• Pipoca@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Why do so many people think renting a vehicle when you already own one is cost effective, or a reasonable thing to do?

    The 5 year cost of a fairly base 2020 F150 is ~49k according to Kelly blue book - that’s fuel, maintainence, depreciation, loan interest, etc. The 5 year cost of either a 2020 Civic or a 2020 Chevy Bolt is $37k.

    $12k / 5 years = $2,400/year. If you’d spend less than that a year, you’d be better off renting a truck when you need it and driving a cheaper vehicle daily.

    • Ilovethebomb@lemm.ee
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      1 year ago

      Do you not value your time at all, in this scenario? Renting a vehicle every time you need a truck is a massive time sink.

      • Pipoca@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Think of how much extra you’d pay for a rental service that dropped the truck off at your house, picked it up, and handled all the annoying things like filling the car up or cleaning it out.

        Then, just add that into your calculations. That number is going to depend on how far you live from rental places and how much you value your time. Ballpark it.

          • Pipoca@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            So if you actually need a truck once in 5 years, would you really spend an extra ~$11k to avoid having to rent it?

            • Ilovethebomb@lemm.ee
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              1 year ago

              Did you forget to switch accounts or something? Why are you replying to yourself?

              Also, what a ridiculous scenario. Big vehicles come in handy far more often than you think.

              • Pipoca@lemmy.world
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                1 year ago

                Unless there’s a bug in my app, that looks like it’s a reply to you?

                And yes, of course it’s absurd, that’s the point. Literally no one would spend the extra money to buy a truck to avoid the hassle of renting one once in 5 years. If you only rent a truck once a year, it’s probably still not worth it to buy a truck instead of renting one. If you’d be renting a truck every weekend, it’s probably worth it.

                Or if you need a truck infrequently but on an emergency basis to e.g. trailer a colicing horse to a vet, you might not be able to rent a truck when you need one.

                In surveys, only 25% of truck drivers tow more than once a year. Only 65% of truck drivers put anything in the bed more than once a year.

                Yeah, big vehicles are pretty handy sometimes. They’re pretty great if you have horses in your back yard; you can buy bedding by the pallet or buy 40 bales of hay. But according to truck drivers, a lot of them say they’re driving pavement princesses. They want a truck for the aesthetics of being a truck driver, but if they had a hatchback instead they’d be renting a truck at most once or twice a year.

                Big trucks can also be kinda inconvenient. They don’t fit into garages anymore, long bed 4 door trucks have the turning radius of a barge, and it’s pretty annoying if you want to take one of those fiberglass bed covers on and off a lot.