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I have to commute for my SA this summer. Looked at public transportation and it is out of the question (2 trains + 2 buses = 2+ hours each way). Thus, I am going to do a long term car rental.

I have looked into pricing and it is not bad at a few places (e.g. Enterprise/Alamo). However, I have no car insurance and I am having a hard time figuring out what insurance I need and whether I should get insurance from the rental company or some sort of short term policy at an insurance company etc.

If anyone has any experience or advice regarding the car rental process for SA's, and insurance in particular, I would greatly appreciate it.


*Mods: Not sure if this should go here in the employment forum or elsewhere so feel free to move if necessary.

weaselology wrote:I have to commute for my SA this summer. Looked at public transportation and it is out of the question (2 trains + 2 buses = 2+ hours each way). Thus, I am going to do a long term car rental.

I have looked into pricing and it is not bad at a few places (e.g. Enterprise/Alamo). However, I have no car insurance and I am having a hard time figuring out what insurance I need and whether I should get insurance from the rental company or some sort of short term policy at an insurance company etc.

If anyone has any experience or advice regarding the car rental process for SA's, and insurance in particular, I would greatly appreciate it.


*Mods: Not sure if this should go here in the employment forum or elsewhere so feel free to move if necessary.

Out of curiosity, how much will it cost you?

Is a car rental + insurance really cheaper then subletting an apartment close to your SA job?

duckmoney wrote:

weaselology wrote:I have to commute for my SA this summer. Looked at public transportation and it is out of the question (2 trains + 2 buses = 2+ hours each way). Thus, I am going to do a long term car rental.

I have looked into pricing and it is not bad at a few places (e.g. Enterprise/Alamo). However, I have no car insurance and I am having a hard time figuring out what insurance I need and whether I should get insurance from the rental company or some sort of short term policy at an insurance company etc.

If anyone has any experience or advice regarding the car rental process for SA's, and insurance in particular, I would greatly appreciate it.


*Mods: Not sure if this should go here in the employment forum or elsewhere so feel free to move if necessary.

Out of curiosity, how much will it cost you?

From what I've seen $1800-2000 total for 3 months.

keg411 wrote:Is a car rental + insurance really cheaper then subletting an apartment close to your SA job?

Yes, much cheaper for where I will be. I also need to be able to travel to SA events and I would likely rent a car to go on a couple weekend trips too.

A lot of credit cards offer rental insurance at no additional fee if you pay for it with that card even if you don't have your own policy. I'd check into that. Most don't last for more than 30 days, but you could always return the car and re-rent on the card.

albusdumbledore wrote:A lot of credit cards offer rental insurance at no additional fee if you pay for it with that card even if you don't have your own policy. I'd check into that. Most don't last for more than 30 days, but you could always return the car and re-rent on the card.

That's true. I stumbled upon it once by accident and it worked out. Read your credit card's policy, but there's a very good chance it's included. I had a Visa; I'm sure Amex has a similar if not better policy.

Thanks for the advice so far. Just looked into credit card coverage and found this handy chart for anyone that's interested:

http://www.creditcards.com/credit-card- ... s-1273.php

Unfortunately I have a POS Mastercard and it doesn't look like I have coverage per my policy...

weaselology wrote:Thanks for the advice so far. Just looked into credit card coverage and found this handy chart for anyone that's interested:

http://www.creditcards.com/credit-card- ... s-1273.php

Unfortunately I have a POS Mastercard and it doesn't look like I have coverage per my policy...

I'd make sure you are adequately insured, including liability insurance with the proper limits. It's one thing to have the car covered if you crash it so you don't owe the rental company for the car, but it's another thing to accidentally hurt someone or damage property and to face liability personally.

weaselology wrote:

duckmoney wrote:

weaselology wrote:I have to commute for my SA this summer. Looked at public transportation and it is out of the question (2 trains + 2 buses = 2+ hours each way). Thus, I am going to do a long term car rental.

I have looked into pricing and it is not bad at a few places (e.g. Enterprise/Alamo). However, I have no car insurance and I am having a hard time figuring out what insurance I need and whether I should get insurance from the rental company or some sort of short term policy at an insurance company etc.

If anyone has any experience or advice regarding the car rental process for SA's, and insurance in particular, I would greatly appreciate it.


*Mods: Not sure if this should go here in the employment forum or elsewhere so feel free to move if necessary.

Out of curiosity, how much will it cost you?

From what I've seen $1800-2000 total for 3 months.

You can buy a crappy used car off craigslist for less than that.

duckmoney wrote:

weaselology wrote:

duckmoney wrote:

weaselology wrote:I have to commute for my SA this summer. Looked at public transportation and it is out of the question (2 trains + 2 buses = 2+ hours each way). Thus, I am going to do a long term car rental.

I have looked into pricing and it is not bad at a few places (e.g. Enterprise/Alamo). However, I have no car insurance and I am having a hard time figuring out what insurance I need and whether I should get insurance from the rental company or some sort of short term policy at an insurance company etc.

If anyone has any experience or advice regarding the car rental process for SA's, and insurance in particular, I would greatly appreciate it.


*Mods: Not sure if this should go here in the employment forum or elsewhere so feel free to move if necessary.

Out of curiosity, how much will it cost you?

From what I've seen $1800-2000 total for 3 months.

You can buy a crappy used car off craigslist for less than that.

...but then u'd have to drive a crappy used car that you bought off craigslist

handsonthewheel wrote:

weaselology wrote:Thanks for the advice so far. Just looked into credit card coverage and found this handy chart for anyone that's interested:

http://www.creditcards.com/credit-card- ... s-1273.php

Unfortunately I have a POS Mastercard and it doesn't look like I have coverage per my policy...

I'd make sure you are adequately insured, including liability insurance with the proper limits. It's one thing to have the car covered if you crash it so you don't owe the rental company for the car, but it's another thing to accidentally hurt someone or damage property and to face liability personally.

If you have renter's insurance your policy might include some liability insurance, so you might want to check there first.

HWS08 wrote:

handsonthewheel wrote:

weaselology wrote:Thanks for the advice so far. Just looked into credit card coverage and found this handy chart for anyone that's interested:

http://www.creditcards.com/credit-card- ... s-1273.php

Unfortunately I have a POS Mastercard and it doesn't look like I have coverage per my policy...

I'd make sure you are adequately insured, including liability insurance with the proper limits. It's one thing to have the car covered if you crash it so you don't owe the rental company for the car, but it's another thing to accidentally hurt someone or damage property and to face liability personally.

If you have renter's insurance your policy might include some liability insurance, so you might want to check there first.

Most if not all of these exclude liability stemming from an auto accident.

duckmoney wrote:

weaselology wrote:

duckmoney wrote:

weaselology wrote:I have to commute for my SA this summer. Looked at public transportation and it is out of the question (2 trains + 2 buses = 2+ hours each way). Thus, I am going to do a long term car rental.

I have looked into pricing and it is not bad at a few places (e.g. Enterprise/Alamo). However, I have no car insurance and I am having a hard time figuring out what insurance I need and whether I should get insurance from the rental company or some sort of short term policy at an insurance company etc.

If anyone has any experience or advice regarding the car rental process for SA's, and insurance in particular, I would greatly appreciate it.


*Mods: Not sure if this should go here in the employment forum or elsewhere so feel free to move if necessary.

Out of curiosity, how much will it cost you?

From what I've seen $1800-2000 total for 3 months.

You can buy a crappy used car off craigslist for less than that.

This is a terrible idea. Youd eat up any savings with taxes & tags. Not to mention inspection (if required) and the cost of any repairs the shitty car needs to run or pass inspection.

EEESH! I wouldn't want to be in your position, the VISA/MC renter's insurance is fine for renting for a weekend but I wouldn't put long-term risk into it because I'm pretty sure they're just the bare minimum you need to get the car rented to you. Plus it doesn't sound like your POS card has it anyway. Rental insurance from the rental car companies is expensive. Short-term policies with an insurance carrier might be your only option but I'm not even sure if you can have a car insured that doesn't belong to you. Do you live with a roommate that could possibly put you on their insurance policy if that policy covers rentals? Or parents? I'm not so sure what the requirements are to cover other adults, I believe you just have to live in the same household.

Good luck.

I know that Hertz has a thing with a month to month rental that ends up to be less than the daily or weekly rate. They just charge your card, and you can use a debit card with them, but you can't with Hertz regular. I would call all the rental companies and see if they have some kind of deal for extensive renting.

My friend did this for a couple of summers. It worked out great but she locked in a really cheap rate. Also, can you get on someone else's car insurance? That might cover rental insurance, but I am not sure.

The price for the insurance makes the car really a lot more expensive if you have to get it from the rental company.

Just an idea, but you may be able to take over someone's lease for the last 3 months at a significantly lower cost than what you'd be paying the car rental company. Check out leasetrader.com.

My plan is to start leasing a vehicle. You can get away with putting like 1k to 2k down on a mid 00's car, and your payments ought to be less than 200 per month. The upside is that between your may-august lease payments + your down payment, you probably should be able to keep the costs in line with what it would take to rent a car. Further, you now get to keep that car at less than 200 a month for the next few years, whereas continuing to rent after the summer would likely be prohibitively expensive. Another upside is that if you make on time payments it could potentially help your credit score (if the lease provider reports it and you pay on time).

Obviously if you don't think you'll be able to make car payments during 3L year, or for whatever reason you don't want a car after this summer ... this isn't a good idea.

Dude, get a truck. All your colleagues will respect you much more and the ladies will like it too.

Tom Joad wrote:Dude, get a truck. All your colleagues will respect you much more and the ladies will like it too.

Or a jeep. http://www.kbb.com/jeep/grand-cherokee/ ... ype=retail

daesonesb wrote:

Tom Joad wrote:Dude, get a truck. All your colleagues will respect you much more and the ladies will like it too.

Or a jeep. http://www.kbb.com/jeep/grand-cherokee/ ... ype=retail

Righteous, bro.

dood wrote:
...but then u'd have to drive a crappy used car that you bought off craigslist

Agreed. The better option is to show up at Goodwill in old ripped clothes and say something about "trying to get back on your feet," they will cut the price of their cars from 900 to 3-400 if they feel you need it. Also, because it is Goodwill you know that they have screened them a little bit.

You could also just correspond with a few of the SAs that the firm gave you the information of and see if any want to commute.

duckmoney wrote:

weaselology wrote:

duckmoney wrote:

weaselology wrote:I have to commute for my SA this summer. Looked at public transportation and it is out of the question (2 trains + 2 buses = 2+ hours each way). Thus, I am going to do a long term car rental.

I have looked into pricing and it is not bad at a few places (e.g. Enterprise/Alamo). However, I have no car insurance and I am having a hard time figuring out what insurance I need and whether I should get insurance from the rental company or some sort of short term policy at an insurance company etc.

If anyone has any experience or advice regarding the car rental process for SA's, and insurance in particular, I would greatly appreciate it.


*Mods: Not sure if this should go here in the employment forum or elsewhere so feel free to move if necessary.

Out of curiosity, how much will it cost you?

From what I've seen $1800-2000 total for 3 months.

You can buy a crappy used car off craigslist for less than that.

And then resale it on craiglists to recover some of your crappy car money. Then, use said money on booze during 3L.

Now that i think about it: why don't you just carpool with a fellow SA, or someone at your school who lives near you and will be SA'ing in the same area as you. They'll probably appreciate someone to share the ride with and help with gas.