Are there good reasons to rent a car when you own a car already? In short, it depends.
1. Being somewhere your car isn’t (travel) – Yes
2. Car in the shop (or know something is wrong with your car) – Yes
3. Car isn’t big enough for hauling people or stuff – Yes
Makes sense. In fact, clever people will buy a small car that meets 90%+ of their needs and rent on occcasion. Many people can occasionally make good use of a pickup truck. However, paying a premium for a truck, insurance, and poorer gas milage will be more than buying a small car and renting a truck on occasion.
4. Car failure rate based on age – Maybe
The BBC found that during the course of a year, a 3 year old car will has a 15-30% failure rate while a 10 year old car will have a 30-50% failure rate. But this is on vehicle inspection, not saying the car is broken down leaving one stranded. Our intuition says older cars break down more frequently but know of many stories new cars being lemons while some old cars going on forever. Unfortunately, it is very difficult to predict that choosing a rental car will be more reliable. There is some solice that if you are somewhere and the rental car breaks, it is the rental car companies burden but you will be kicking yourself for your own car.
5. Wearand Tear on the car (taking advantage of unlimited milage) – It depends on distance
Here is an example of real-life situation where it was slightly cheaper to use a rental
Download Comparing the cost of a trip using a rental car vs. personal car (Excel format) to try for your situation.
6. Range of electric car – Yes
If your main car is an electric car, it is likely to be unreasonable electric for more than 200 miles a day. This is often an excuse not to get an electric but as stated above, supplementing with a rental can make sense.
7. You own a gas guzzler – It depends
The above spreadsheet worked for the trip in question even though the rental car got worse gas milage. The reverse situation can be true too. Download the example spreadsheet to determine for your situation. Download Comparing the cost of a trip using a rental car vs. personal car (Excel format) to try for your situation.
