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Should you Buy or Rent a Car?

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Home  |  Car Transport   |   Should you Buy or Rent a Car?

The typical car will lose two-fifths (40%) of its value in the first year alone.  This raises the question: why buy? In this article we will discuss the pros and cons of leasing vs. buying and help you decide which is right for you.

Leasing

A lease is a long-term rental deal, for which you agree to pay a certain amount per month for the duration of the contact.

This not only makes sense when it comes to a purchase that depreciates as soon as it leaves the lot, but also to those who always prefer to be seen in the latest models.

You can feel happy knowing your monthly payments are usually about half of that of a loan.  One of the downsides to this arrangement, however, is that no matter how much money you put in to this vehicle every month, you’ll never actually own it.

Another drawback you need to consider when leasing is how many miles you plan on putting on your rental.  Most contracts do not allow an excess over a certain amount and you will be charged a per-mile penalty for anything over that limit.

Also keep in mind that any damage the car suffers while in your care will also come out of your pocket.

All in all, you can walk away, however, not having to worry about reselling a vehicle that isn’t worth what you might have paid initially, and instead sign a new contract for the next “best” thing.

When to Buy?

Not all cars depreciate rapidly.  Here are 5 recommended vehicles to buy, whose value holds up after the test of time:

  • Audi A4 Avant 2.0 TDI 143 SE
  • Audi TT 2.0 TDI Quattro
  • Citroen C4 Grand Picasso 1.6 HDi SX
  • Honda Jazz 1.2 i-VTEC S

Any one of these makes/models would be a smart investment when it comes to buying.  They are built to last and hold their value when properly taken care of.

As long as the vehicle you are choosing to buy isn’t going to depreciate rapidly, it could wind up being a very smart investment.  Others may want the peace of mind that comes from leasing, because once that contract is up, the apron strings are cut and you could find yourself behind the wheel of a brand new vehicle every 2 or 3 years. If you are purchasing a vehicle you need to ship, Ship A Car Direct can provide you with an iron clad guarantee! Contact us today to learn more – and see how affordable we truly are.

Frequently Asked Questions

Honest Answers to Your Car Shipping Questions

Yes, we always ask for your specific pickup and delivery addresses, if the carrier can get right to the addresses you provide, they will. If the addresses that you give us are not safely accessible for a Multi-car carrier, however, you will need to make arrangements with the driver to meet at a nearby location where the carrier can safely get in and out.

People do it all the time (rarely for free) but the official answer is no.

Not what you wanted to hear, we know, but that is the honest answer.

We are not licensed to broker the shipment of household goods and, likewise, no car carrier that operates in the USA is licensed to transport them from state to state either. Despite what you might be being told by other car shipping companies you may speak with.

Remember, at the end of the day we're all salespeople, and the true answer to this question is not a great selling point.

You will hear a lot of companies tell you that you can put up to 100 pounds of items in the trunk, but that is not entirely true. That fact is that items of that amount are fairly common and the department of transportation is probably not going to split hairs and fine the trucker over items of that amount, provided they are not over their weight limit. They could fine them, however, if they see a vehicle stuffed full of personal items so the car carrier will most likely try to negotiate something with you to cover themselves against any costs they could incur. It's not something we can build into your contract though.

We have a short and helpful video on this topic in our user videos.

Only in rare cases and car carriers will usually charge a premium to make it happen.

All dates given by car carriers are typically estimates and projections.

For this reason (and to keep your cost down) we ask that you build in some flexibility and give us the earliest possible date you would be WILLING to release the vehicle, even though it may not be your preferred date.

We'll put you in direct contact with your car carrier and the driver will also typically call you the afternoon or evening before your pick up and delivery (they won't just show up unannounced, and if they do we want to hear about it). However, car carriers are out on the road battling traffic, weather and any number of other factors that can and do throw them off of their pickup and delivery projections from time to time.

If the projected dates we give you come and you are unable to make contact with your carrier, please call our office immediately so that we may help resolve the situation.

The average transit time from pick up to delivery on any vehicle going coast to coast will average 7 to 10 days. From there you can figure your transit time based on how far your vehicle is traveling, i.e. from either coast to the Midwest might average 3-7 days.

Yes!

Even better, we do not even ask for payment until we have you confirmed for pickup by a safe, reliable, fully insured, direct car carrier. If for any reason you do not ship your car with the carrier that we arrange for you, there is no fee.

The fees paid directly to the carrier however, (in most cases, their fees are not paid until your vehicle is delivered) are not directly controlled by us, so any requests for a refund of the carrier's portion would need to be addressed with the carrier directly.

Of course! And you are always backed by our Damage Free Guarantee policy.

Part of what you pay us for is to verify that the car carrier that we put you on is covered by the proper amount of insurance and that everything is up to date.

There is never any additional cost to you for this coverage, and their insurance is always primary.

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