Rental car deals may save you money

When taking a driving vacation, the price of gas certainly comes into play. Besides gas, there are other expenses, such as insurance and maintenance. Depending on the circumstances, it may save you money to rent a car for your trip. 

More below.

Renting a car may make sense in a lot of cases

Buying a car is expensive and driving a car is expensive. But this is the time of year when people take vacations, and a lot of those vacations are taken by automobile. Does it make sense to take your car? Would it make sense to rent one instead? Would that be cheaper?

As always, the answer is, “It depends.” Circumstances vary, and so do the costs. Depending on where you live, who’s going with you and how far you need to go, it may very well make sense to rent a car instead of taking your own.

The American Automobile Association figures that it costs about $7 per $100 miles (7¢ per mile) plus the cost of gas to drive your own car. That seven cents includes wear and tear, maintenance, tires, insurance and whatever other expenses go into owning a car. In order to determine if it makes sense to rent, you need to see if it’s cheaper. You can determine that by finding out how many miles you expect to drive, how many gallons of gas you will probably use and how much it will cost you to rent a car. Keep in mind that if you rent, you still have the expense of purchasing gas for the trip.

Rental car prices can be all over the map, depending on where you live, when you want to rent and how long you intend to use the car. There are times when there are special rates in effect that are so cheap it wouldn’t make sense to do anything else. There are other, high-demand times of the year when renting cars should be left only for those who find it absolutely necessary.

There are other factors that come into play when you rent a car. There is generally a fee for additional drivers. If one of the drivers is under 25, that fee may be prohibitively expensive. There are also additional fees for insurance. Your own auto insurance or your credit card may provide some protection, but you should look into that before you rent.

If you live in the western United States and are planning a long trip, renting may provide some peace of mind that comes with being more likely to avoid a breakdown. In the western states, big cities are hundreds of miles apart and breaking down in the middle of nowhere can ruin a vacation quickly. For many travelers, knowing that a fairly-new rental car isn’t likely to break down can be the deciding factor in whether or not one rents. If your own car has a large number of miles on it, that factor alone may help make your decision for you.

If the only vehicle you own is a gas guzzling SUV and you are taking a 1000 mile trip, it might make sense to rent an economical car rather than take your own.  For most travelers, it’s a simple matter of doing the math to see which option works best.

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