To rent or buy?

Just reading this article

http://www.independent.ie/life/motoring/car-news/it-makes-more-sense-for-me-to-rent-a-car-than-pay-skyhigh-irish-insurance-premiums-35431512.html

"Insurance premiums are so high that it can be cheaper to rent a car on a regular basis. That is certainly what education expert Sue Whyte discovered after she was quoted a huge figure following an accident."

I know this person had a jump in their premium due to a claim, but could it be the case that people into the future will rent their car as and when they'll need one?

I know some people here say that 15,000 miles a year is the tipping point to buy diesel but what about renting a car? What are the conditions under which this would be economically viable?

Could it promote the use of using electric cars more if they were available to rent?

Del2005

Good idea till everyone starts doing it and the cost of rental shoots up.

Del2005

Del2005 wrote: »

Good idea till everyone starts doing it and the cost of rental shoots up.

I was thinking that and it may well happen yet. Obviously if you ever had to get back into the insurance market your premiums would be sky high also.

Dazza123

Renting is not cheap. I am paying around 1100 euro per month to rent a ****ty skoda citigo 1.0 . Granted its an automatic and automatics are a little bit more expensive to rent than manuals. Its through hertz. You might be able to find cheaper, but rental places only rent a car out for 28 days at a time i believe, we have to return it every 28 days and grab a different car which is a pain

Buffman

Dazza123 wrote: »

Renting is not cheap. I am paying around 1100 euro per month to rent a ****ty skoda citigo 1.0 .

I think you're paying way too much for that, just had a quick random check on Hertz there for a month on a group A, €420 on site or 380 pre-pay. For the sort of money you're paying you should be driving an group W A4.

I'd say shop around.

oppenheimer1

Deleted User wrote: »

Just reading this article

http://www.independent.ie/life/motoring/car-news/it-makes-more-sense-for-me-to-rent-a-car-than-pay-skyhigh-irish-insurance-premiums-35431512.html

"Insurance premiums are so high that it can be cheaper to rent a car on a regular basis. That is certainly what education expert Sue Whyte discovered after she was quoted a huge figure following an accident."

I know this person had a jump in their premium due to a claim, but could it be the case that people into the future will rent their car as and when they'll need one?

I know some people here say that 15,000 miles a year is the tipping point to buy diesel but what about renting a car? What are the conditions under which this would be economically viable?

Could it promote the use of using electric cars more if they were available to rent?

The maths in that article doesn't make sense. You'd be hard pushed to find a vehicle to rent for less than €20/day (a focus would be €30/day) and that's with a massive damage excess. Excess insurance is another €5 day. This was something I did before I bought so I am familiar with the numbers

Renting isn't a practical option for anyone who needs a car more than only at weekends or for those who live a distance from a city. And it's a pain in the arse collecting and retuning the vehicle.

Dazza123

Buffman wrote: »

I think you're paying way too much for that, just had a quick random check on Hertz there for a month on a group A, €420 on site or 380 pre-pay. For the sort of money you're paying you should be driving an group W A4.

I'd say shop around.

yep 380, then you are best to take out the excess cover, which is 500 per month so they don't screw you on scratches etc.

and i have my partner as an added driver usually 9 euro per day i have it at 5per day. which is around 150 per month.

It all adds up

Idbatterim

Heard of carhireexcess.com etc?!

Buffman

oppenheimer1 wrote: »

Renting isn't a practical option for anyone who needs a car more than only at weekends or for those who live a distance from a city.

Ye, I'd say the only scenario where the sums would add up is where the person has no NCB and/or accident history like the lady in the article or people returning from working abroad etc, who've lost their NCB due to the two year rule.

Though that's only kicking the can down the street, as they won't be building up an NCB while renting either.

Dazza123 wrote: »

yep 380, then you are best to take out the excess cover, which is 500 per month so they don't screw you on scratches etc.

and i have my partner as an added driver usually 9 euro per day i have it at 5per day. which is around 150 per month.

It all adds up

Ye, I see where you're coming from. It's that extra €500 that's screwing you. For that sort of money per month, I'd almost chance it and get any minor damage repaired privately.

Squeaksoutloud

I actually did this for a period of 6 Months between company cars. I was shocked at how cheap it was working out although it wasn't high season. I got an annual car hire excess policy for 50quid. Had an astra, focus, Mazda 3 etc for 28 day periods and price per month ranged from about 300 to 450 each period. Not bad considering depreciation, maintenance, insurance all taken care of and a brand new car each time. U also save by not renting the car for when u don't need it as we already had one car. Eg. Away on Hols or over Christmas when we only needed one. Ryanair or a direct link to cartrawler I had seemed to make it cheaper than other sites too.

Teddington Cuddlesworth

I read a very interesting article on Deloitte university about the future of motoring.
The article itself is somewhere in this link

https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/pages/about-deloitte/topics/future-of-mobility.html

I don't have the time to try find it at the minute but will later on.

It gave a very insightful look into how it is more likely, with fully autonomous vehicles, that people will rent and car ownership with diminish.

Happy_Harry

The actual article seems to be a disguised ad for Enterprise. I have been doing this for years and I can say for sure, you don't rent a car for € 3000 /year if you rent 365 days/year,  nor do car companies let you rent for longer than 28 days in one go. Also, the fact that Enterprise is being mentioned a couple of times in the article makes it smell.
Enterprise is also not the most competitive company out there, they have very good customer service but their quotes come in generally uncompetitive, and as a result, I use them only 3/4 weeks on average per year.
Now, obviously I stand to be corrected, so would be nice to hear if there is actually anyone here that rents rather than buys and find Enterprise the most competitive. I would like to know where I have gone wrong all those years.

Prices are seasonally dictated, you can rent a C class for €50 a week right now, but the same car will cost you about €3-400/week during some weeks in high season and typically I would say on average it will come in at about €400/month. 

To Dazza... please stop paying 500/month for excess cover. Get that covered for €50/year. Also..you should look at the added driver, Hertz gives you that for free if you sign up to their gold club ( you would need to have a direct booking with Hertz then though I would assume, not through a broker like Ryanair)

One more clarification... carhire companies in Ireland are not out to screw you on dents and scratches, they are typically very good I find.

Buffman

Dazza123 wrote: »

yep 380, then you are best to take out the excess cover, which is 500 per month so they don't screw you on scratches etc.

and i have my partner as an added driver usually 9 euro per day i have it at 5per day. which is around 150 per month.

It all adds up

Idbatterim wrote: »

Heard of carhireexcess.com etc?!

Dazza123, if you're planning on renting long term you should look at that. Get the Annual European cover. €100 for you and five family members including co-habiting partner. It has to be taken out before signing the rental agreement so worth thinking about at your next car swap. €100 per year V €500 per month! Almost seems too good to be true.

http://www.carhireexcess.ie/#

Idbatterim

Dazza123, if you're planning on renting long term you should look at that. Get the Annual European cover. €100 for you and five family members including co-habiting partner. It has to be taken out before signing the rental agreement so worth thinking about at your next car swap. €100 per year V €500 per month! Almost seems too good to be true.

there are limitations, like 59 days max per one rental on carhirexcess. You could maybe then use another company for the next two months and then back to carhireexcess.com, you need to check small print and ideally find place that does free additional driver...

Buffman

Idbatterim wrote: »

there are limitations, like 59 days max per one rental on carhirexcess. You could maybe then use another company for the next two months and then back to carhireexcess.com, you need to check small print and ideally find place that does free additional driver...

I just had a quick look through their FAQs, if the rental companies here only rent for a 28 day limit, then as long as the paperwork is done correctly, with each car swap being a 'new' rental, I think it would be OK.

What is the maximum duration of continual cover allowed on this policy?

Single Policy - 180 days any one continuous rental.
Annual Policy - 62 days any one continuous rental, unlimited rentals.

Dazza123

Wow that is all great information thanks guys. Slight problem for me though , we have been renting with my partner as the main driver as she held a full Australian licence and is 28 years old as oppose to me i had a provisional p2 australian licence and 25 years old. I have since exchanged my licence with the NDLS for a full Irish Driving Licence. I have my drivers licence number etc but have not received my physical licence in the mail yet. SO therefore i wont be able to rent until i receive that i assume.
The Annual european and worldwide cover thing which is 50 per year is only available to permanent residents of Ireland. Which my partner is not yet a permanent resident. She is Australian i am Irish returning from a couple years in Australia with her.

Happy_Harry

Dazza123 wrote: »

Wow that is all great information thanks guys. Slight problem for me though , we have been renting with my partner as the main driver as she held a full Australian licence and is 28 years old as oppose to me i had a provisional p2 australian licence and 25 years old. I have since exchanged my licence with the NDLS for a full Irish Driving Licence. I have my drivers licence number etc but have not received my physical licence in the mail yet. SO therefore i wont be able to rent until i receive that i assume.
The Annual european and worldwide cover thing which is 50 per year is only available to permanent residents of Ireland. Which my partner is not yet a permanent resident. She is Australian i am Irish returning from a couple years in Australia with her.

OK, that explains your situation a bit better... did they actually let you drive a car (as an added driver with an Australian provisional license ??) 
Can she not take out an Australian carhire excess insurance ? From looking at this in the past, there are UK policies that don't have residency rules, so she can take out one of those as well..
Once you get your Irish license, will you have "held a driving license" for a long enough period to qualify as main renter ? Some companies have restrictions on this. Either way, your girlfriend should be able to get an excess insurance policy.

Dazza123

Happy_Harry wrote: »

OK, that explains your situation a bit better... did they actually let you drive a car (as an added driver with an Australian provisional license ??) 
Can she not take out an Australian carhire excess insurance ? From looking at this in the past, there are UK policies that don't have residency rules, so she can take out one of those as well..
Once you get your Irish license, will you have "held a driving license" for a long enough period to qualify as main renter ? Some companies have restrictions on this. Either way, your girlfriend should be able to get an excess insurance policy.

Yep they let me, not sure if they were meant to tho
ok will look into a uk or Aussie excess insurance, see i don't know about the ''held a driving license'' for a long period, technically i have held my licence since 2013, but now i have changed it over to Irish i have basically not held my licence for any length of time so I'm not sure how they view that.
Hopefully i can just get insurance in my car now i have changed to a full Irish licence and don't have to keep going down this renting route..

bmwguy

Unfortunately it is an advertisement for Enterprise. Have to be very careful in media today, newspapers, social media even sites such as this when trying to differentiate between a news story and an ad.

I have to admit it got my interest to such a point that I was googling car hire comparison, went to a few sites only to find vastly different figures.

It's not as cheap as in the story, even now in February and low demand season. Numbers just don't work on a like for like car. Yes, it may be possible to constantly hire a micra for cheaper than owning a mondeo, but like for like? No way.