Hi, I am looking for some advice on a 3 row suv. I need a 3 row suv for my family for just 2-3 months in summer. Can someone please suggest what are my best options without spending a fortune? Here is what I have so far.
Rent from car rental company which will be min 4k for a 2.5 month rental.
Buy a second hand car for some time and maybe sell it later. Too much factor involved if car I would buy will be in good condition and not sure if it will sell.
Buy a new car and use it as a second car.i do not need a second car at the moment.
Lease? Any car which I can lease for an Year or so? Maybe someone selling ther lease? Not sure if any 3 row suv lease will be less than 4k
Thabks.
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Why do you need a 3 row for 2-3 months? 12 month 3-row deals are pretty scarce, can’t think of anything that’s a good idea - you’ll take a bath on a used car unless it’s an absolute piece of crap.
If you really need the car (which I’m gonna go on a bold leg and say you probably don’t unless you have like 3+ kids), then check for a lease transfer and try to minimize the damage.
One thing that might be driving that rental fee high is that you’re quoting a super long-term rental. I’ve found sometimes splitting it up into 3 1-month-ish rentals (for some reason) brings down the price a little bit, with a little extra hassle of exchanging cars / paperwork a few more times.
Not going to get much cheaper. Large SUVs lease over 36 months for effective payments of 1k/month. If anyone in your group works for a large corporation have them try their company codes.
If you don’t need the car for the year, I’d just rent one. If you could use it longer you can get a decent deal on swapa lease, if you check other cities you’ll definitely find one for your timeframe.
Unless your location is awful, at National you usually have a pretty decent selection at their Emerald Aisle and you pay the std sedan rate.
You can look for ways to upgrade your status to Elite and with access to the Executive Aisle your selection is gonna be ever better.
Most likely you won’t be able to score a full size SUV (Suburban and Expedition), but minivans like the Pacifica and 3 row SUVs like Outlander, Palisade and even the Armada are frequently spotted there.
I will spill the beans of my “gaming” comment earlier. Some additional pro tips that I use:
Rent from the Airport for 1-2 Days: Airport locations are corporate-owned, offering the widest selection of vehicles.
Rent on Friday Night: By this time, most business travelers have returned their cars, so the lots are overflowing with options.
Leverage Your Status: Having status with rental companies can be a game-changer. For example, I have Avis Preferred through my AA Executive Platinum match and National Executive Aisle via my Amex Platinum. Status allows the lot agent (not the counter agent) to offer you a better car of your choice. If you rent on Friday night, you’ll have plenty of options.
Secure a Car You Love: Congratulations! You’ve now secured a car that you’ll enjoy driving for an extended period.
Change Return Location: Instead of returning the car to the airport, change the return location to a neighborhood franchise outlet.
Extend Your Rental: Before changing the return location, call the neighborhood outlet and ask if you can “extend the airport car rental” by swapping the rental agreement with them. I’ve had a 100% success rate with this.
Why Go Through This Hassle? Taxes! Airport rental taxes are notoriously high because local governments prefer to tax visitors rather than residents. By generating the rental agreement at a city location, you can avoid these hefty taxes.
Why Franchise Locations Help: Franchise locations benefit by capturing revenue from the airport, and you help them by adding a car to their fleet.
Booking Tips: Once you’ve picked your location, make a mid-size car booking. They will swap out the rental agreement for whatever car you’re driving from the airport.
Extend for a Month: Once you have the car you want at a lower rate, consider extending the rental for a month. My city tax cost puts it around $786-825 a month OTD. YMMV!
Toll Pass Tip: If you live in a toll-heavy area, add the rental plate to your toll pass account to avoid extra charges from the rental company.
Corporate Discount Rates: This strategy makes even more sense if you have access to corporate discount rates. While most corporate rates are aggressively negotiated, some can be less favorable. I use a discount rate from the company where my sibling works.
I am happy with Avis, this playbook should work with Hertz and National/Enterprise. Ofc, Ft is the place to have this conversation, but I am curious any loyalist form other rental can share their rentalhackr tips.
This is pretty spot on. I have done this with National a few times.
Key is a corp discount + “pick your car at aisle” and I usually call 1-2 days before the end of the rental to have them change drop off to a local location and it always has been the same price or lower.
When I go to pick up, I just keep $20-40 cash w/me if the selection is terrible and tip the guy to pull a larger SUV for me.
