just always visited airports with cheap parking. Etc.) Realistically, I suppose, I've just made this decision somewhat irrationally, thinking of the bother and expense of sorting out a knackered clutch and a pile of parking tickets and a tank that's only half full (probably of the wrong type of fuel). But even after trying the more rational approach given in my original post, I'm not finding the figures to stack up well enough to convince my gut otherwise...
- changdizzle 14y ago
  yeah, at the bottom of the return receipt they actually give you a very rough estimate - long term airport parking for $18/day @ 10 days, + the $40 i received from flight car, add in the round-trip cost for a cab ~$100, and that's a +/- of $320. but, as to3m said and i had mentioned in my post, i don't know if it's worth the post-rental hassles as well as the added stress during your vacation - again, it was my choice, and i don't regret trying out the service
- gav 14y ago
  It's $18[1] to park at SFO. Assuming 4 days it's $40 vs. $-72, I'm not sure it would be worth $28/day to me to run the risk of damage to my car, tickets, etc. There is the upside of a carwash and not having to worry about damage in the lot. If I'm travelling on business somebody is going to be picking up the cost of parking anyway. [1] http://www.flysfo.com/web/page/parking/options/long-term/ http://www.flysfo.com/web/page/parking/options/long-term/
  - changdizzle 14y ago
    Exactly, or the cost of the cab to and from the airport
orangethirty 14y ago
Make/model of said car?
- to3m 14y ago
  2001 BMW 330d Sport.
  - orangethirty 14y ago
    In my experience (ex-mechanic here), BMWs do have a higher than average cost of ownership.
    - to3m 14y ago
      Possibly true. Anecdotally (just from talking to people) it seems like I don't pay much more, if at all, than do friends of mine with cars you might expect to be substantially cheaper to keep running. Perhaps it would be more costly if I went to a franchised dealer. Anyway, my feeling is borne out by the 2012/13 car running costs survey from the AA - see http://www.theaa.com/motoring_advice/running_costs/ http://www.theaa.com/motoring_advice/running_costs/. My car cost £30,000 when new so if we go for that column, expect £0.093/mi for maintenance, servicing and tyres. I bought it second hand, so if we go for the <£16,000 category instead, reflecting the price I paid, that's still £0.07/mi. (I haven't had to buy tyres for my car just yet. £0.093/mi is probably closer to the figure I'll actually have by the time I dispose of it.) So you could re-do my back-of-the-envelope calculations with these figures instead, but I don't think it comes out substantially more or less in favour. Though if I needed to pay $18/day for parking at the airport, maybe that would help change my mind - I suppose I have just always parked at cheap airports, then.
      - orangethirty 14y ago
        I just noticed it is a Diesel powered model, which have lower operating costs (in my experience). Still, for the amount of safety/features you get in that car, the cost is good.

by to3m 14y ago

toki5 14y ago

What if you include the value of not having to pay for airport parking? (in cases where e.g. you couldn't find a ride to the airport)

to3m 14y ago
Well, true enough. (You also save money on the taxi, if the alternative were taking one.) I just think there's a certain value to be attached to the bother of having the thing hired out with some random driving it while you're not around. I don't have an actual figure for what this value is, but my gut says that it's not sure airport parking is quite expensive enough to make up for it :) I'd want to be at least certainly making a profit on the basic rental, no matter what happens. (But then again, it's probably unlikely that every renter will drive it 90 miles per day. Additionally, perhaps the free carwash and valet clean should swing me more than it does. And maybe I've just always visited airports with cheap parking. Etc.) Realistically, I suppose, I've just made this decision somewhat irrationally, thinking of the bother and expense of sorting out a knackered clutch and a pile of parking tickets and a tank that's only half full (probably of the wrong type of fuel). But even after trying the more rational approach given in my original post, I'm not finding the figures to stack up well enough to convince my gut otherwise...
changdizzle 14y ago
yeah, at the bottom of the return receipt they actually give you a very rough estimate - long term airport parking for $18/day @ 10 days, + the $40 i received from flight car, add in the round-trip cost for a cab ~$100, and that's a +/- of $320. but, as to3m said and i had mentioned in my post, i don't know if it's worth the post-rental hassles as well as the added stress during your vacation - again, it was my choice, and i don't regret trying out the service
gav 14y ago
It's $18[1] to park at SFO. Assuming 4 days it's $40 vs. $-72, I'm not sure it would be worth $28/day to me to run the risk of damage to my car, tickets, etc. There is the upside of a carwash and not having to worry about damage in the lot. If I'm travelling on business somebody is going to be picking up the cost of parking anyway. [1] http://www.flysfo.com/web/page/parking/options/long-term/ http://www.flysfo.com/web/page/parking/options/long-term/
- changdizzle 14y ago
  Exactly, or the cost of the cab to and from the airport

orangethirty 14y ago

Make/model of said car?

to3m 14y ago
2001 BMW 330d Sport.
- orangethirty 14y ago
  In my experience (ex-mechanic here), BMWs do have a higher than average cost of ownership.
  - to3m 14y ago
    Possibly true. Anecdotally (just from talking to people) it seems like I don't pay much more, if at all, than do friends of mine with cars you might expect to be substantially cheaper to keep running. Perhaps it would be more costly if I went to a franchised dealer. Anyway, my feeling is borne out by the 2012/13 car running costs survey from the AA - see http://www.theaa.com/motoring_advice/running_costs/ http://www.theaa.com/motoring_advice/running_costs/. My car cost £30,000 when new so if we go for that column, expect £0.093/mi for maintenance, servicing and tyres. I bought it second hand, so if we go for the <£16,000 category instead, reflecting the price I paid, that's still £0.07/mi. (I haven't had to buy tyres for my car just yet. £0.093/mi is probably closer to the figure I'll actually have by the time I dispose of it.) So you could re-do my back-of-the-envelope calculations with these figures instead, but I don't think it comes out substantially more or less in favour. Though if I needed to pay $18/day for parking at the airport, maybe that would help change my mind - I suppose I have just always parked at cheap airports, then.
    - orangethirty 14y ago
      I just noticed it is a Diesel powered model, which have lower operating costs (in my experience). Still, for the amount of safety/features you get in that car, the cost is good.