AVIS LONG-TERM CAR RENTAL

I need a car for a few months, and I want it to be as cheap as possible—how do I go about it?

Each of us naturally needs some form of transportation to get ourselves or our belongings from point A to point B, other than on foot. We use buses, trains, trams, scooters, or cars.

From a health and safety perspective, since March of this year, as the COVID-19 pandemic has spread, people have begun to look more toward individual transportation and have preferred it over public transit. This step is quite logical. However, many people have run into a problem when they realized that, for various reasons, they cannot, do not want to, or are unable to own a car.

So what are my options if I want to get a car?

I can:

1. buy—new or used
2. lease—new or, in most cases, nearly new

Option 1 – Buying a Car

You’ll need your own funds or outside financing to do this. If you only need a car for a few months, this probably isn’t the best option, since the purchase process itself is quite time-consuming. First, you choose the make and model of the specific vehicle you like. Then you customize it and request a quote. You’ll find that the discount percentage you received seems small, so you’ll start comparing prices until you decide to look at other makes and models in an effort to get an even lower price. This process takes several days and requires your active time and comparison, as well as some knowledge of cars, so you can make the best decision in terms of price and performance. Once you find terms that appeal to you, you’ll discover that you’ll have to wait several months for your vehicle. Due to the pandemic, wait times for nearly all car brands have increased by 50% to 100%, resulting in an average delivery time of 6–12 months. This, however, does not solve your current problem of getting a car immediately or as quickly as possible. So if you decide to wait for a new car, you’ll still need to finalize the financing. If you have your own funds, that’s one less thing to worry about, but it’s important to realize that you’ll be putting money into the vehicle that you could have used for something else—perhaps a money-making venture. If you need to borrow money for a car, you’ll have to choose between a loan and a lease. Then you’ll need to select an offer from a bank. However, don’t forget that banks are very strict about whom they lend money to and under what conditions; they assess your creditworthiness, which includes, for example, your income, length of employment, and your liabilities.

So if you need a vehicle as soon as possible and don’t want to spend a lot of money, this may not be the right option for you. You might find a better fit in another option: vehicle rental itself.
 

Option 2 – Renting a Car

You can rent a car and easily avoid the problems you faced with the first option—buying a car. You can start driving practically right away, for just a fraction of the cost, since you’ll pay a refundable deposit and your commitment is minimal. You only pay for the car for the period when you actually need it. When you don’t need it, you simply return it. The rule is that the longer you rent the car, the more affordable the rental price becomes. That’s why we distinguish between the following rental options:

1. daily, i.e., short-term—usually for a few days
2. Monthly—usually for a few months
3. annual—12 months
4. multi-year—depending on your preference, most commonly for 3–4 years

When deciding whether to rent a car for a shorter or longer period, you should consider whether you want to commit to a specific term or prefer maximum flexibility. If you commit to a longer term, the rental price drops even further, and you save a decent amount of money. So all you need to do is think about how long you want the car for and make your decision based on that. An interesting option that might meet your expectations is AVIS’s “AVIS LONG-TERM CAR RENTAL” product. This involves renting a vehicle for 3 or 6 months with a precisely defined mileage limit. The rental price includes standard services, insurance, tire maintenance, and a highway toll sticker. You can find out more about this product and view the full offer here: