Short-term auto in DC
March 20, 2011 9:35 AM   Subscribe

Best short-term car options in DC

Currently live in the DC area - moved here without a car, and have managed to avoid purchasing one so far. While I usually work in the District, I just found out that I will need to commute to suburban Maryland starting mid-April, until the end of August (about 4 months total). I also might have to commute out there for a month or so early next year. Unfortunately the work site is not accessible by public transit, so Metro or commuter rail isn't really an option.

I considered buying something fairly cheap off Craigslist (like an older Civic or something similar), but started doing the math and am starting to think that when you factor in parking costs, maintenance, and the cost/headaches of getting a car registered here, it might make more sense to do some sort of long-term rental or lease.

I'm also most likely moving overseas in mid-2012 months, so I will probably have to sell anything I buy about a year from now.

Any thoughts or suggestions? So far, I've tried the major rental companies (Hertz, Budget, Rent-a-Wreck, etc) and the best deal I've been able to find on long-term rental is $599/month through Hertz. Any other rental/lease options for such a short time frame?
posted by photo guy to Travel & Transportation around Washington, DC (8 answers total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
Can you contact your employer at the new location and find out if there are any existing carpools?

Also, where is the nearest metro or MARC train? You could possibly bike some of the way.
posted by k8t at 9:57 AM on March 20, 2011


Here is some general regional ridesharing info. for you.
posted by gudrun at 1:24 PM on March 20, 2011


I think you're probably not going to do a lot better than $600 a month, for a daily use case.
posted by raf at 1:54 PM on March 20, 2011


Have you checked whether your workplace is served by a bus? Or is it close enough that you can ride your bike some way after getting off the bus (you can stow bikes on the front of buses here).
posted by hhc5 at 6:34 PM on March 20, 2011


What about Zipcar? I love it in Phoenix, and even though they only have a couple of cars in my neighborhood, I don't have a problem reserving a car when I need it.
posted by LyndsayMW at 9:24 PM on March 20, 2011


I'm a big Zipcar fan myself (carless Chicagoan here) but it doesn't make sense for this situation. It's at least $70/day for a car, and given an average of 22 workdays in a month that's over $1,500/month. It's also expressly not set up for this type of renting; they don't guarantee your being able to rent a car for more than four days at a time.

Zipcar in general is a better financial deal for shorter periods of time, especially hourly rentals (or if you're under 25 and want to avoid the hefty fees for that.)
posted by andrewesque at 6:45 AM on March 21, 2011


For what it's worth I am selling a car in DC that sounds like it would meet your needs. Since moving here Metro and Zipcar have taken over all of my transit needs. It's an older car in serviceable condition, but not a looker. Definitely going to be less than the cost of a monthly rental, and you can CarMax it when you're ready to get rid of it. Feel free to send me a message if you're interested.
posted by forkisbetter at 10:25 AM on March 21, 2011


Where in suburban Maryland? If it's Montgomery County, it probably is accessible by public transportation even if it's not on the Metro. You might be able to take a bus from one of the Metro stations. Try plugging your starting and ending locations into the WMATA Trip Planner, and include both rail and bus in your search. This helped me a lot when I was carless in the DC area.
posted by spinto at 12:58 PM on March 21, 2011


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