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Upcoming road trip: rent a car or not?

E

Eos

Diamond Member
I'm planning a ~2500 mile road trip in early spring. It will include some winter mountain travel. I have a 1996 Toyota Avalon with 186k miles. It gets about 28mpg during freeway driving. I maintain it regularly. It has a slight oil leak somewhere. Like 1/2 a quart over 3000 miles.

I found a 2011 Avalon rental for about $350 for the week including tax. It would probably get slightly worse mileage than my car, due to the larger motor.

Pros to taking my car:
I have a REALLY bitchin' stereo (separates in all four doors getting 75 watts each; two 8 ohm 12" subs in parallel, wired to a 600 watt bridged amp)
Lower cost
I have tire chains for winter road conditions

Cons to taking my car:
Tired engine = less power than even a 4 cylinder Camry (at least it feels like this)
The driver's seat doesn't tilt and may be difficult for anyone else to drive
Possibility of engine or body damage (most likely me being paranoid)
LOTS of road noise

Pros to taking a rental:
New car smell
Lots of power (compared to my Avalon)
Almost no road noise

Cons to taking a rental:
Cost

Opinions?
 
There are two kinds of car that will go anywhere, a four wheel drive and a rental. Get the rental.
 
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Try and get the new Taurus if you do rental. I've been hearing really rave things about them. Also heard some of the companies were renting out the SHO editions. Could be wrong on that though.

Rental for sure though. Especially with the mileage on your car. Save the wear and tear for your normal driving. Anything new will have a pretty decent speaker setup too.
 
saratoga172 said:
Try and get the new Taurus if you do rental. I've been hearing really rave things about them. Also heard some of the companies were renting out the SHO editions. Could be wrong on that though.

Rental for sure though. Especially with the mileage on your car. Save the wear and tear for your normal driving. Anything new will have a pretty decent speaker setup too.
Click to expand...

The Avalon is such a good deal, it's hard to look at anything else. A Taurus would run $540 for the same time frame. This was through budget, but maybe I'll check other sources.
 
Got a Taurus SHO for 280 a week in CA for a buddy of mine through enterprise. Call neighborhood branches and ask to speak to the manager on duty, tell them you want X car for X amount, they usually can do it most of the time if its reasonable.
 
Some things to consider:
-An addn'l 2500 miles isn't going to affect your car's value if that is a concern. Presumably most of the miles are 'easy' highway miles?
-Use a small pillow for the driver's lower back. It will really help with the tilt issue.
-Most rental car agencies won't let you take their cars outside of a certain radius (e.g. two states away), so you'd need to read the fine print.
-Is the $350 quote before or after taxes/fees? (Your post wasn't clear on that.)
 
Personally, I would be more worried about a breakdown than anything else. I had my exhaust system crack a weld driving through Alabama on a Saturday. It was almost impossible to find anyone to look at my car. The rental has the advantage of being newer, and if it breaks down you just call the company and they sort it out.

Even if your car is generally in ok shape a small issue suddenly becomes very large when you are a thousand miles from home. If you aren't going to rent I would at least suggest some kind of roadside assistance, either through your insurance or AAA.
 
Mermaidman said:
Some things to consider:
-An addn'l 2500 miles isn't going to affect your car's value if that is a concern. Presumably most of the miles are 'easy' highway miles?
-Use a small pillow for the driver's lower back. It will really help with the tilt issue.
-Most rental car agencies won't let you take their cars outside of a certain radius (e.g. two states away), so you'd need to read the fine print.
-Is the $350 quote before or after taxes/fees? (Your post wasn't clear on that.)
Click to expand...

Yeah, easy miles, and I'm not concerned about value of my car. I'll drive it until it's dead.
The Avalon has a radius of the entire US.
The $350 includes taxes.

Bignate603 said:
Personally, I would be more worried about a breakdown than anything else. I had my exhaust system crack a weld driving through Alabama on a Saturday. It was almost impossible to find anyone to look at my car. The rental has the advantage of being newer, and if it breaks down you just call the company and they sort it out.

Even if your car is generally in ok shape a small issue suddenly becomes very large when you are a thousand miles from home. If you aren't going to rent I would at least suggest some kind of roadside assistance, either through your insurance or AAA.
Click to expand...

It's a good point about breakdowns. No big deal if I break down on the way home from getting groceries. But halfway to BFE, not so much. I don't anticipate a breakdown with my car, but who really does?
 
PhoKingGuy said:
Got a Taurus SHO for 280 a week in CA for a buddy of mine through enterprise. Call neighborhood branches and ask to speak to the manager on duty, tell them you want X car for X amount, they usually can do it most of the time if its reasonable.
Click to expand...

How was the SHO?
 
Eos said:
The Avalon is such a good deal, it's hard to look at anything else. A Taurus would run $540 for the same time frame. This was through budget, but maybe I'll check other sources.
Click to expand...

The avalon will likely do better than your 1996 avalon in gas mileage. My dad has a late model Avalon and easily gets 30+mpg on highway slogs if you're careful with your driving style (not hypermiling...just not dropping the hammer regularly).
 
If you're driving on 2-lane mountain roads the power in the new Avalon will be pleasant for passing people.
 
Road noise will beat you up over 2500 miles. Granted, you can blast the stereo to cover it up, but you'll get tired much faster. That and potential breakdown issues would make the $350 worth it to me.

Other cons: if you wreck the rental it'll cost more. They may charge you for "loss of service", the amount of time it's not available for rent and loss of value from accident.

Actually, I changed my mind. Change the plugs, air filter, all fluids, pour in some fuel injector cleaner a few weeks before the trip and take your car.
 
Since it's a vacation, you can think of the rental car expense as the price of entertainment. Too bad it's an Avalon though because while it's comfortable on a highway, I doubt it's forte is in winding moutain roads. I drove a rental Avalon ~3 yr ago and it had overly sensitive steering ('twitchy').

Last month, I received a free upgrade to a Caddy CTS and had a lot of fun with it even though it was a base model. No abuse--Just spirited driving. ()🙂
 
Mermaidman said:
Since it's a vacation, you can think of the rental car expense as the price of entertainment. Too bad it's an Avalon though because while it's comfortable on a highway, I doubt it's forte is in winding moutain roads. I drove a rental Avalon ~3 yr ago and it had overly sensitive steering ('twitchy').

Last month, I received a free upgrade to a Caddy CTS and had a lot of fun with it even though it was a base model. No abuse--Just spirited driving. ()🙂
Click to expand...

The route is just mountain-ish, not twisty in any way. i.e., high elevation (>2500 ft)and chance of ice and snow.
 
Eos said:
I'm planning a ~2500 mile road trip in early spring. It will include some winter mountain travel. I have a 1996 Toyota Avalon with 186k miles. It gets about 28mpg during freeway driving. I maintain it regularly. It has a slight oil leak somewhere. Like 1/2 a quart over 3000 miles.

I found a 2011 Avalon rental for about $350 for the week including tax. It would probably get slightly worse mileage than my car, due to the larger motor.

Pros to taking my car:
I have a REALLY bitchin' stereo (separates in all four doors getting 75 watts each; two 8 ohm 12" subs in parallel, wired to a 600 watt bridged amp)
Lower cost
I have tire chains for winter road conditions

Cons to taking my car:
Tired engine = less power than even a 4 cylinder Camry (at least it feels like this)
The driver's seat doesn't tilt and may be difficult for anyone else to drive
Possibility of engine or body damage (most likely me being paranoid)
LOTS of road noise

Pros to taking a rental:
New car smell
Lots of power (compared to my Avalon)
Almost no road noise

Cons to taking a rental:
Cost

Opinions?
Click to expand...

1) A 2011 Avalon will not get worse than 28mpg on the freeway

But otherwise, I would do whatever is more cost effective and fun on a road trip.
 
You're not going until early spring?
Why are you even looking at rental deals right now? They change monthly.
And $350 is pretty bad for a one week rental. Check out all the rental sites, I enjoy Hertz the best and they always have deals going on. You should be able to get an SUV for that price, that seems quite high.

I'm a huge advocate for renting though, have rented a TON of vehicles, and just chucking them the keys to look after maintenance after driving 2500 miles is a nice feeling.
 
My last rental was through Dollar in August, and I paid $50 per day for an Impala based out of San Jose, CA airport. The Avalon is one class better at least. Full size versus premium. Seven days for $350 including tax for an Avalon is a deal as far as I'm concerned.

I will continue to check with other rental shops as March gets closer, but this is a known rate.
 
v8envy said:
Road noise will beat you up over 2500 miles. Granted, you can blast the stereo to cover it up, but you'll get tired much faster. That and potential breakdown issues would make the $350 worth it to me.

Other cons: if you wreck the rental it'll cost more. They may charge you for "loss of service", the amount of time it's not available for rent and loss of value from accident.

Actually, I changed my mind. Change the plugs, air filter, all fluids, pour in some fuel injector cleaner a few weeks before the trip and take your car.
Click to expand...

I recommend Redline Si-1 which is not snake oil or Kerosene and has the only ingredient that actually cleans, you can buy it at pepboys(the darker the red color the older it is so fine one thats bright red). Amsoil is another one, that has a good one but you have to get that from a specified dealer.
 
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