Question for drivers in their first year

YES! When I update my auto insurance mine also asks, "business, pleasure, commute to work", but I never have to verify miles. I mean after all, if it is pleasure driving then I could drive say from Mass to Ca, how can they deny me that isn't a pleasurable drive?

I don't "see it", the savings that is. If you have dropped your auto insurance as you say, then you have to get the insurance from the car rental, otherwise they just do not allow you to rent, You have to pay for full coverage, as those cars are new, and under warranty. I think that you are paying at the very least 25-35% higher premiums for thier insurance. Now do that several times a year as you say, and you really ain't saving nothing, other than maybe the paperwork and all the other major inconveniences if you crash the car, you can basically do some small amount of paperwork, then walk away.

You are also paying for taxes on that rental. They include everything in the rental agreement. I just do not see the yearly savings, oh yeah, if you have a car for more than one day, you have to gas it up too, right? You can pay a refueling charge, meaning that you can bring the car back on an empty tank, but here again, you have to PAY extra for that.

And you also say if you need a truck, you rent out a truck, at even a higher cost? I know, trucks are NOT cheaper to rent over cars.

I don't see the savings you speak of. I just don't.

Can you give us copies of your total outlay, each time you rent, for the year?

Otherwise, I have to call your bluff about renting.

 

I don't keep a personal vehicle at home any more. I pick up stuff that I need, go shopping, on my way home in the big rig.

If I do need a car, I can rent a 3 day special, weekend rental from Enterprise. $9.99 per day, with taxes and fees, costs me $33.27 for the 3 days, pick-up Friday, drop-off on Monday. Locked in, have to take it for 3 days to get that rate. Enterprise picks me up and drops me back off at home for that rental.

If I don't need 3 days, I can get a 1, 2 or 3 day weekend rental from Thrifty at the Des Moines airport. One day for as little as $10 base, $14 all taxes and fees included. I need to take a public bus to get to the airport for that one.

The low cost rentals limit me to weekend home time but that is fine by me. If I needed a weekday rental I could get something reasonable from one of those two outfits and it would still work out far less expensive than having a car sit around unused most of the time while I am out on the road.

Plus it is no fuss, no muss. I get a clean car at the start of the rental, no worries about care or maintenance on a vehicle at home. The low cost rentals rates are for the smallest compact (fine by me) but they have gotten to know me at Enterprise and I regularly get an upgrade all the up to a mid-sized car when I rent with them.

 

Do the math. What are you currently spending each month for your vehicle? I.e. Payment (if you have one), insurance, property taxes (semi-annual), and fuel. Project what you'll be spending on fuel given YOUR new/projected scenario.

The reason I say this...literally every persons situation is going to be different, so just going off what people on the internets say is pointless. I.e. It takes me 10 miles to get to my terminal and my car gets 40+ MPG. I drive to work M-F (LTL). I spend less in fuel each week than an OTR guy that takes1.5 hrs to get to their terminal (does it once a week) and drives a 14 MPG truck.

My $.02...I wouldn't be comfortable being vehicle-less because my current at will Enployment position leaves me not necessarily needing one. If you've got money in savings or credit that you'd need to buy wheels if/when your employment lapses and you want to save a buck in the mean time...I guess go for it.

 

I'm trying to understand why this would even be important, being trucker, you will have so much money that you can own a car for each day of the week and afford to keep them in climate controlled garage so if you get home on Tuesday, you can use Tuesday's car.

 

If anyone made that much money, I'd rather have several homes, one on the French Riviera, One In The British Virgin Islands, One in the Philippines, one in Hawaii, one in Havana, and a refrigerator box under I-95 in Virginia.

 

its not about the cost to some, it's about ownership. I use enterprise/triangle as well when I go out of town and I don't want to use my own car for the trip. Bottom line if you can get around without having a car than go for it. I prefer having my own car because I am home every weekend

 

If I was home every weekend, I'd definitely keep a car as well.

 

My personal insurance didnt change at all when I went over the road but my gas bill went from 180-240 a month to 85 a month. When I came off the road my gas bill went down slightly as my commute is shorter than before going over the road. My commute now is 7 miles round trip and my pickup gets about 28mpg. It's my little commuter so on weekends it sits parked and I drive the wife's car.

 

Get a beater just for work, a nice cheap 4-banger? Minimum coverage on insurance, tires last forever, and a few mechanical issues aren't really all that bad, are they?