Trying To Decide To Rent A Minivan Vs. Drive My Rx350 To College

[Feetsdr]

Taking our kid back to college next week. This is kinda academic at this point - it's looking like he's got more than will fit in our RX350, and we'll need to rent anyway, but wondering:

For an 11 hour drive one way (1500 miles total round trip) how much would you pay / what's it worth (per mile?) to not put the miles on the car vs. renting a car?

Insurance is the same whether it sits in the driveway or it's on the road

Depreciation? you're putting another 1,500 on the car

Things that do matter?

Tire wear ($800 / 40K miles?) 2c a mile

oil ($100 / 10K miles?) 3c a mile

General maintenance - you are 1,500 closer to changing air filter, top fluids, etc? costs?

what else would you factor in?

Gas really isn't an issue (you're going to burn the same amount of gas either way? Yeah, you could get precise after the fact when you know what MPG you got on the rental).

What else?

[1990LS400]

Maybe it depends on whether you see a need to limit the number of miles you put on your RX, e.g. if you are leasing it, don't like taking your RX in for service, trying to limit miles to preserve its value. We've never paid much attention to the amount of miles we put on vehicles ... bought them, "driven the wheels off" for 180,000 to 210,000 miles and then passed them to friends or relatives.

We've rented vans both locally and on fly/drive trips when we needed to carry more than five people and/or lots of luggage, when a van has been a no cost option or there was a shortage of full size rental vehicles. Van rental prices have never seemed unreasonable although my wife gets perks (no charge for additional drivers, free upgrade to higher value vehicles) due to renting on very frequent business trips.

It sounds like you need a van regardless so is there really a decision to be made? My wife always takes care of the rental arrangements so I forget which companies rent which vehicles. The only model van we rent when travelling is a Toyota Sienna and all rental Sienna vans have been the "LE" trim level. A nice aspect of renting a Sienna is that many of the controls (lights, cruise, windows, wipers) are the same as in Lexus and other vehicles made by Toyota. The current generation Sienna has the same engine and transmission as your RX350 and will feel very familiar.

Or rent an extended wheelbase cargo van if you need even more space. We rented one of those to move pets and especially fragile objects when we changed residences.

[Feetsdr]

Thanks for the comments (and I LOVE your picture!!!)

Yeah, it's a moot point now - we have to rent the minivan for this trip considering the amount to move. But we've had this discussion for trips to both kids schools which are 11 - 13 hours away each. Doesn't happen often though!

I'm hoping to get a reassurance that we're not paying 'too much'. Through costco a couple weeks ago when we first thought about this, we could have gotten a minivan for $350 for the 4 days we need it, thought that was high and skipped making a non-binding reservation. Now we know we need it and it's $550 : (

Yeah, we own it, have an 8? year extended warranty on it, expect to keep it a long time (200K?! how long does it take to get that many miles for you and what are you spending each year near the end?).

Even if you don't care about how many miles, at some low price, most people would say - yeah, I'll rent. Let's see. We're going to pay $550 for the rental and saves us from putting 1,500 miles on the car, so we're spending 36c a mile. 'seems' high. again, a moot point since we need the minivan. but on another trip when we could fit things in the SUV, I'd like to know what number would be the breakpoint.

And this could be a whole separate thing. I drive a dinged up honda civic 2010. It's my wife that wanted the bigger / nicer Lexus... after 200K, does it still look good? Are you buying for the appearance / features (leather, sunroof, etc.) or the quality to get to 200K? Think the Toyotas would go as far (if you are getting it for the quality, Toyota is cheaper right?)

[1990LS400]

We kept our previous five vehicles from a low of 10 1/2 years to a high of 14 years. I drive "my" vehicle 15K-20K per year. My wife doesn't drive "her" vehicle much these days (mainly drives rental cars on business trips) - currently driving her Prius about 5K miles per year. Three (two Lexus LS, one Camry) of our last five vehicles looked like new when we passed them on to relatives or friends but I can be obsessive about keeping vehicles clean and maintained. It can seem a little financially painful after 150,000 miles but it has still been cost effective to keep vehicles that long. My wife's a CPA and we are both quite financially conservative.

We've learned that buying the most deluxe version of a vehicle makes it more satisfying to live with over the long haul. For example, both our 2012 Prius wagon and 2014 Sienna Limited have every package and option available including LED or HID headlights, PCS and radar cruise control, twin panoramic or sun roofs, etc., etc. The main drivers for us when buying vehicles has become safety and technology. I'm too old to drive a car with halogen headlights and I'll never buy another vehicle without an emergency automatic braking system like PCS.

As much as I like Costco (we're shareholders and bought our Sienna through Costco), I recommend that you check other rental companies. A four-day unlimited mileage minivan rental currently starts at $220 at Dollar here in the Kansas City area. Since you are renting locally, you might get a lower total cost on a weekly rate - nothing says you have to turn the van back in after four days.

Another option is a U-Haul trailer. Your RX350 has a 3,500 pound towing capacity if it has the factory tow prep package and a 2,000 pound towing capacity if it does not. If you don't have the Lexus hitch and electrical harness, my estimate is that a much less expensive after market hitch/harness could be installed on your RX for between $200 and $300 depending on hitch model and if you do it yourself. The first thing I did when I bought the Sienna last year was to install a Curt Class III hitch and plug-and-play harness. I bought a 4'x8' utility trailer in 1982 and it has paid for itself countless times since then. A trailer like that would likely carry all your kid's stuff to college. I also have a 4-bike rack that attaches to the hitch. I bought the hitch, harness and bike rack at www.etrailer.com from which I have bought towing supplies for many years. I've had a trailer hitch on almost every vehicle I've owned since the 1960's when I bought my first car.

You've got lots of options. If you do plan to keep your RX eight years then the cost of a trailer hitch could be amortized over quite a long period of time. But not everyone is comfortable with towing. I had a commercial license and towed really big stuff (mobile homes) 40+ years ago when I was a kid so it is no big deal for me.

[Feetsdr]

Thanks again. I meant to mention - I looked at uhaul / renting a trailer. Her RX350 has a Curt hitch (love them... we bought a draw tite hitch for this one (after a Curt for her 2009 RX) and the draw tite didn't fit! Yes, we chose right for the model, etc. Got them to take it back and got a curt that fit like a charm). The only thing we use the hitch for is a bike rack.. I joked I'd get her a set of truck nuts but she declined.

But we've never towed before so don't want to learn about how it affects handling / performance on a 11 hour trip / worry about the trailer being balanced (right? that's an issue - front to back, etc.)?

we're here in suburban northeast / ny. And several places don't have mini vans for rental at all, let alone at a good price. Kids going back to school and likely less people have trailers of their own in this area so they can charge more. Thought about renting the minivan here, return it at school (indiana) and then rent a small car for ride home. But that's actually more money - they have enough minivans in Indiana?

thanks for all that info.

[1990LS400]

The smallest 4'x8' covered U-Haul trailer has almost the same volume (142 cu. ft.) as a Toyota Sienna with the third row seats stowed flush with the floor and the second row seats removed (150 cu. ft.).

It's not at all hard to balance the load in a small trailer like this. I helped a woman last year rent a 4'x8' U-Haul that she used to move from here (Kansas City) to Indianapolis. She had never towed a trailer before and she told me later that she did not find it difficult to do. She towed the trailer with an older 4-cylinder Subaru Forester and had the Subaru dealer install her hitch and harness a couple of days before the move. She did not attempt to back the trailer during the trip and told me that he was careful to always parallel park it when she stopped during the 500 mile 1-way trip.

The cost of a 4-day rental of a 4'x8' U-Haul trailer, returned to the place where it was rented, is only $59.80 in the Kansas City area.

A nice aspect of a narrow 4'x8' trailer like this is that you would not need to mount additional (extended) exterior mirrors on your RX. Towing a little trailer like this would be an absolute breeze with an RX350 - so effortless that you would be checking your mirrors to verify that it is still attached.

If you don't have a trailer wiring harness on your RX then you would need to install one - a simple "flat 4" electrical connection is all that is needed for a small U-Haul trailer. The RX may be better set up for a trailer harness than my Sienna. It took maybe an hour for me to install the Curt plug-and-play harness on my Sienna with the hardest part (not hard at all) being running the harness power wire underneath the van to the accessory post on the battery's positive clamp in the engine compartment.

[VBdenny]

Parking at colleges can be a nightmare especially on drop off times. I'd rather have people door ding my rental than my car. I have seen people bang all kinds of things into cars unloading.

[GDixon]

HA HA!

You are sending a kid to college and worrying about a few bucks in car or van rental expenses.

Boy, do you have a shock coming.

[1990LS400]

HA HA!

You are sending a kid to college and worrying about a few bucks in car or van rental expenses.

Boy, do you have a shock coming.

I'm remembering going away to school with everything I was taking packed in a suitcase that was stored in the luggage hold of a Greyhound bus. My, how times have changed.

[VBdenny]

Oh Gary, didn't you strike the nail directly on the head. and yeah, it hits hard.

[Feetsdr]

Ok, we have a Curt hitch I installed for a bike rack on this RX350. I looked under the rear bumper on the drivers side and there's a 4 pin connector with a cover over it. I guess that's for the trailer lighting? Even though we didn't get the trailer package when we bought the car? They just have 1 wiring harness to accomodate all the options? Could someone recommend what do I need to go from that to the typical trailer connector?

And I have a square opening on the hitch. What do I need to be able to pull a trailer? a ball? what size is 'typical' for what I could / would pull with an RX350. And a ball mount? The uhaul site lists all kinds of lengths and drops for the mount, along with the ball diameter.

Is there a standard / most common to get?

And what do you think of harbor freight for these items? I like that place and their prices are likely better than uhaul. This will likely see 1x a year type of use over the life of the RX350.

[1990LS400]

All smaller U-Haul and other trailers use a "4-flat" electrical connection like you have. Larger trailers that have brakes, and need power to charge batteries, run refrigerators, etc. use a more complex connection.

A U-Haul store should be able to recommend the correct drawbar and ball size. Most drawbars can have the balls installed as a rise or a drop.

Or you could contact etrailer for their recommendation - they are wonderfully helpful: http://www.etrailer.com/p-C45030.html

I bought a really cool "combo pack" from etrailer that includes the correct drawbar, multiple balls of various sizes and a heavy duty storage bag. The balls can be switched in a few seconds buy pulling/reinserting a pin.

You'll need the smallest standard ball size for a U-Haul trailer - same as used by most trailers under 3,500 pounds or so.

[VBdenny]

The receiver balls are made in different sizes. There are some that have multiple balls that can be rotated in the receiver to fit what you need.

[sadclown]

I would definitely just rent a van. It's more practical.