Anyone have long-term rental car experience?

"deekster_caddy" (deekster_caddy)
01/29/2014 at 20:52 • Filed to: None

I'm trying to help my mother solve her car problem. She likes having two places to live - Boston, MA area (home) in warmer weather and Ft Myers, FL in winter months. But she doesn't want to drive a car back and forth (I can't blame her, although I really enjoy the drive). In years past we would drive car back and forth seasonally for her, but with our families that's not really practical anymore. For the last couple years she's had two cars. The car that lives in FL is pretty whipped and sits with a cover on it for most of the summer. It's kind of a drag, every fall when she goes down there is some kind of issue with it.

I'm thinking she needs to do a long-term rental (5 months) in FL and not worry about having a second car, but I don't know how to shop that out properly. Avis/Enterprise certainly wasn't very affordable (~$500+/mo). I think the right deal might be cheaper than insuring a second car or shipping one north/south every season. She doesn't need a 'new car' rental, but it would be nice to have something reliable. Anyone have any worthwhile ideas?

Basically, it's either have one car that gets transported back and forth, or find some kind of short-term lease or long-term rental arrangement in FL during the winter.

The other option is to find a newer, more reliable beater car for her to keep in FL. (remember, this is a car for an old lady, so be reasonable)

Another thought I had was that she should just buy something cheap in the fall and sell it in the spring, but that's something I might be able to do, but not really right for her.

DISCUSSION (19)

Bad Idea Hat > deekster_caddy
01/29/2014 at 20:54

I know you said be reasonable, but this seems like the perfect occasion for MR2 or Miata.

deekster_caddy > Bad Idea Hat
01/29/2014 at 20:56

I think she might enjoy a Miata. The problem is more logistical - a car baking in the FL summer gets nasty (moist and hot), and eventually gets ruined just from sitting there. Plus it's still maintaining a second car, which really doesn't make sense for her.

Bad Idea Hat > deekster_caddy
01/29/2014 at 20:58

Yeah, I missed the part where you inferred that there was no garage.

Tom McParland > deekster_caddy
01/29/2014 at 20:58

I don't have any experience with long term rentals but I know in my area there are several "snow bird" programs that transport cars back and forth from FL to NJ.

bikertool1 > deekster_caddy
01/29/2014 at 21:01

What about ZipCar? I tried searching... they have several locations in Florida but none right in Ft. Myers, and I don't know the state well enough to figure out where the closest one is. Maybe she can survive most of the time without a car, and just get the zip car for shopping trips, etc.?

deekster_caddy > Tom McParland
01/29/2014 at 21:03

That would probably be better. "Standard" shipping on a car from here to FL was too much to consider it. I'll check that out, if it's affordable it would be great.

With-a-G is back to not having anything written after his username > deekster_caddy
01/29/2014 at 21:04

I've had long term rentals (2—4 months at a time) on 4 separate occasions. They (Enterprise and Budget, at least) only let you have a car for 30 days at a time, and then you just drive it to the rental office and swap cars with no hassle. So of course no maintenance or even washing necessary, and all the roadside assistance you can use, which I needed for flat tires more than once. The nice thing was: flat tire means new car. Anyway, these were all employer-paid so I never saw the bill. I'd venture it was greater than the monthly payment for that car would be, but then if you're only using it a few months a year it might be a good option.

deekster_caddy > bikertool1
01/29/2014 at 21:06

She actually rides her bike to the grocery store, but can only carry so much. Plus she volunteers and things that have her going places very inconvenient to the crappy local busses. I was talking to her today, trying to figure out how much a cab would cost - but too much, too often. She still is too active to have no car. Thanks for the zipcar idea. Just checked though - none of those are close to Ft Myers.

deekster_caddy > With-a-G is back to not having anything written after his username
01/29/2014 at 21:07

Enterprise and Avis have long term rental programs where you don't bring it back. Over 60 days and it starts to get cheaper. But it was still just over $500/mo.

http://www.avis.com/car-rental/htm…

bikertool1 > deekster_caddy
01/29/2014 at 21:08

Got it. My mom is 83 and recently sold her car and handed in her license, which was certainly a good move. Good luck finding a solution.

deekster_caddy > bikertool1
01/29/2014 at 21:12

She's actually a pretty decent driver. Mid 70's, active, still plays in tennis matches and stuff. Follows all the driving rules and knows her limits (tries to avoid big highways because she doesn't like the trucks). I can barely keep up with her schedule! I'd guess she's got at least 10 more years of driving before she's ready to turn in her license.

Thanks

jariten1781 > deekster_caddy
01/29/2014 at 21:45

She could use the auto-train.

http://www.amtrak.com/auto-train

deekster_caddy > jariten1781
01/29/2014 at 21:52

Yeah, Auto train is okay but rather expensive, and it only covers like half our trip! You have to get to Virginia first to get on the train (9-10 hours from here), then you end in Orlando-ish with another 4-5 hours drive to go. If I'm going to take the auto train, I'll just make the whole drive instead.

deekster_caddy > deekster_caddy
01/30/2014 at 11:01

I guess I should add that I have no idea how you people get the article to show up in the 'share' directly. Did I miss an option? All I see in the 'preview' view of Oppo is my added comment.

With-a-G is back to not having anything written after his username > Tom McParland
01/30/2014 at 11:08

Forgot about that option. I'm in Phoenix and we see a big flux of car carriers on the highway in and out twice a year for that very reason. It must make sense to a lot of people.

OtizzyStarBai > deekster_caddy
02/05/2014 at 10:23

is it possible to rent a garage where she's at? I mean does she have a friends down in ft. myers that would consider putting the car up for a few months while shes away? What about a long term storage unit? (Public Storage or the like)

I'm kinda leaning towards there not really being a viable solution to not just go ahead and buy something more reliable to keep. so then comes the issue of solving where to put it for the 4ish crazy hot months of the year.

deekster_caddy > OtizzyStarBai
02/05/2014 at 10:38

Currently she has a friend who lets her put her car under their carport so it's not in direct sun. But it still cooks.

I'm thinking she should just have one newer car and we figure out how to get it back and forth to FL again.

Thanks for the feedback. How did you discover this old thread (curious)? I never find anything 'old'.

OtizzyStarBai > deekster_caddy
02/05/2014 at 10:55

clicked on oppolock at the top (link) and this was there lol. just thought it relevant for my situation right now since my parents are moving back up to NY for business... They've got an X5 Xdrive up there and they're leaving their 06 330i ZHP Vert in south fla... also no cover from the heat :-( But they're back every 3-4 weeks to open it up and keep it running.

Tinashe Gwena > deekster_caddy
10/22/2014 at 03:52

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