Buying a car vs. renting

My guess but most rental car agencies will cost you anywhere from $900 - $1000/mo for a long term rental. It's not cheap, but it beats the hassle of having insurance, storage while off-island, and maintenance costs.

Jumbie-STX

Call Centerline Car rental. 340-778-0450 Ask them about an extended rental. Tell them it doesn't need to be new or fancy and see what they say. Even indicate you might buy it if you like it. They always have a few cars for sale.

I did some research for a client. Judi of Croix gives a discount for long term rentals. Not sure about Centerline. My client was looking at renting my extra vehicle, but his roommate is shipping her car here. If you wanna go cheap, PM me.

Thanks for the info everyone!

Leticia-I just pm'd you, I am very interested in the rental, look forward to hearing from you!

The Insurance for a year - [over 25 yo] is usually less than $300 - basic Liability if you don't have a loan on the car - the cost of safe storage may well be a bigger cost - DMV is not always a hassle - if you get your info together ahead of time often less than an hour total.

Thanks exitzero, I am still flip flopping on the subject. I think it would be very nice to fly down and be able to get my car out of storage, because I will be back and forth more than most.

Leticia-Please let me know about your car, I am very interested! thanks.

Tommy b: I had the same dilemma three years ago. My wife and I spend four or five months each year on STX, and for the first year, we rented from Judi of Croix. It cost us about $900/mo. for a Toyota Echo. We knew we would be coming back every year and did the math. It was clear pretty quickly that buying was way better than renting--as long as we kept coming back. The car broke even on rental after two years, and now we have an asset that we can sell if we wish sometime down the road. Yes, we have insurance and maintenance, but it's still better than spending nearly $5,000 every year and having nothing to show for it.

PM me if you want to discuss further.

Bernie

I think it is better to own the car, IF you can do the more than routine repairs yourself. The weather is very hard on a car here; wiper blades, batteries, anything electrical. And remember an island car is usually not a good car to start with.

Remember Rent-A-Wreck? They used to rent a bit older model cars for low money, and sell them, too. I thought that might be a great business for someone here in the VI to start. So many people looking for decent used cars, not sure if they are staying or not, or as in tommy's case, here off and on, etc.

Well, I'm going to need an extended rental in FL for a while, so I googled them. WOW, their rates are now right up there with the big boys, and their cars are newer.

I think the original concept of rent a wreck would be a good idea for here. Kind of a "rent to own". And, for all I know, maybe one of the used car places here already does that???

Several car rental companies on STX rent older cars. I think it's mainly the big-name agencies that adhere to the new-car business model.

Juanita: For Florida rentals (or elsewhere), try http://www.carrentals.com/ and look at off-airport rates in particular. Search by zip code instead of by airport code.

Thanks. I'll try that.

Personally, I think what the VI needs is DriveTime. It's like rent-to-own for a car, and the one near where I used to work seemed to do really well. Since they don't have a high credit standard, they might do well in a place like the VI.