(new driver) renting vs buying

mr_stat

mr_stat

mr_stat

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24 Mar 2012
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106
A quick question. As a new driver (over 25) I can rent from Enterprise without any issues (though I have only had my license for a very short time - they said they don't care as long as I'm over 25) for around £30 for a weekend (for their most basic level car - or about £35 for an Astra).

Even being older, initial insurance estimates are over £850 if I was to buy (which is daylight robbery if you ask me), even for a small 1.something litre Fiesta. So I guess the question is "Is it even worth considering buying?"

I'd say I'd want a car for ever other weekend (I don't need one for the daily commute to work).

From the basic sums I did it looks like I'd be paying about £750 per year in rental fees, vs around £1350 if I was to run my own car (that figure is insurance + road tax + MOT +£200 for any repairs / tyre wear). And that's even before I add in any depreciation of the car I would buy nor road side assistance cover.

The other factor is that the rental cars are likely to be newer and thus more fuel efficient than anything I could afford (If I did buy I'd be limited to around £4k).

As I understand it, the only major downside is that I wouldn't be building any no-claims?

What would you do? Can you see any major issues with the rental plan?:confused:


EDIT: really should have used the term "hire" rather than "rent" I guess, sorry!
 
You will be paying out for something that you will never own.

Have you looked at the excess this company has towards any damage that could occur to the rental car? especially with a new driver.

And the no claims thing :p

Get a car bought.
 
With a rental car you will soon get fed up collecting and returning it every time, particularly in winter.
 
Thanks for the replies guys. On the likelihood of using a car more, it's a good point, the problem with having a car for longer periods will be parking (I live central in a large-ish town). On the excess front - that's one area that does worry me a little - the plan I was thinking of was to pay extra for the excess protection (which covers upto £500 of damage) for the first 10 - 15 hires whilst I'm getting a little more familiar with driving.

@Hades apparently they'll deliver the car at no extra cost - but yeah returning it wouldn't be pleasant in winter :(
 
well you cant go on renting a car for the rest of your life, and when you do decide you want to use it more often or want to buy your own, the insurance would be still quite high, just get a nice cheap'ish car to get you started, im sure there are nice cars out there for 4k and you could get insurance 850? try quotes for a focus. :)
 
Kennysevenfold said:
well you cant go on renting a car for the rest of your life, and when you do decide you want to use it more often or want to buy your own, the insurance would be still quite high, just get a nice cheap'ish car to get you started, im sure there are nice cars out there for 4k and you could get insurance 850? try quotes for a focus. :)
Click to expand...

Too true :p The £850 quotes where for a 2002 1.4L Fiesta - not sure a Focus will be any cheaper but I'll certainly check :)
 
lol it somtimes works out cheaper for bigger cars, try to get a for quote for the less chav type mobiles like corsa/golf/saxo/fiesta and look about the focus, allmera, stilo route.

When i swapped my corsa c 1.2 for a vectra c 1.8 my insurance nearly halfed.
 
I guess on balance perhaps a mix is called for. I'll hire for a few months, see if I want / need a car more and that gives me more time to scope cars / insurance prices. I checked the insurance prices on a larger Vectra / Focus and they quoted me between £1100 and £1250 (I live in a nice area, will only be doing 10k a year and have a private garage to park it in). I don't get it, how on earth can a 19 year old living in south London about to goto Uni in Bristol with a 9K car be quoted less (see other thread) than a late 20 year old, living in a nice quiet town with off road garage be quoted more driving a 2.5K car. Something is seriously wrong in the insurance world!
 
I would rent.
Use code: 51166573 at europcar for 50% off. Click on add extra and make sure you pre-pay so they dont ask you where you got the code from.
 
If you live and work in a city then having a car is a waste of money unless you have that disposable income to pay for it. The public transport available is usually sufficient and as you have said, for a planned journey, getting a rental car now and then is good enough compromise.

However, as others have pointed out, should you at some point require your own car on a day to day basis, you will be hit by the high insurance cost again at that point as you would have no no claims bonus. Start building it up now and use your car infrequently if this is the case, otherwise don't.
 
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