Source
r/portlandme•
Hawk30

Moving for few months - Car questions

Hi all,

I'll be moving to Portland for about 9 to 10 months for work. I was checking out options to ship my car (which I've done cross country before) but also looking at rental options or even buying a used car and reselling it (hopefully - that's the plan).

I was wondering if I could get yalls insight on if theres any local family own car rental shops that would would do long term rentals - shopping and comparing from the big players.

Or if anyone has done the buy used and resell after - if they can offer any advice.

Posted Jan 15, 2020, 10:45 PM UTC

313
Sugarloafer1991•

You can buy an old Subaru and resell it for the same price. You’ll be able to sell before winter which is great and you wouldn’t lose much and might even sell it for more if you get a good deal. You’ll have a good car for Maine and will have no problem reselling it.

7
linuxdragons•

Your best bet is probably to buy a 5+ year old vehicle locally or drive your current vehicle to here. The key is it must be old enough to avoid significant depreciation such that it will lose little value in the year you drive it.

3
dadutx•

The excise tax is a sneaky bastard, buy old!

2
Hawk30OP•

Yeah... After driving 3000 miles two months ago. I made an executive decision for my sanity not to do that again. (I should have put that in the post for context. I'm on the other corner of the us)

2
linuxdragons•

Fair enough, flying is cheap. Buy an older used vehicle for <$10k, drive it for 8-10 months and then sell it. If you do it right you shouldn't be out more than 1-2k for usage, taxes and registration. Nobody is going to rent you a vehicle for that cheap.

3
Hawk30OP•

Yeah I'm split. Shipping my car is going to be about 1-2k so then I'd be adding wear and tear on my car.

1
Lava39•

You spend about 3k a year on either car payments or maintenance. You wouldn't lose that much in buying a cheap used car. You would just have to deal with selling it. Get something reliable that's older. Like 2010 corolla or something. Insurance would be cheap too.

1
jss08•

Car rental places (National/Enterprise/Etc) do long term/monthly rentals as well. The cost is probably higher, but there's no insurance, registration, or reselling to worry about.

If you work for a large company they may have a contracted/lower rate.

Edit - You could also check Turo (Air BnB for cars).

3
toxiclogic•

If you'll be living and working in town Portland, or at least near the public transit lines, you might be able to get away without having a car. My wife uses the car and I get by with public transit, Uber/Lyft and the occasional rental with UCarShare (think Zipcar) for 1-8 hour trips and the infrequent Enterprise rental when I need something for a few days.

2
I_WATCHED_ALOHA_AMA•

Yup, worth noting that the Enterprise on the peninsula does the weekend special where you can get a car for dirt cheap but there is a 100 mile a day limit. I used to do it all the time before I got wheels.

Edit: See here https://www.enterprise.com/en/car-rental/deals/weekend-specials.html

2
eLearningChrisBack Cove•

I was going to share this same advice. Our car lease is up and we're going to turn it in and not get another. Less money and hassle. Without a car payment, Uber and UCarShare are more than enough.

1
pizzancurls•

I work for a car rental company at the airport. You will pay a very pretty penny for a monthly rental. Considerably more than you would ever spend shipping your car or buying a used car.

Is your company reimbursing you for this? If so, then I would def get a rental. As long as coverage is included, you can drive off a cliff and not have to pay a cent more for a new rental.

2
Hawk30OP•

Yeah I figured. I rented quite a bit for my previous jobs for extended periods

I ended up shipping. Between buying used and reselling or just using what I have now. It was about the sameish and might as well have a fun road trip at the end.

1