8 votes

Why your next rental car might cost more than a plane ticket

15 comments

  1. [9]
    knocklessmonster
    Link
    I live in a tourist town and was looking at a three-month economy rental through Enterprise for $2900, which is fair for my area (might need one for an internship, but need to scale back down when...

    I live in a tourist town and was looking at a three-month economy rental through Enterprise for $2900, which is fair for my area (might need one for an internship, but need to scale back down when it ends). I think this scarcity is more about areas with a hard time getting cars: rural areas, island states/nations, that sort of thing.

    6 votes
    1. [8]
      skybrian
      Link Parent
      For that price it seems like you could buy a used car on Craigslist and get some money back when you sell?

      For that price it seems like you could buy a used car on Craigslist and get some money back when you sell?

      6 votes
      1. [3]
        teaearlgraycold
        Link Parent
        Depends how much you’ll pay for the convenience of not dealing with title, registration, insurance, and the effort involved in buying and selling the car.

        Depends how much you’ll pay for the convenience of not dealing with title, registration, insurance, and the effort involved in buying and selling the car.

        8 votes
        1. [2]
          whbboyd
          Link Parent
          And the… experience… of a $2,900 car. COVID did quite a number on already high used car prices; in a lot of places, that's verging on junker territory.

          And the… experience… of a $2,900 car. COVID did quite a number on already high used car prices; in a lot of places, that's verging on junker territory.

          9 votes
          1. wycy
            Link Parent
            It doesn’t necessarily need to be a $3k car, it just needs to be a car whose depreciation + tax/title/reg is significantly less than $3k in 3 months. It could be worth buying, e.g., a $7k car,...

            It doesn’t necessarily need to be a $3k car, it just needs to be a car whose depreciation + tax/title/reg is significantly less than $3k in 3 months. It could be worth buying, e.g., a $7k car, which could very likely be resold for roughly the same amount within 3 months. At that point the net cost would just be whatever tax/title/reg/insurance was. But this is a higher effort undertaking which may not be worth it.

            2 votes
      2. stu2b50
        Link Parent
        Not OP, but cars are to me what computers are to other people. I barely know how they work, I just need them as a utilitarian device to get from point A to point B. I would not trust myself to...

        Not OP, but cars are to me what computers are to other people. I barely know how they work, I just need them as a utilitarian device to get from point A to point B.

        I would not trust myself to properly judge, operate, or fix a beater I found on Craigslist. If something breaks on the road and I pull over, I have no idea what to do.

        I would definitely have no idea how to market and sell the thing by the time I leave.

        I would much rather rent a relatively new boring Japanese sedan for a significant premium.

        4 votes
      3. [3]
        knocklessmonster
        Link Parent
        Plus insurance and registration, then I have to re-sell. When all that is said and done, we're looking at a $4,000 car for a few months either way, I'm sure, because I'd need insurance for the...

        Plus insurance and registration, then I have to re-sell. When all that is said and done, we're looking at a $4,000 car for a few months either way, I'm sure, because I'd need insurance for the rental (don't have any myself). I'm sure they would work out to roughly equivalent, but I can turn the rental in at any time, and potentially discount my costs, which are charged after the vehicle is turned in if I don't need the car the whole time.

        2 votes
        1. [2]
          skybrian
          Link Parent
          Sure, the price of the car would need to be less than that to guarantee that you come out ahead, and there's a question of what you'd be getting. I suppose the other thing to compare it to would...

          Sure, the price of the car would need to be less than that to guarantee that you come out ahead, and there's a question of what you'd be getting.

          I suppose the other thing to compare it to would be Uber / Lyft, since $2900 would pay for a lot of rides.

          3 votes
          1. knocklessmonster
            (edited )
            Link Parent
            I just did that! Assuming there are a significant amount of other fees for the rental, it actually comes out cheaper, I think, even with Uber's 25% service charge.

            I suppose the other thing to compare it to would be Uber / Lyft, since $2900 would pay for a lot of rides.

            I just did that! Assuming there are a significant amount of other fees for the rental, it actually comes out cheaper, I think, even with Uber's 25% service charge.

            2 votes
  2. boltsky
    Link
    Surprised there’s no mention of Hertz(/Dollar/Thrifty) filing for bankruptcy. That must have hampered their operations and affected rental car supply.

    Surprised there’s no mention of Hertz(/Dollar/Thrifty) filing for bankruptcy. That must have hampered their operations and affected rental car supply.

    5 votes
  3. [4]
    BlindCarpenter
    Link
    I'm in Canada. Does the States seriously have the pandemic that controlled now that there is that much travel permitted? Where I am in Canada we are still stuck within our health region.

    I'm in Canada. Does the States seriously have the pandemic that controlled now that there is that much travel permitted? Where I am in Canada we are still stuck within our health region.

    4 votes
    1. petrichor
      (edited )
      Link Parent
      We never bothered to shut down interstate travel in the first place. Although yes, cases / day in the United States have been trending downwards since the middle of January and are now back to...

      We never bothered to shut down interstate travel in the first place.

      Although yes, cases / day in the United States have been trending downwards since the middle of January and are now back to July levels. Still bad, but that doesn't seem to stop anyone.

      11 votes
    2. stu2b50
      Link Parent
      There was never much of an effort to enforce domestic travel restrictions - clearly Trump wasn't going to do anything, and what state and local governments could do to actually prevent other...

      There was never much of an effort to enforce domestic travel restrictions - clearly Trump wasn't going to do anything, and what state and local governments could do to actually prevent other Americans from traveling down their roads wasn't exactly clear even if they wanted to.

      For instance, California has this travel advisory. If you're vaccinated, just wear a mask on public transport; if not, get a test before, get a test after, and quarantine for 10 days after arrival.

      Is it enforced in any way shape or fashion? Nope.

      4 votes
    3. teaearlgraycold
      Link Parent
      Every health order over the last year has been pretty much self enforced with the exception of masks inside businesses (and even then it's not 100%). Governors have called for testing when...

      Every health order over the last year has been pretty much self enforced with the exception of masks inside businesses (and even then it's not 100%). Governors have called for testing when crossing state borders. I did that (plus quarantines) the couple times I traveled over state lines but 99% of people probably didn't.

      3 votes
  4. skybrian
    Link
    From the article: [...]

    From the article:

    The problem has been especially prevalent this spring in warm-weather destinations including Florida, Texas, California, Arizona, Hawaii and Puerto Rico, experts say. Social media posts reveal fruitless searches, exorbitant prices and photos of long lines of people waiting for vehicles.

    [...]

    Woronka said moving vehicles around is expensive and time-consuming for the rental car companies, and the chip shortage is making it difficult to rebuild fleets economically. He said there are still unknowns about how the situation will eventually be resolved, but he doesn’t expect a very quick fix.

    “I am not overly optimistic that we are going to have all the rental cars we need for peak summer travel season,” he said.

    Weinberg said he expects to start seeing shortages in other areas as summer approaches, especially near national parks. In those cases, he said, it might be necessary to rent a car farther from the attraction and bake a longer-than-planned road trip into the vacation.

    1 vote