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How to get a car for just 3 months?

F

FearoftheNight

Diamond Member
Hey guys. I might need to move to SD from NYC for 3 months. What would you do if you needed a car for that time?

Guys to clarify. It's not for work. My school has a location in SD (I'm in NYC) and I'd like go there instead of spending winter in this area. I have a car I love (vw gti) so I have insurance.
 
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If you have reasonable liquidity I'd buy something cheap on craigslist and then sell it when you're done. Usually don't lose much on the flip and can sometimes come out on top.
 
Long-term car rental:

http://www.enterprise.com/car_rental/momInfo.do

Or just buy a cheapie off Craigslist & flip it when you're done. I don't remember the exact pricing of the long-term rentals, but I think a basic car is around $450 a month if you pay up front (you can easily double or triple that...my buddy rented sports cars when he was in town on business for a month or two and it was $$$ haha). Some comparisons:

http://www.reviews.com/car-rental/long-term/

Some tips:

http://traveltips.usatoday.com/cheapest-way-rent-car-two-months-63325.html
 
I don't know the exact rate, but I'd guess it's at least $600 per month to rent a vehicle long term. So, for 3 months, you're spending $1800. Plus, since you don't have a car, I presume you don't have auto insurance. Thus, you're forced to use their insurance.

So, for just a little more, maybe $3k, you could purchase a vehicle, and resell it 3 months later for about the same amount. Upside: you're only out a few hundred dollars, if that, so it saves you a considerable amount of money. Downside: time to register the vehicle, get insurance, etc. - significantly more paperwork; older vehicle with an increased probability of problems.
 
DrPizza said:
I don't know the exact rate, but I'd guess it's at least $600 per month to rent a vehicle long term. So, for 3 months, you're spending $1800. Plus, since you don't have a car, I presume you don't have auto insurance. Thus, you're forced to use their insurance.

So, for just a little more, maybe $3k, you could purchase a vehicle, and resell it 3 months later for about the same amount. Upside: you're only out a few hundred dollars, if that, so it saves you a considerable amount of money. Downside: time to register the vehicle, get insurance, etc. - significantly more paperwork; older vehicle with an increased probability of problems.
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Sound advice, I don't know what the roughneck/oil-worker situation is in SD, but that may have an influence on used car prices. It certainly does here. Ten years ago, you could buy a car that you could maintain for a year or two for less than a grand. Now that figure has tripled on a good day and quadrupled on average. So, it's going to require you to do some up-front work comparing costs. Best of luck.
 
I would buy one and sell for sure. I bought a non running beater for $100 put $50 in it drove it for 2 years. The motor would always randomly tick. I'd just red line it in 1st gear for a mintue and it'd go away for awhile. Sold it to my buddy for $500 he drove it for a year sold it to his brother for $500 whos been driving it for a year. Neither put any money in it. My buddy says his brothers out of his mind though. The shock busted thru the tower in the back. He still drives it 80mph down the highway.

So I'd just buy a $500 beater. Have the title notorized ready for sale. So if it breaks down you could just leave it with the title and keys with a for free sign. Some hillybilly will come thru with a pick-up truck and take care of it for you. You could go thru 2 of em and its still cheaper than a rental. If it stays running(most likely will) just sell it, scrap it or keep it.
 
An economy car on a multiple month plan should be under $500, just a monthly rental is about $500-2000 depending on economy to luxury locally. For multiple months, the discount is tiered and is like $25 for the second month, $50 for the third, and $75 for the fourth and additional months.

Buying a beater is not always an option (moving clients around, reliability, etc). Finding a $500 car that isn't a basket case is very hard around here.

You may be able to write this off as well.
 
Guys to clarify. It's not for work. My school has a location in SD (I'm in NYC) and I'd like go there instead of spending winter in this area. I have a car I love (vw gti) so I have insurance.
 
FearoftheNight said:
is this realistic considering my circumstances? I figured this would be more expensive than even shipped my car back and forth?
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You provide so little information, I don't know how you expect anybody to help you.

How often are you going to use the car? How many miles? How many times a day?
'
 
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