Team-BHP - Long Travels: Own Car or Rental?

Depends on how long the drive is. Will it take a couple of days or is the drive over in a few hours?

If its a really long drive, you need to include tolls, snacks bills (water, biscuits, fruits, chocolates etc), restaurant bills (breakfast, lunch and dinner) and hotel bills (overnight stay) along with diesel costs. Note that if you rack up too many kms on long drives, it will affect the resale value of the Xylo. Plus, there is risk of accident damage and parts wear.

If you are taking a flight, you need to add taxi costs (to and from the airport) and restaurant/in-flight food costs to the air ticket cost. Plus, once you reach your destination, you need to hire a cab to visit places of interest, and that will probably cost Rs. 1000+ per day. In India, renting cars doesn't make sense. The prices for self-drive cars are not justifiable.

By the way, if you really really like driving, then you can use this proven formula -

Total Trip Cost = (Diesel + All Other costs) Divided By (Infinity Amount of fun) = Zero Rupees.

Quote:

Originally Posted by smartcat (Post 3274810)

Depends on how long the drive is. Will it take a couple of days or is the drive over in a few hours?

If its a really long drive, you need to include tolls, snacks bills (water, biscuits, fruits, chocolates etc), restaurant bills (breakfast, lunch and dinner) and hotel bills (overnight stay) along with diesel costs.

If you are taking a flight, you need to add taxi costs (to and from the airport) and restaurant/in-flight food costs to the air ticket cost. Plus, once you reach your destination, you need to hire a cab to visit places of interest, and that will probably cost Rs. 1000+ per day. In India, renting cars doesn't make sense. The prices for self-drive cars are not justifiable.

By the way, if you really really like driving, then you can use this proven formula -

Total Trip Cost = (Diesel + All Other costs) Divided By (Infinity Amount of fun) = Zero Rupees.

I love driving. I lived in the US for 14 years and like many folks here went on numerous long drives. In India, I have done self drive on Pune-Vadodara, Pune-Goa and few places in Maharashtra. I am thinking about doing a self drive on Pune-Bhuj-Jaisalmer-Jaipur-Pune and whatever else is on the way from Dec. 22nd 2013 till Jan. 5th 2014 including a day or two at the Ranotsav.

The one thing which slightly bothers me in India is that due to the road conditions and dangerous traffic, you do feel exhausted at the end of day during the trip. I love the Xylo and the comfort it offers on long drives but it is the external factors which make me hesitant to venture all the way to Rajasthan from Pune.

We are a family for 4 (2 adults and 2 kids aged 8 and 10). In the last two years we did two big trips, one to North India and one to South India. Both times we flew into a major city (Delhi and Coimbatore respectively) and rented a car with a driver.

So I love to drive but it is the conditions on the roads here which put me off.

Any suggestions ? Should I take the plunge and drive to Rajasthan via Bhuj ?

Thanks.

Regarding risks, its pretty much your call.

But you can significantly reduce the risk of an accident by driving driving at a max speed of 100 kmph on a 2+2 lane highway, 80 kmph on a 2 lane highway and 40 to 60 kmph when passing through a small town by the highway.

Some essential reading:
http://www.team-bhp.com/safety

If your family is finicky about cleanliness of restrooms, you should probably avoid taking road trips. But you can get around this with some planning. For example: You can plan your drive in such a way that all your food breaks are in major towns/cities, which will have decent restaurants. However, this will slow you down because you might have to drive around a bit within the city to find good restaurants.

Quote:

Originally Posted by golfdude (Post 3274821)

I love the Xylo and the comfort it offers on long drives but it is the external factors which make me hesitant to venture all the way to Rajasthan from Pune.

How about the best of both worlds? Hire a part-time driver for your own car! This will still work out cheaper. When the roads are good, you drive. Traffic & bad roads, let him drive. That's having your cake & eating it too.

I had kind of decided that I will do this self drive on Pune-Bhuj-Rajasthan-Pune in December. But I still wanted the reassurance from this forum. :D

Thanks a lot.

Quote:

Originally Posted by GTO (Post 3275635)

Wrong forum, buddy lol: For us, the journey is more important than the destination. The reason we head out is to drive.

1. You should definitely take your own car. It's cheaper and safer (assuming you've maintained it well). With cabs, it's a hit or miss in terms of maintenance and you never know the safety or skill levels of the driver you end up with.

2. The only time I'd rent is if I'm going to a place with poor infrastructure, and my own car will get abused on no / broken roads.

How about the best of both worlds? Hire a part-time driver for your own car! This will still work out cheaper. When the roads are good, you drive. Traffic & bad roads, let him drive. That's having your cake & eating it too.

Quote:

Originally Posted by golfdude (Post 3274781)

In addition to the diesel cost, is there any formula to factor in the maintenance costs while going for a long drive ? This will help me compare the actual costs.

Quote:

Originally Posted by golfdude (Post 3274821)

I love driving. I lived in the US for 14 years and like many folks here went on numerous long drives.

Adds up! :P

It's only after coming to the US have I realized that people here think about the odometer reading while deciding whether they want to drive their own car or rent one for a long drive. Factor in the "cost" of the increased mileage, maintenance, wear and tear etc.

During all those long drives in India, I personally never imagined thinking on these lines; guess I'm just too comfortable driving my own car rather than driving a rental or having someone else drive mine.

The more you think of this, the lesser fun you have while driving.

Glad you've decided to drive anyway!