Road Trip: Rental or no?

RedRoadster · Postby **RedRoadster** » Mon Jan 19, 2009 9:14

I've got a trip to Cali coming up (The one that will prevent me from making the 2/1 run) and I had a question.

For a strictly business road trip of 2,000 miles, would you put the miles on your own car, or get a rental?

Rental:
Pros: potential for better mileage
Not putting miles on the 3 (not taking the Miata this time)

cons: rental cost.

MazdaTom · Postby **MazdaTom** » Mon Jan 19, 2009 9:14

If it's a business trip, who is paying for the rental? If you take your own car, will you get paid mileage? When I travel on business, I get to claim the mileage to and from the airport. If I were to drive to the destination, they wouldn't pay me mileage but would settle on a flat rate (since all the travel destinations are pretty far away).

tsx_guy · Postby **tsx_guy** » Mon Jan 19, 2009 9:14

I agree with Tom. With previous business trips my company covered the plane ticket, hotel and car rental if needed. I would suspect they should cover your travel costs as well. If driving is the only option I would get a rental and let the company cover the cost.

RedRoadster · Postby **RedRoadster** » Mon Jan 19, 2009 9:14

Perhaps 'business' was the wrong word.

It's personal travel, but it's not a pleasure trip.

MazdaTom · Postby **MazdaTom** » Mon Jan 19, 2009 9:14

Tough call.

How bad is the mileage on the 3 to not consider taking it? You might save a little in gas money by getting a rental, but probably not enough to justify the cost of the rental.

I'd probably stick to taking the 3 on strictly economic reasons. The 3 is just an economy car. It's not going to go up in value by keeping the miles off.

tsx_guy · Postby **tsx_guy** » Tue Jan 20, 2009 9:14

i think the 3 would be a fun car to take to cali....whipping through the mountains and all. Consider it a "break in" trip.

GTConversion · Postby **GTConversion** » Tue Jan 20, 2009 9:14

What good is your car if not to put miles on it? The first thing I did with my RX8 was put 1200 miles on it driving from CA to CO.

Colombia28 · Postby **Colombia28** » Tue Jan 20, 2009 9:14

I'm driving out to Cali in March. No rental for me, just me and the speed. I get surprisingly good mileage on the highway with the speed. I would bet you would get awesome mileage with the 3. Not sure what rental would beat the 3.

RedRoadster · Postby **RedRoadster** » Tue Jan 20, 2009 9:14

I'm beginning to see the light here.

I think i was clouded by a recent trip from Cleveland to NY in the rental 6s. The thing that stuck in my mind was the range of the thing.. I think I got 400+ miles out of a single tank...

Colombia28 · Postby **Colombia28** » Tue Jan 20, 2009 9:14

Red95FMII wrote:I'm beginning to see the light here.

I think i was clouded by a recent trip from Cleveland to NY in the rental 6s. The thing that stuck in my mind was the range of the thing.. I think I got 400+ miles out of a single tank...

The 6i i have as a rental right now gets near 500 miles to a tank. I cant remember what the size of the tank on the 3 is, but if its about the same you would probably get pretty close to that.

ZoomPrincess · Postby **ZoomPrincess** » Wed Jan 21, 2009 9:14

I could be wrong here, but if I remember correctly I think the 3 has a 12 gallon tank, and the 6 has a 18 gallon tank.

Colombia28 · Postby **Colombia28** » Wed Jan 21, 2009 9:14

ZoomPrincess wrote:I could be wrong here, but if I remember correctly I think the 3 has a 12 gallon tank, and the 6 has a 18 gallon tank.

That sounds right to me. The first time i filled up the 6i and it went past 12 gallons i was surprised.

turbo99jetta · Postby **turbo99jetta** » Thu Jan 22, 2009 9:14

14.5 gallons on the 3.... 18 gallons on the 6

Colombia28 · Postby **Colombia28** » Thu Jan 22, 2009 9:14

turbo99jetta wrote:14.5 gallons on the 3.... 18 gallons on the 6

Sweet. Thanks Josh!

Either way i think the 3 would be perfectly fine for a drive to CA.

Rich · Postby **Rich** » Thu Jan 22, 2009 9:14

I'd take the 3. Rental can be a pain, as you don't know the reliability of the vehicle you get.

Road Trip: Rental or no?

Road Trip: Rental or no?

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