Buying or renting is always a difficult decision – please use our below advice in making the right decision for you…
You wouldn’t buy a car if you only needed it for a few days, and by the same token you wouldn’t rent a car to travel around Australia for a year.
So when is buying a Travellers Autobarn car better than renting a Travellers Autobarn car, and when is renting better than buying? This can be answered quite simply if we compare the two options purely in economic terms.
Basically, we think that if you’re travelling for 8-12 weeks or less you should probably rent a car. For a longer trip of 12 weeks or more you buy a car. Have a look at the example below to see just what we mean.
This example is based on the rental of a Ford Falcon Stationwagon with a variable daily rate, and the sale of a Ford Falcon at $3500 with a Guaranteed Buyback of 40%.
COST OF RENTING A TRAVELLERS AUTO BARN CAR | COST OF BUYING A TRAVELLERS AUTO BARN CAR | |
4 WEEKS | $1260 ($45/day rental rate) | not worth it |
8 WEEKS | $2520 ($45/day rental rate) | not worth it |
10 WEEKS | $2800 ($40/day rental rate) | 50/50 |
12 WEEKS | $3360 ($40/day rental rate) | once you past 12 weeks: buy it! |
16 WEEKS | $3920 ($35/day rental rate) | the best option |
At 10 weeks you would spend roughly about the same amount of money renting the car as you would if you bought the same car and sold it back to us with a Guaranteed 40% buyback. However, often it’s not just about money.
While Campervans and Vans are more expensive than cars, they obviously fetch a much higher Buyback or resale price. The table below will give you a comparison between three options: renting one of our Hitops – a 2003-2005 model, buying a Van (similar such as our Chubby Camper but of an older age) or buying a proper Toyota Hiace Campervan (simiar to our Budget Camper models – 2000 – 2002 models).
The table is calculated at an average daily rental rate for the Campervan. The cost of a converted Van is averaged to $5,500 and the cost of the HiAce Campervan is $13,500.The Buyback prices are calculated at 40% in this case.
Renting a Hitop Campervan | Buying a MiniVan | Buying a Hitop Campervan | |
4 Weeks | $2100 (@ $75/day rental rate)* | Don’t even think about it | Are you insane? |
8 Weeks | $3864 (@ $69/day rental rate)* | still cheaper to rent | keep looking down the column… |
10 Weeks | $4550 (@ $65/day rental rate)* | 50:50 | further… |
12 Weeks | $4956 (@ $59/day rental rate)* | Buying your own van makes a lot of sense | keep going… |
16 Weeks | $6160 (@ $55/day rental rate)* | Buying 100%! | actually, it is about 22-30 weeks that it becomes economical |
* Daily rental rates used here are an example only and will vary seasonally.
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