Ever had to rent a car for a month or more? How much?

[kimmisc]

Long story short, I got in an automobile accident today and my vehicle is not drivable. I don't know for sure, but I expect it could be a month or probably more before I get it back. I've never had to rent a car out of my own pocket. My insurance will reimburse me $30 a day for a rental.

I have no idea how much long term car rentals like this typically cost. Can anyone shed some light from their own past experiences? I'm going out of my mind with stress and worry over this amoung everything else. The accident was my fault, too. :( Do you think $30/day is pretty much going to cover it, or do these things cost alot. Think I'm going to need to come up with like $500/month or something like that? Hmm, $30/day is already $900/month.

[ImAGMan]

i did a quick search at enterprise its $ 39.99 USD

[kimmisc]

Thank you so much. I tried looking and everywhere I looked said "call for rates." I guess the steering wheel hit me right in the googling section of my brain. ;) $39/day isn't so bad I guess.

[msjinkzd]

you can get a small sedan and have it pretty much covered by 30 a day...I had an accident last winter and since I have 3 kids, I needed something bigger than a small sedan. Needless to say, I got a 4 door pick-up truck, it was $45 a day. So I had to pay $15 a day out of pocket which, by the time the claim was finished, cost almost $400.

[kimmisc]

Thanks... they put me in a Chevy Impala and the $30 a day covers it. Bad thing is my ins only covers it for the first 30 days. Ugh. Kinda hope they total my Cherokee, else it'll cost me more by the time this is over with, because I'm sure it needs much more than 3 1/2 weeks worth of work. :\

[msjinkzd]

my claim from start to finish (the car was totalled) was completed in just under a month. I was very proactive about following up with the insurance company (I bugged the crap out of them) because I too was concerned about the rental running out.

[Native American]

When my P.O.S. Dodge 1/2-ton truck endured yet another typical Chrysler malfunction (I really got tired of all the warranty work on that thing), I found a 1986 Honda CRX HF for $650.

It had some front end crash damage, but got 51mpg in the city, and the insurance was dirt cheap. So, I bought it.

That little old Honda w/ 156,000 miles on it was only supposed to be a temporary drive while the Chrysler-certified mechanics spent over a month (yes, 1 month+) on warranty repairs to the differential, driveshafts (it was 4WD), transfer case, brakes and transmission on my new Dodge truck. I didn't wreck it...it had mostly highway miles on it!

On the bright side, I liked that beater Honda soooooooo much that I kept it, and I never purchased any American car ever again.
If you have decent mechanical skills, there are driveable beaters out there that will cost less than a 1-month rental. You may even keep it for good!

Regards, N-A