In the UK, buying a car is often seen as an essential rite of passage when reaching adulthood. However, with the rising costs of purchasing, taxing, insuring and maintaining a vehicle, more people are considering long term rental or hiring instead of buying.
Hiring a car can make better financial sense and provides more flexibility than committing to years of car payments and additional fees.
Financial Savings
Renting allows you to drive a nicer or newer car for less money compared to purchasing the same type of vehicle. When you finance a car, you take on debt and interest charges that increase the total cost over an extended repayment period. Hiring avoids debt while giving you access to the vehicle when you need it. You also skip road tax and MOT fees by renting short or long-term. Hiring sidesteps unpredictable repair and maintenance bills as well because those responsibilities fall to the rental company.
Insurance Savings
Insuring a rented vehicle is unnecessary and leads to significant savings compared to buying your own car. Rental cars come with built-in insurance that protects you from liability. Optional damage waivers spare you the expense of covering dents or collisions out of pocket. Because you aren’t the registered owner, you avoid the continuous insurance premiums required for personally owned vehicles.
Flexibility
Modern life’s changing pace means your transportation priorities shift over time. Buying chains you to one vehicle that eventually fails to meet your needs or lifestyle. When you hire, you can switch cars periodically as required. Need a van for a home move or a roomier car for a family holiday? Swap temporarily then return to a more economical option for everyday commuting. If you are relocating abroad for work, you can rent then relinquish without resale hassle.
Wheelchair Accessible Vehicles for Hire
Wheelchair accessible vehicle hire is especially advantageous when requiring a wheelchair accessible vehicle (WAV). These modified vehicles with ramps, lifts or entry modifications comprise a niche, expensive segment of the auto industry. Purchasing a new or used WAV represents a major financial drain for people with disabilities or families transporting someone with reduced mobility, which makes mobility cars for hire a better option.
Renting a WAV allows you to pay only for the duration when the specialised accessibility feature is necessary. Prices typically calculate by the day or week rather than month. All maintenance aspects stay with the rental firm rather than the individual. The extensive modifications present on WAVs would prove prohibitively expensive if repairs did fall to the renter. Having access to a required accessible vehicle without the usual burdens of ownership demonstrates the core benefit of hiring over buying.
Hiring Flexibility
The ability to alter the rental term means WAVs work well for temporary disabilities too. If you are recovering from an injury or surgery leading to mobility restrictions, the increased accessibility assists you during recovery without requiring permanent vehicle adaptations. Once your health improves, you can transition back to an unmodified hired car.
WAVs also suit scenarios like transporting elderly relatives on holiday or going on vacation. Adapting your own vehicle may not justify the significant effort and expenditure for temporary or periodic needs. The flexibility of renting only when additional accessibility becomes necessary showcases the prime advantage over committing to a full-time wheelchair accessible purchase.
If you need access to an accessible vehicle but you don’t want the expense of buying one, renting might be more sensible.
Environmental Impact
Hiring also benefits the environment compared to individual ownership. The emissions from all rented vehicles get divided over their cumulative mileage rather than attributed to a single person. Rental agencies often expand their fleets with more fuel-efficient or electric cars faster than the general population. The higher utilisation of each rented vehicle spreads resources thinner than a personally owned car sitting idle 90% of the time. We remain in a climate crisis, so consumers hiring instead of buying plays a small but cumulative part in reducing transport’s carbon footprint.
The Future of Transportation
Experts envision a shift away from today’s ownership model toward Transport as a Service (TaaS) fleets. Falling demand would drive down manufacture volumes while automating rental processes brings convenience on par with owning. Streamlined access enables this shared mobility future. Towns and cities also reclaim parking space for housing, parks and other social uses as privately owned cars disappear from streets. Hiring served by self-driving vehicles offers just a glimpse into how mobility may transform in coming years.
Owning a car seems engrained in British culture, but hiring deserves equal consideration given the financial and convenience benefits. Eliminating purchase costs and long-term responsibility while retaining convenient access when required enables simpler transport solutions. And for specific needs like wheelchair accessibility, short term rentals provide practical options without requiring permanent vehicle adaptations. As lifestyles change, so too should our attitudes toward car ownership evolve.