My daughter will have a summer job where she needs a car. At the end of summer she will go back to college and will not need the car until next summer. Are we better off renting for three months or buying something and sell it after the summer. I like the idea that the rental company worries about taxes and insurance and at the end of the summer the car just goes away.
Any thoughts?
It’s normally less expensive to rent a car for that long. The combination of depreciation, some maintenance, sales tax, title chrges, insurance, etc. will add up. However,the big companies may not want to rent a car to your daughter or if they do, charge an exhorbitant insurance fee.
You should explore the “Rent a Wreck” folks, who rent older vehicles at a very attractive rate. My Visa card covers the daily $12+ insurance deductible. You should have a similar arrangement, since car rental companies make most of their money on this extra charge.
If your daughter has a very clean driving record, you may get a good deal from Rent-a-Wreck. The traditional Hertz, Avis firms will likely want a very high rate for new cars.
Years ago I went to Europe for 4 1/2 months, and ended up renting a 3 year old VW from a private garage, which was much cheaper than buying and reselling.
As Docnick said, they may not rent to your daughter or even you if your daughter is the driver. It’s an insurance issue. You might rent one for yourself and give her your car for the summer. Look on line at the car rental companies and read the fine print. It may say something about renting to people under 25.