Road trip...drive it or get a rental...

[Placemotorsports]

Heading out on Monday from WV up to the coast of Maine and back for a week. Have a rental car on hold at the moment but thinking to myself is it really worth the gas savings to not just take the 100. It's always fun to get a rental to not have to worry about it or anything happening on the way up or back as well.

What would you guys do?

 

[Ramathorn15]

I would take the hundy but I also have dogs and can camp out of it. Gas is cheap though, so I wouldn't let that change your mind. I don't think you have to worry about anything happening to it either.

 

[bamabrock]

Was this meant to be posted in a technical forum?

 

[Julian Stead]

I own two cars at the moment, I prefer to use the cruiser for long journeys as that's what they excel at and I might use my other car which is a lot more economical for short trips, the reason being is it keeps the miles of the cruiser for pointless trips around town. So I would take the 100.

 

[dubitup]

All depends on the trip your taking.

If we don't intend on camping, off-road excursions etc...Just a family road trip, we rent. This way in the event of break down, its a phone call and wait for new car. In the event of a family emergency back home, head to nearest airport, drop off car at rental agencies and GTFO. nothing worse than driving many many miles to get home to your loved ones.

 

[Placemotorsports]

Just going with the old lady up the coast to do some site seeing, mansion tours, and bed and breakfast hop. No excursions planned.

 

[LBridges]

After having my personal car give it up on the last day of vacation some years back I always rent one now - for the casual trip.

When a rental crapped out on Hiway 98 in Destin Florida once, National delivered me a replacement in 20 minutes. Beats calling work and telling them you won't be back on Monday along with spending the money on your vehicle right after you dropped your whole vacation wad.

Now if the trip was to go off-road....

 

[re_guderian]

What type of rental car? The 100 rocks at road trips, quiet, powerful, reliable, refined. Who cares about the miles? I'm in the middle of a road trip now, four people, Phoenix-Vegas. We usually fly, but tickets were stupid expensive, and is it's only a 5 hour drive. We drive it cross-country, too. It'd have to be a bitching rental car to make me want to ditch the 100, not some noisy, gutless econobox. Even the rental Sienna with <500 miles on it didn't compare to the 100 for quiet/comfort/power. Just don't add up the gas receipts...

 

[re_guderian]

Just saw your thread about the constant horn. Maybe rental not a bad idea...

 

[Placemotorsports]

Lol, yea, especially now that i have the pillar off and carpet pulled back.

 

[El Cid]

If the have 4 passengers, I like shipping the car one way and driving my LC back.

 

[ponytl]

Was this meant to be posted in a technical forum?

does it matter to you that much? really?

 

[bamabrock]

does it matter to you that much? really?

Not as much as to you apparently. There is an off topic section for a reason.

 

[ponytl]

Not as much as to you apparently. There is an off topic section for a reason.

yeah no one reads the off topic stuff and he wanted an opinion from other 100 series owners real world... that is kinda technical...

 

[bamabrock]

yeah no one reads the off topic stuff and he wanted an opinion from other 100 series owners real world... that is kinda technical...

Kinda not, but don't get upset over it.

 

[bctlex]

We always bring our own car. Last year we drove the LC from KY to FL a few months after we bought it for our vacation. I was kinda worried because I did not know the car that well at the time, but glad we did it. I calculated the cost driving the LC vs driving a comparable rental, and decided I can save a bit of money driving the LC. I put the cost difference into the LC for maintenance and/or new components (shocks, bushings, tires, fluids, etc).

It does make sense to rent if you do not think your car will make the long distance trip. I never have problem with my cars during vacations, but I do try to keep up with the maintenance, and I replace anything that looks old or may break.

 

[ronmorgan]

I think this is a head vs heart problem. With a land cruiser maintenence is expensive and the cost per mile is always going to be high, less if you wrench yourself but still substantial (tires, parts, fluids, as well as gas). I think for a long trip a rental car will save you money over the long term. But what do you want to take? I'd rather see the rocky beautiful coast of Maine from the seat of a 100 over a Chevy Malibu and spend the extra cash.

 

[04UZJ100]

Safety alone of the 100 outweighs any rental other than a full size SUV.

 

[re_guderian]

Safety alone of the 100 outweighs any rental other than a full size SUV.

That may be debatable depending on the 100. Almost every rental car is 1-2 years old, and has all the latest safety features. A '98 LC has two airbags, mass, and ABS. When it comes to safety, newer (more features to prevent accidents) and heavier wins.

 

[crimsonaudio]

I'd drive the Land Cruiser - I bought it to drive it and don't care what the operational costs are. If I were trying to save a buck I would have bought an economy car.