renting a car, under 25, will this make me poor?

Melinoe

So my car is either totaled or in need of a lot of repairs; the insurance company is going to come by and figure that out tomorrow. In either case, the area I live in (SF bay area, San Jose to be specific) is technically possible to get around in without a car but it isn't really ideal. I don't have car rental on my insurance, which is Allstate, but they said I can get a discount with Enterprise rental to the tune of like $10 a day or something.

The problem is that I'm only 21. I have a clean driving record other than a ticket for running a stop sign two years ago, but now I'm worried about having to pay some huge extra premium per day to rent a car. Should I try to get by without renting a car or am I actually going to be able to get any kind of reasonable rate?

And Drink This Soda

Well I live in the Bay Area, too - I just spent the last year or so getting around via public transportation. And, I echo what you said... it wasn't exactly ideal. The bus stinks like homeless people (because they ride it), and it's usually late... as is BART (I'm sure you know what that is - even if you don't ride it). I think you should call AllState - find out the particulars. Make sure you're in "good hands", ya know?! I pay a lot for insurance now - due to a rear end and speeding ticket - but damn, it's still better than public transportation. Good luck.

Melinoe

BART isn't available down here unfortunately. It's just light rail and buses that don't show up very often. Although the public transit down here is a lot nicer and cleaner than MUNI is. I'm gonna call Allstate tomorrow as well as the car rental office to ask them for info, but I just thought I'd see if anyone had any info ahead of time.

Dhalphir

Car rental can run into thousands per month. It's really not worth it renting a car unless on holiday or if someone else is paying for it.

WildEEP

It wont take that long to process your claim.
You should find a general idea what your car is worth: http://www.kbb.com
If you think the damages are more than that, they'll total it, and give you a check.
If you arent going to fight with them about the amount they give you, feel free to tell them you'd like them to hurry.

Car rental is expensive. Really expensive. You do not have a car, do not try and sub in a rental car as a replacement. You'll owe $Texas.
If you need a car once in a great while - consider something like ZipCar.

You need to get info on whatever public transit you can. It's going to be a crappy month till you can get it sorted out, but you've learned something at a young age: Rental car insurance is like < 10 extra dollars a month as part of insurance coverage - You'll be getting that from now on, yes?

kuhlmeye

You can expect to pay an additional 15-25 per day (depending on the company). Sucks, but it used to be they wouldn't even let you rent if you were under 25.

Pel

I rent pretty regularly, it's not crazy. I got a subcompact for a week for like $160 not long ago. If you're doing a lot of driving, it can be worth it just to avoid wear and tear on your own car and to save gas if you need something bigger for your daily use. The only crazy thing to rent, I've found, is a minivan. They seem to cost 4-6 times the amount of subcompacts for some reason.

mts

is the accident your fault? if it isn't then you shouldnt pay a dime for a rental.

UrQuanLord88

Have you looked into car sharing options like Zipcar?

LaPuzza

http://reservations.atwest-rentacar.com/rates?action=vehicle_and_rates

$250 a week, including the under-25 fee, doesn't seem horrible if you really, really need a car.

Penguin_Otaku

Obviously, YMMV.

But I speak having rented a car from OKC to PHX earlier this summer (it was a minivan, and yes for some reason they're a lot more expensive than a compact, I digress.)

We were able to politely talk to a few car rental companies and one was willing to completely wave the under-25 fee (+~$25/day) and that was Hertz. They ended up screwing up our rental and unable to give the price they quoted because the manager was pretty incompetent.

So I had to rush to Enterprise, explain the situation and they were willing to take it down to just $5/day for us because it was such short notice.

Anyway, just talk to the rental place. A lot of them are humans and may have even been in your position at some point.

But I echo the sentiment that unless someone else is paying it, it might just be worth it to sit tight until your car is fixed if you can get by on public transit.

bowen

LaPuzza wrote: »

http://reservations.atwest-rentacar.com/rates?action=vehicle_and_rates

$250 a week, including the under-25 fee, doesn't seem horrible if you really, really need a car.

It'd be cheaper to get a beater car for the x amount of period you need it. After 3 months, you've already waste that much money.

supabeast

bowen wrote: »

LaPuzza wrote: »

http://reservations.atwest-rentacar.com/rates?action=vehicle_and_rates

$250 a week, including the under-25 fee, doesn't seem horrible if you really, really need a car.

It'd be cheaper to get a beater car for the x amount of period you need it. After 3 months, you've already waste that much money.

That’s not a bad idea if you have time to title it real quick. Buy it and flip it in a month.

Pel

Well, yes, if you don't mind driving a beater and paying for any necessary repairs that pop up along the way, or you could drive a brand new car and not worry a bit about repairs, mileage, or anything else. The beater is probably going to be overall cheaper, PROBABLY, unless something goes wrong or it breaks on the way to work or you have trouble selling it or whatever.

I'm not saying it's a bad idea, it can work out very well and very cheaply, or even make you money! I'm just saying that a cheap rental is the safe play. Depends on how much you know about cars and how confident you are in your ability to sell it.

Feral

Melinoe wrote:

So my car is either totaled or in need of a lot of repairs; the insurance company is going to come by and figure that out tomorrow. In either case, the area I live in (SF bay area, San Jose to be specific) is technically possible to get around in without a car but it isn't really ideal. I don't have car rental on my insurance, which is Allstate, but they said I can get a discount with Enterprise rental to the tune of like $10 a day or something.

The problem is that I'm only 21. I have a clean driving record other than a ticket for running a stop sign two years ago, but now I'm worried about having to pay some huge extra premium per day to rent a car. Should I try to get by without renting a car or am I actually going to be able to get any kind of reasonable rate?

@Melinoe

Enterprise will rent to you.

Normally, they have an additional $10/day fee for under 25 drivers.

However, you can get the fee waived under certain circumstances. I would call and ask.

I would also call around to other companies and ask for weekly rates for an under 25 driver renting a compact car.

Enterprise is slightly more expensive than other rental companies. I usually rent from Hertz, but I've found that National, Avis, and Budget tend to have low rates.

If your car is going to be repaired, ask the repair shop if they have a loaner car, or if they have an agreement with a nearby car rental place. That might end up cheaper for you.

LeviathanPT

If you have licence to drive a bike/scooter i would suggest that since in long term it would be cheaper imo.

Lepton

Here's my take. I like Leviathan's idea of bike, add in public transit, and then only rent a car for a couple of days when you need to make a big grocery/supply run. I lived in Nashville, TN when I got into an accident. My car was out of commission for at least a month while we worked all the insurance stuff out. I made do with buses most of the time, and borrowed a car from a friend for a couple of grocery runs (he had just bought a new car, so he let me take the old one out). The rest of the time, I bummed rides, but before my wreck, I was pretty generous with my ride-giving, so I didn't feel too bad asking. Buses are inconvenient sometimes, but you can make it work.

Melinoe

Thanks for all of the replies guys. Circumstances ended up changing so I just bit the bullet and rented it for two days. Had to pay $15/day for under 25 but the Enterprise guy waived the $50 fee for dropping it off somewhere different from where I rented it so that was nice. We also ended up with a brand new Dodge Charger for the price of an economy car for whatever reason which was also nice. Thread can be locked now.