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Thu 2 Mar 2017 13:11

any - long term weekend car rental - eustace

I am thinking around options to avoid buying a second car.

Right now we have one car used by my wife for the school run and weekends. I commute to work by bike / public transport.

Of late, there are several childrens' activities during the weekends, and they are now begining to overlap. So it would make things more convenient to have a second car on Saturdays.

I don't want to buy another car just for Saturday use as, apart from the cost of the car, I will be spending around £1000 per year as recurring expenses (insurance £500 + £300 for service and MOT + £200 for Tax).

Renting a car from traditional car rental companies such as avis and hertz, works out to almost the same costs.

Would it be worth approaching a nearby used car dealer about hiring a car from them for the weekends? Would they be happy to consider a long term deal?

Would this make sense from a used car dealer perspective, who may have an inventory of cars, and may need for some to be run to charge the battery and keep the car in condition.

Or would it be a hassle for a used car dealer and admin expenses such as additional insurance, etc.?

Any thoughts on the best option for this scenario?

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Thu 2 Mar 2017 13:23

any - long term weekend car rental - RobJP

It would be an absolute nightmare for any reputable car dealer - the car is not on test, so can't be driven on trade plates. The car would not be covered by their insurance. The car would need to be taxed.

Any trader will also know that breach of the conditions regarding trade plates usually leads to loss of those plates (it's a privilege, not a right), along with prosecution.

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Thu 2 Mar 2017 13:30

any - long term weekend car rental - FoxyJukebox

As an option--have you tried running a cost analysis of either block booking an all day taxi every saturday or an estimate of the rides you know you will have to make? and of course- if you are in a Uber zone- working out a maximum "spend".

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Thu 2 Mar 2017 17:41

any - long term weekend car rental - RaineMan

I have had to hire a car a few times in recent years. A local hire company does economy hire with 100k cars. Got a good reduction as the cars were no longer in their prime but with grandkids and a dog that was fine. Sure you would get a further reduction if you block booked several consecutive weekends...

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Thu 2 Mar 2017 18:26

any - long term weekend car rental - ExA35Owner

Depends on where you live - there are car sharing services that might work for you, like Zipcar. No idea of how well it works - no experience - but the idea seems to match your needs.

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Thu 2 Mar 2017 18:38

any - long term weekend car rental - skidpan

We had a local hire company that did a weekend special rate. Pick up Friday after work, return Monday early am. Used them a few times when we needed a bigger car for a few days. Cars were all 3 year old ex rental stuff with 6 figures on the clock but for the money were great.

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Thu 2 Mar 2017 18:45

any - long term weekend car rental - SLO76

If this second car was to be used to transport your children then I'd favour hiring a much safer new model as and when required. As you say, it'll cost similar to running an older runabout yourself which even if you avoid depreciation will be around £1k per annum.

No trader I know and I include myself in this would ever lease a stock car in this way. Not only would you require different and costly hire insurance but the older used cars would no doubt be abused by drivers and end up being a money pit.

If it's just for you to run around in the bangernomics would be my route. No worries about carpark bumps and scratches, zero depreciation or sometimes a profit if you do it right. I've always run a spare older car as a station/pub car I can abandon places I wouldn't leave one of our newer motors or lend out as a courtesy car if a customers motor goes wrong. Last one was a Mazda 3 I ran for 6mths spent £100 in parts over that period but still made £200 when I flogged it. Before that it was an old Mitsubishi Carisma that cost just over £100 to run for the year after approx £400 of work and a £300 profit on the car. It can be done very cheaply but I never used any of them to transport our 2yr old due to the vastly reduced crash safety compared to a modern motor.

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Thu 2 Mar 2017 21:42

any - long term weekend car rental - eustace

Thanks all for your replies. Did not realize that there were so many implications for used car delaers, like trade plates, insurance, VED, etc.

The car would be mostly for myself, mainly used for a 100 mile round trip to the coast, for some hobby activities (sailing, etc.), while the family car is used to transport the kids.

Will be used on an average for 24 - 30 saturdays a year.

Guess I will try to talk to some of the smaller local hire companies if that can offer a long term deal.

SLO76, problem with bangernomics still remains that i will be spending aound £1000 maintennance cost every year.

Let's see if any insurance company starts offering decent pay per mile insurance. But seems a waste to buy a second car, when the main car only runs 6000 - 7000 miles a year.

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Thu 2 Mar 2017 21:59

any - long term weekend car rental - SLO76

I'm unfortunate enough to have entered the 40 plus cheap insurance zone so the wee Mazda was costing me £185. All in running a budget car for a year can be done cheaply if you know what you're doing and either have the capacity to do your own mechanical work or have a trusted and cheap local workshop and separate friendly Mot tester.

But yes there will still be costs. Can't avoid road tax and insurance and no doubt there will be running repairs and an oil and filter once a year however factor in the effect the reduced mileage will have on your more valuable main family cars depreciation if you use the old smoker for local running and any solo use and you'll find it will usually pay for itself.

Our 3yr old Honda CRV has just hit 30k but without that cheap runabout it would have at least another 15-20k on it which would have taken far more from the value than my costs on the older cars have been.

Edited by SLO76 on 02/03/2017 at 22:07

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Thu 2 Mar 2017 22:23

any - long term weekend car rental - daveyjp

Enterprise car club is an option if you live close to their cars.

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Thu 2 Mar 2017 22:25

any - long term weekend car rental - eustace

Thanks, SLO76! Curious though as to why you recommend that the MOT tester should be seperate from your friendly local workshop...

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Thu 2 Mar 2017 23:06

any - long term weekend car rental - SLO76

Thanks, SLO76! Curious though as to why you recommend that the MOT tester should be seperate from your friendly local workshop...

Makes sense to keep them seperate. If there's no business to be gained from failing it then you'll be quids in. Mots are a cash generating machine, thus the reason to be wary of places advertising them cheap. More often than not they will be over zealous in order to drum up unnecessary work. Since I started doing this my annual Mot bills have plummeted. I've lost count of the number of times friends, family and customers have asked me to check a fault an Mot tester (usually at a fast fit establishment) has picked up or failed them on and I've found nothing wrong. My dads Merc C class was another example. Local main dealer failed it on emissions advising him it needed a new catalyst at the guts of £1,200. I took the car off them, dropped it at my preferred testing station who found no fault with its emissions and passed it with no advisories. Another was a female friends Ford Escort (was a long time ago) which had been failed on not one but four shock absorbers! Again retested elsewhere and passed no bother, the car was fine. Honestly it's a racket! The last old motor I put in for a ticket was a 16yr old Ford Cougar I bought from a deceased estate for £300 with only two weeks left to run. It looked solid and drove well but was a total cheapo punt. The advisories on the previous Mot were pretty extensive and none had been carried out but knowing the rather unscrupulous garage who tested it well enough to bet they had just been trying to spook the elderly owner into parting with way too much money confidence was high. It passed without a single advisory and speaking to the tester he was horrified by the previous testing stations dishonesty. The car was spot on and sold to a delighted new owner who travelled a fair distance to get it. Does kind of make a mockery of the Mot history check service though. While it's handy for verifying mileages I'd take any advisories or failures with a pinch of salt and check the car over yourself.

Edited by SLO76 on 02/03/2017 at 23:08

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Thu 2 Mar 2017 22:26

any - long term weekend car rental - Mike H

Try Auto-Europe.co.uk. We hired a car for £35 from a Friday afternoon until Monday lunchtime last July, seemed a darn good deal.

And if you get an annual excess waiver insurance for c. £40, it might meet your needs.

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