anyone rent cars instead of buying or leasing?

[oceans_end]

iam thinking of just renting cars for the weekend, since i take the bus to school on weekdays, parking pass cost $400/semester+ i wouldnt wnana drive in GTA rush hour anyway....

if i rent a car friday morning-monday morning enterprise fee for full size

Chevy Impala, Ford Taurus or similar $ 19.94 CAD / day
$ 104.68 CAD Total

so a month i would pay about $400 for transportation+say 150 for gas

if buying a fullsize car i would pay 300 car loan, 200 gas, 350 insurance + any repairs/maintenance/oil change


am i overlooking something here or is renting a car the smarter choice?

[gilboman]

iam thinking of just renting cars for the weekend, since i take the bus to school on weekdays, parking pass cost $400/semester+ i wouldnt wnana drive in GTA rush hour anyway....

if i rent a car friday morning-monday morning enterprise fee for full size

Chevy Impala, Ford Taurus or similar $ 19.94 CAD / day
$ 104.68 CAD Total

so a month i would pay about $400 for transportation+say 150 for gas

if buying a fullsize car i would pay 300 car loan, 200 gas, 350 insurance + any repairs/maintenance/oil change


am i overlooking something here or is renting a car the smarter choice?

obvious difference is you won't have a car during the week :lol:

not to mention if u buying a car, the car is yours

[nopn]

iam thinking of just renting cars for the weekend, since i take the bus to school on weekdays, parking pass cost $400/semester+ i wouldnt wnana drive in GTA rush hour anyway....

if i rent a car friday morning-monday morning enterprise fee for full size

Chevy Impala, Ford Taurus or similar $ 19.94 CAD / day
$ 104.68 CAD Total

so a month i would pay about $400 for transportation+say 150 for gas

if buying a fullsize car i would pay 300 car loan, 200 gas, 350 insurance + any repairs/maintenance/oil change


am i overlooking something here or is renting a car the smarter choice?

You miss a few parts for renting the car.
1) the insurance for the rental car (if you are under 25 something),
2) how will you pick up that rental car (by taxi $$$)?
3) how would you compare the gas like this, should the modern car more fuel economic, $200 vs $150
4) and more.......

just buy the car if you want a car for a long term purpose, otherwise rent the car.
Or just take the TTC, i believe under $100/ month

[Bullseye]

I worked for Enterprise many years ago, and there used to be people who did this, rented every weekend. Back then, you could get a small car for $9.99 per weekend day, and you'd almost always get upgraded. The people doing this didn't need a vehicle during the week for work, and I got the impression that the main reason for doing it was because their insurance records were bad. They used a premium credit card to cover the daily insurance on the rental, so their cost for doing this was very low. I suspect it would still be worthwhile to do for those over 25 and with high insurance costs, if you can live without a car during the week. Car rental places don't mind, their main market is business customers, or insurance replacement, so they often have car sitting all weekend anyways. Hence the good weekend deals you see.

As for how you get to the car...Enterprise will pick you up at home, and drop you off afterwards. I think some other agencies do this as well.

[nopn]

may be consider this onefrom hot deal (http://www.redflagdeals.com/forums/showthread.php?t=266071) :razz:

[thebigcmb]

As an alternative to renting a car, have you considered car sharing programs, like Autoshare?
http://www.autoshare.com/

I must admit I don't actually have any experience with them, so maybe a current or former member could reply. I am intrigued by the idea and seriously considered it a while back, but realized I would not have used it enough to make it worthwhile.

If you don't know anything about car sharing, it's where you become a member of of an organization that owns tons of cars in different locations in the city (Autoshare has 50 in Toronto). There is a small monthly membership fee ($10 - $25 depending on membership plan) and you pay for an hourly fee for use ($5.50 - $6.50, again depending on membership plan) and for mileage (18 cents/km). However, unlike a car rental, you don't have to pay for gas (just keep the receipt if you have to fill it up and it will be reimbursed) or insurance.

My understanding that it is not a viable option if:

you need a car to go on overnight, out-of-town trips;
you would use the car the entire weekend (as opposed to a trip here and there);
you don't live in Toronto (or somewhere else that has such an organization).


As a bonus, you could also use it on weekdays if necessary.

Just a thought.

[oceans_end]

may be consider this onefrom hot deal (http://www.redflagdeals.com/forums/showthread.php?t=266071) :razz:


i saw the thread first and thought of renting just the weekend... well friday -monday thats like 4 days....

i have a gold card so i wont pay extra insurance anyway, even with the extra $30 enterprise charges for renters under 25 it still comes to 109 for a compact... maybe likle 20 bux more for the fullsize for the whole weekend...

[eyebunnn]

I thought that you had to have insurance to rent from Enterprise if you're under 25?

I remember calling them a few months ago and was denied rental because I was under 25 and had no insurance...

Anyone here w/o insurance and under 25 able to rent from Enterprise?

[MrDisco]

You miss a few parts for renting the car.
2) how will you pick up that rental car (by taxi $$$)?


2. they will pick you up (and at the location i used they also dropped me off)

also i paid $17 and change for a full size car (be sure to book online as its cheaper vs phoning in and doing it). for them a weekend is Friday to Monday morning.