7k miles road trip, rent a car or use my own?
 

2 people me and my wife. what do people usually do for such long trip?

This is a person specific kind of question. This is no universal answer. I would rent a comfortable car, such as new 2014 Chevy Impala and make sure that a renting company would be okey with me putting 7K miles on it. Some companies charge per mile if you drive out of your state. Make sure you confirm that. Other people may comment that they don't understand people who worry about mileage and depreciation. Well the problem is Audi tends to depreciate pretty fast with mileage. After 50K you are basically on your own (assuming no pure protection is purchased) and the repairs may cost arm and legs. If you do the analysis and want to see what costs more, I bet depreciation derived from 7K miles would cost more than $30/day rent (assuming it is not a month long trip). Anyway, this is how I would approach. Good question though.

It's all personal taste here, but I would drive my Audi. You only live once and life is pretty dang short. If it's a lease and you drive it a lot on a daily basis, then I'd think twice. A car is supposed to be driven. As the saying goes, use it or lose it!

Going to California?

I just took the A6 down to Florida. Wouldn't have even considered a rental (unless it was an A8 L or 750LI). The A6 loves the highway, has all the stuff to make the trip more bearable (ACC, BSM, etc), and gets better economy than just about anything you're gonna get from a rental company.

How long are you gonna keep the car? If you're like me and swap cars every year or less, the mileage means nothing. If you're gonna keep it for a long time, then maybe you'd want to keep the mileage down.

I agree with the point made earlier... very personal decision. Having said that, I was considering renting a car to keep the mileage down on my A6 for a long road trip. A friend of mine (also an A6 owner) asked me the question - why buy a German luxury sedan to pick up groceries - it was built to drive!

I took the A6, and smiled the whole way.

On another note, I have started driving the A6 LESS around town. While I enjoy driving it any time, I smile the most when Im driving it at speed, preferably on a twisty two lane in the mountains. Its also quite at home at 75+ on the freeway.

I'd probably keep the car till out of warranty which has 33months left.

I was planning to drive to west coast for a spin.

Lots good points. Thanks guys.

This:

Establish the cost for this proposed long-distance rental...it may help you make a decision very quickly.

My A6 gets used mostly for road trips because I work from home and don't use it for commuting. I feel like the A6 is an amazing car on the open highway because it is quiet, comfortable, stable and powerful, so it eats up the miles with ease. It's a totally different environment to city driving, so if you've never taken your A6 on a road trip before, I would do it just to try. You'll probably appreciate your car even more and get more satisfaction from your purchase, so much so, that you won't care about the miles and depreciation.

The only way to reduce the "Cost per mile" of ownership of your Audi is to put lots of miles on it. ;-}

You bought this beautiful car to enjoy, so take the Audi on the trip, cruise comfortably and be proud of your Ride(remember the Permagrin you get every time you drive it). Sometimes it's just not worth struggling to minimize costs; if that had been your objective you would never have bought the Audi in the first place.

In this situation, I would find a cheap fare and fly. I just did a 700 miles plus trip...S4 down, A6 back up. 10+ hours in the seat is a PITA no matter how sweet the car.

My wife and I have taken 2 3000 mile trips the past 2 summers and we rented a car. You can get a pretty comfortable, high gas mileage car for pretty cheap and you don't put all the miles and rock chips on your car.

Get plane tickets. :p



In all seriousness, however, I have an old 1999 Lexus LS400 car with 138,000 miles on it that we keep just for purposes like this. That car is unstoppable. They don't make cars that reliable any more. It just keeps going and going.

My brother has a BMW and hardly uses it, because he 'rents' for out of town trips. He parks his car in the garage and looks at it from time to time, and just drives it occasionally and locally. I'm not like him - I bought my Audi so I can enjoy driving on road trips.

But of course, 7000 miles is a lot of miles. So, my question is - what's your current mileage ? If you only have 1,000 miles on your car, then do it ! Aside from this trip, how many miles do you rack up a year??? If you only rack up 5,000 - 6,000 miles a year - go for it.

At the same time, if you put a lot of miles on your car every year then what's another 7k? The best time to drive your car is on road trips. It is when you can enjoy every feature the most.

... and rent a car at the destination. I do love road trips and I always take my car, but they are usually less than 1000 miles. Having said that, I did do a 4000 miles road trip all over Europe after picking up my car in Ingolstadt, but that was spread over 3.5 weeks and the whole point was to drive my new car on the Autobahn as much as I possible could.

For me personally, it's not so much an issue of the miles on the car, though that can certainly be a concern. If the trip is particularly scenic, or I'm doing some kind of road trip for purposes of sight seeing, then it just makes more sense to fly to (a) avoid a fatiguing drive of that length, and (b) the potential rock chips that might pop up over such a long drive. My 7 y/o kid and I are on a mission to hit every mlb park, and this summer we may take a road trip out to Ohio to knock out Cleveland and Cinci...so for that trip, driving might actually make sense since I have to pick him up in St. Louis and eventually drive him back here to VA. But otherwise, for just a routine down and back trip, the bird wins over the road every time.

No matter where you end up on your trip, you'll likely need a car. I own a car, so I'd use it. Flights and rentals or depreciation, you'll end up paying for it sooner or later. 7,000 highway miles won't add too much wear and tear on the car, it's just another 6 months of use. Just don't take a leased car.

Some people, myself included, would rather not fly. We drive every where. Not sure about the OP, but personally, I won't fly because I refuse to be crammed into a tin can with hundreds of other people, breathing recirculated air, containing god knows what, with any ailments they may have, any stinks they may have, being groped and harassed before getting into said tin can, and having no control over my own destiny.

No thanks. Give me a car any day. By myself, being able to open the windows, stop when I feel like stopping, and being in complete control.

"Just don't take a leased car." I'd like to question this. I just ran the numbers on an MDX I owned for 10 years. Depreciation alone was 38-cents/mile, and when you add in Insurance, Tires, Maintenance, Wear and Tear etc., the costs go to a little over 50-cents per mile. Driving a leased car over the "mileage limit" and paying and extra 25-30 cents/mile is cheap no matter how you figure it.

I would drive my Audi. It's an awesome road car, enjoy the drive.

Won't dispute that all of that may very well happen (I fly United almost exclusively and get the plus seats, so the tin can reference doesn't necessarily apply to me), but there is that one critical safety difference in that you're far more likely to croak via automobile than die on a bird. That said, if someone doesn't mind the 10+ hours of driving it would take to cover the OP's travel distance, driving an Audi is certainly a nice way to do it.

What I think is OP's plan is to actually drive and enjoy the road trip. It doesnt look from his statement that he needs to reach a certain destination rather he wants to "drive" 7K miles for a given number of days.

I personally love C7 and yes it is joy to drive and yes a road trip is a perfect opportunity to fully enjoy this amazing machine. 7K miles, however, is a lot. Some people put 7K in a year. So depending on how financially a person is doing, one may decide to take Audi or rent a car. Clearly from OP's question one may infer that he is asking what is more cost beneficial. I believe he wont argue which car is more enjoyable to drive rather he prefers to know which option is more economically prudent (rent or drive C7). In this instance if $30/day rent is factored in vs 7K miles depreciation/wear tear/possible chips etc on his C7, it is clear that renting a car will be a correct choice.

folks: just checked my vacation schedule. I can max out 3 weeks for the trip. It is a bit short for traversing east-west, drive around, and then back. my wife can't drive so I am on my own.. I'd probably fly somewhere out there and rent a car. Thanks to everyone!

PS: It's a pity I can't drive my own car. I drive very little usually and I use subway to commute to work.. sigh...I envy those living on the west coast/mountains!!

I would get a rental if driving cross country is required. You'll have rocks, mud, and dirt all over (especially this time of year). People eating in the car and spilling. Most cross country drives are pretty flat and boring, so the handling of your Audi is not as relevant. There's a reason companies pay reimburse mileage above the gas price...wear and tear, no matter if you think it's there or not...to me not worth the hassle. The extra miles only put you closer to new brakes, tires, maintainance, etc. Yes, you'll be thinking about all the features your car has and the rental doesn't...but that will make you appreciate your car even more when you get home.

I would keep it east of the Mississippi if time was a factor. Hit Tail of the Dragon, Daytona, New Orleans, St Louie, Chi-town, Cleveland, Niagara Falls, Toronto, Boston or something like that. There's a lot of flat boring real estate between Arkansas and Cali.

You can always fly out another year and tour the western states.

+1,000,000

I will diverge on this thread for a brief moment.

When you sell your MDX you get something in return. The biggest take away for me is that when I'm done making car payments, I at least have something to show for it. I've leased before and I'll never do it again. It was nothing but a snowball of problems from one car to the next, over mileage or not. Turned in or traded in - I made payments and had nothing in the end. Trade an over mileage lease to avoid to excess penalty but you'll still get clobbered on the back-end of the car deal - monthly payments will only increase.

Based on that experience, here's my take on a car lease:

"No, Avis/Hertz/Enterprise, I insist... let ME pay for the oil changes, let ME pay for the registration and insurance, let ME pay to replace the tires and brakes, let ME pay for car washes, and wiper blades while I rent your car."

Cut it however you like - a lease is just a long-term rental. It works for some people but it doesn't pay off for people who actually drive. In terms of "getting a new car every few years," try trading in a leased car after having it for a few months and deciding you hate it. As for road trips, you're still responsible if something happens during your lease and at least you can get 100% waivers with an actual rental and truly walk away.

Otherwise, if you own it, who cares how many miles it has and who cares what it's worth? It really only matters come the day you sell it. In the meantime, if you have it, use it.

It takes 7 hours to travel 500 miles. You can plan your drive based on that, weather permitting. Going by car opens up new opportunities to explore areas you'd otherwise never see. I've done numerous cross-country drives, solo.

The nervous jitters are normal. Once you get a groove and past the first leg, you'll be open to many things and have a new sense of discovery. I can write an entire blog on the subject. I come across many people who wish they could do it... it's on a few bucket lists I'm sure. Once you make the drive coast-to-coast, you'll get a new sense for the country. You might even be able to put the size and geography into perspective along the way - which is where the discovery plays a role. Most importantly, once you've done it, you'll get the itch to do it again.

There are states that I do not stop in and there are states where I really look forward to visiting again. I plan based around this and that is a true luxury to have and a great freedom that should not be taken for granted.

Car rent
 

If you want to relax and you travel alone use your car. But if it a business trip and you traveling with somebody you should rent a car

I'm thinking about doing 3k mile road trip once pandemic dies down a bit. And decided to rent a car instead of driving my a6. It's just more worry free that way for me.

I did a 2k mile trip this past winter. Was considering renting or taking the A6 and decided on the audi. The drive was made very enjoyable and comfortable, and we hit some snow - the quattro was great. But man, the amount of rock chips the car sustained in that 2k miles was absurd. I avoid plows like the plague and never tail too close on the highway, especially if there's salt and slush on the roads - still so many chips. If I had to make the same decision again, I'd rent a 4wd SUV for a winter trip and rent a sedan or suv for a summer trip.

Granted, you do get less rock chips when it's not snowing - but you still get plenty on long highway trips. So many rocks kicked up by other cars and semis, especially with a lower car/sedan vs. a full size suv or pickup that has a much higher hood.

In 2017 I took my A6 on a 7,200 mile National Park grand tour. Absolutely loved it and had the time of my life.
https://www.audiworld.com/forums/a6-...-tour-2928100/

Anyone considering doing a long road trip and renting should consider giving the Chevy Impala Premiere (top spec -- do not bother with anything else as the lower spec cars have a horrible 4 cylinder) a try. Its no A6 but for what it is I found it to be excellent. Huge trunk, huge back seat, very pleasant ride (frankly better than my /15 A6 3.0T w/sport suspension on 19s -- not typical American mushy ride -- just right), plenty of power and nice brakes. One of the best American full size sedans IMHO.

Best,
Jeff