We picked up our rental mini-van last night. Many people ask why we rent instead of driving our own van, so I thought I would share our strategy. A couple reasons:
1) Peace of Mind. Our family believes vehicles are money-pits and their only purpose is to get from point A to B. Therefore we drive used vehicles. Vehicle breakdowns, or even a flat tire, can turn a perfectly planned vacation into a complete nightmare, so we like the peace of mind of driving a new vehicle.
2) Financial. The cost of renting this mini-van for a week is $276. The cost of maintaining our own mini-van costs approximately $0.0569/mile. We will travel approximately 3,000 miles on this trip, which would cost us $171. Therefore the cost of renting this van is only $100, and reasons #1 and #3 are well worth that $100. Many families think driving their own vehicle is cheaper, but the wear-n-tear you put on your vehicle isn't free. Note: This is a fairly short trip. Since we have unlimited miles for our rental, traveling 5,000 miles would have been $285 in maintenance fees thus making our rental free!
3) Comfort. I love our Honda Odyssey, but the Chrysler Town & Country that we rent from National is simply ... the best family road trip vehicle. The flexibility of the stow-n-go seats allows a wide open interior giving us access to our food and all of our items while traveling down the road, and plenty of leg room for everyone. Not to mention all the gadgets that this thing has, we just love it. If you own one, get on the road with it my friends!
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| Pimpin' out in the Town & Country |
Today we will ... drive.
I have already added a quote to the Quote Wall. After 32 miles in, I requested an ice tea stop (my addiction). Paradis said, "Are we making a McDonald's stop already?" Yes, yes we are my friend. And probably many more today ...
Glad to be back on the road.
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