driving own car for roadtrip...yay or nay?

[ManofSteal]

I have a 2000 Honda Civic and in the summer i took a road trip with a few friends from NJ to FL. We drove straight thru without sleeping anywere and it took us about 18hrs.

 

[0roo0roo]

a 2003 1 month old civic is new, a 2002 is not new. drive it.

 

[dullard]

Lets assume you will own the car for 5 more years. Also I'll assume you drive it like normal people so in 5 years you'll have about 75000 miles. Now what is the price difference between 6 year old Civic with 75000 miles and one with 77000 miles? I went to kbb.com, choose the trade-in-value, and picked a 1997 Civic LX with the default configuration in Excellent condition. With 75000 miles it was $5125, with 77000 miles it was $5075. So basically the milage makes your car lose $50 in value. Lets add in wear and tear and an extra oil change: $50. So it costs you $100 to drive your own car (plus gas). Now how much would it cost to rent? I can't imagine it would cost less than $100 (plus gas). The math says to drive your own.

By the way, just 3 months ago I drove my 2002 Civic LX on a road trip (8 hours each way). So I follow my own advice.

 

[opticalmace]

why buy it if you're not gonna make the most of it?
you paid a lot for it, enjoy it

 

[thomsbrain]

if i was going to do a trip like that but wasn't going to stay more than one night and would return the car to the same place, and weren't charging by the mile, i'd rent. then i would flog the rental mercilessly the whole way and have a blast. but i'm sure if they charge by the mile, it's cheaper to drive your own, and with a civic, you'll be getting good gas mileage.

 

[DainBramaged]

I would take your car if I were you.

 

[NeoPTLD]

Depends on how many miles you have already and if you're planning on selling soon.

As you put mileage, price goes down sharply, tapering down in rate of depreciation and past about ~100,000 miles, mileage have little effect on vehicle value.