Renting a car / van?
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Rental
If you are in Australia for a short time, rental of course makes more sense than buying. But what is the tipping point? The longer you are here, the more compelling the argument is to buy rather than rent. Here is the HCC view using broad brushstrokes and basic maths: A car for 90 days: At a rental cost of $40 per day, if you rent for 90 days you will have spent $3,600 If you buy a car for $2,000 and budget to spend $2,000 on expenses and sell it for $2,000 you are $1,600 better off! A car for 60 days: At a rental cost of $40 per day, if you rent for 60 days you will have spent $2,400 If you buy a car for $2,000 and budget to spend $2,000 on expenses and sell it for $2,000 you are $400 better off! A basic van for 90 days: At a rental cost of $60 per day, if you rent for 90 days you will have spent $5,400 If you buy a basic van for $4,000 and budget to spend $2,000 on expenses and sell it for $4,000 you are $3,400 better off! A basic van for 60 days: At a rental cost of $60 per day, if you rent for 60 days you will have spent $3,600 If you buy a van for $4,000 and budget to spend $2,000 on expenses and sell it for $4,000 you are $1,600 better off! Conclussion It is all about risk. With renting, there is little or no risk. You have a fixed cost and fixed end date. With buying, you could be far better off in $ terms, but the shorter the period, the less sense it makes. Anything beyond 60 days seems to make sense to buy a car "if" you buy wisely and can sell it for roughly what you bought it for. If you buy, you should always budget for repairs ... but get the car checked to ensure the major things (engine and gearbox) are in reasonable order. If you buy, be prepared to wait around for several weeks for a buyer, especially outside of summer. (with HCC you can advertise your car for sale the moment you buy it which can help ... just input the correct sale month when listing the car) Bottom line, if you are here for more than 60 days, buy a car / van / 4WD, but buy wisely and only if you can accept some risk. Below are some rental companies we believe have good prices and excellent customer service. We encourage you to review and share your experiences with these companies in our forum: Travel Wheels are a leading car and campervan rental company in Australia, with friendly staff and great vehicles. If you rent a car or campervan from Travel Wheels for 14 days or more and you mention this ad before you pay, you will get $50 discount. You can also get the same $50 discount if you buy a car or van! Travelwheels is one of the few companies that offer "buy back" de-risking the ownership experience if you 'buy' a car from them. You can easily find their main office on William Street, which is the main road connecting the city and King Cross. 
Click the banner for contact details Hippie campers offer not only very cool vans, but also amazingly cheap prices on current model rental cars: Click the banner for contact details You could try exploring Australia with Cheapa Campa. With a good range of rental campers & motorhomes at competitive prices Cheapa Campa allows you to travel in comfort on a budget. Click the banner for contact details |
