Long term car rental

[Celebrator]

A family member is going to be staying here for about 7 months starting in late October. She wants to have a car here but does not want to buy one if she can avoid it. She was thinking of renting one. Has anyone done this or does anyone know of a better solution for this need.

[stile99]

Just for grins, I looked at Enterprise, but didn't look further based on what I saw. If others offer long-term car rental, I assume prices would be similar, and using November 1-June 1 as the dates, the lowest price (meaning a compact car) was $800/month, and that's not factoring in any fees they might tack on. With the taxes, fees, and whatnot, they list a price of over $8,000 for that time period.

I know you said she would like to avoid buying a car, but it goes without saying that someone, somewhere, has a beater for half of that. Get that, then in six months sell it to some teen looking for his/her first car to recoup some of the money.

[Celebrator]

Just for grins, I looked at Enterprise, but didn't look further based on what I saw. If others offer long-term car rental, I assume prices would be similar, and using November 1-June 1 as the dates, the lowest price (meaning a compact car) was $800/month, and that's not factoring in any fees they might tack on. With the taxes, fees, and whatnot, they list a price of over $8,000 for that time period.

I know you said she would like to avoid buying a car, but it goes without saying that someone, somewhere, has a beater for half of that. Get that, then in six months sell it to some teen looking for his/her first car to recoup some of the money.

Right, but she's also wanting something reliable. So perhaps a beater Honda!

[Teo9969]

Buy the very best deal on a 3-4 year old car with 35k mile you can find. If you take care of it, you'll turn around and sell it for basically the same price 12 months from now. List it for sale 45 days before she leaves and if it sells before she leaves *then* rent a car at $800/month.

[Thomas Vu]

How long do car leases last?

[Pete]

It's an interesting problem I had once considered myself and there simply is not a good and reasonable solution, which seems odd.

The main issue with buying then selling a car is the tax friction built into the system. You pay tax when you buy, have to license the car, etc. The good news is that if you are already paying insurance and are merely getting a second car, the incremental cost is very low, as they realize you can only drive one car at a time.

No matter how I worked the numbers, buying still seems to be substantially cheaper than renting for more than a couple of months.

[Celebrator]

Thanks for taking the time, friends. Appreciate it.

[chuck5815]

She could look into taking over someone's lease. Might be a better option than trying to buy a junker, and definitely more affordable than trying to do a long-term rental.

http://www.swapalease.com/lease/sear...50&ipg=60&so=3

[Pete]

She could look into taking over someone's lease. Might be a better option than trying to buy a junker, and definitely more affordable than trying to do a long-term rental.

http://www.swapalease.com/lease/sear...50&ipg=60&so=3

That is a great idea!