Rent vs Drive Own Car for Road Trip
Quick answer: Renting costs $60/day × 5 days plus 800 miles ÷ 35 mpg × $3.20/gal = $373.14. Driving your own car: 800 ÷ 25 × $3.20 plus 800 × $0.20 wear = $262.40 — driving your own car saves about $111.
Driving your own car on a road trip isn't free — gas and wear add up. This calculator compares renting a car (daily rate plus fuel) against driving your own (fuel plus a per-mile wear cost) so you can pick the cheaper option.
Enter your numbers
Your results
| Item | Value |
|---|
Estimates — add rental insurance or one-way surcharges to the rental side if they apply.
How to use this calculator
Enter the rental daily rate and the number of rental days, the fuel economy of the rental car and your own car, your total trip miles, and the gas price. The wear field defaults to $0.20 per mile as an editable assumption for tires, maintenance, and depreciation — raise it for an older or luxury car.
Both totals update instantly. If the rental needs insurance, a damage waiver, or a one-way surcharge, add it to the rental side before comparing.
How this is calculated
Rental total = daily rate × days + (miles ÷ rental MPG × gas price). Own-car total = (miles ÷ own MPG × gas price) + (miles × wear rate). The $0.20/mile wear default is an editable assumption covering tires, maintenance, and depreciation.
Worked example
rental 300 + 800/35×3.20 = 300 + 73.14 = $373.14; own 800/25×3.20 + 800×0.20 = 102.40 + 160 = $262.40 → own car cheaper by $110.74.
Reference data
No external dataset applies — every figure is computed from your inputs. The $0.20/mile wear default is a labeled assumption covering tires, maintenance, and depreciation, not a sourced figure.
Method & sources
Plain words: the rental side adds the daily rate to the trip's fuel cost; your own car's side adds its fuel cost to a per-mile wear allowance. Every figure is computed from your inputs.
- All figures are computed from the values you enter, in your browser — no external data sources are used.
- The $0.20/mile wear default is an editable assumption, not a sourced figure.
Frequently asked questions
What wear rate should I use?
The $0.20/mile default is an editable assumption for tires, maintenance, and depreciation. Raise it for older or luxury cars.
What about rental insurance?
Add it to the rental side — daily insurance or a damage waiver can change the verdict.
Does this work for EV rentals?
This tool is built for gas cars and doesn't model EV charging directly. For an EV rental, work out the energy cost yourself first — charging cost per mile × trip miles — and add that total to the rental side manually.
What about one-way rental fees?
Add any one-way or airport surcharge to the rental daily cost before comparing.