How do SNOWBIRD renters deal with needing a car at The Villages?
 

My husband and I want to start renting in The Villages for half the year. We’re not ready to sell our home in Oregon yet. Not wanting to drive 1,000s of miles whenever we want to come to Florida, we’d like to ask Snowbird renters who live far from The Villages how they handle needing a car for half the year in The Villages. Car rental? Buy a car and store it somewhere near The Villages? Or? We’d appreciate advice? Thank you.

Car rental is no longer a cheap option.
I would buy a used car, and find some low price storage for the time you are not here.

We purchased a used car but decided that after considering renting for more than 3 months it would be cheaper to purchase a home. There are many homes in the so-called "historic" section which are very affordable and will easily sell when you decide to stop coming to the Villages. We have our car in the carport with a cover over it and the battery on a charger inside.

Buy used car, store it locally when you're not here, there are at least six storage companies around here within two miles of The villages some are better than others but they're still pretty dirt cheap when you consider that cars are currently going for 2 or 3,000 per month rental due to the shortages.

I just use my cart for everything. If I need a car I buy lunch and gas for a friend when we take a road trip.

Call a local car dealer and see if they would be willing to give you a six month lease on a car, one year leases are common so I would assume someone would give you a 6 month lease.

Several years ago I played golf with a guy that was in his upper 80's. He told me that he used his golf cart for transportation and had not owned a car for 5-6 years. Any time he needed a car he called Enterprise rental and got one for the day or so. He would purchase their insurance. He saved on deprecation, maintenance and insurance. He also told me that it had been 6 months since he needed a car. I thought he had it figured out pretty good for his situation and needs.

Rental cars are high now but that will change when the rental car companies get their inventories back to where they should be but that may take some time because of the chip shortage. That will be another blog in the future.

You may not be ready for that type of situation. Purchasing a used car now that used car prices are very high would still perhaps be the best way to go. You might be able to find another snowbird that would rent you their garage for a price reasonable to both of you as your time here may match up with their time frame also. This website would work well to find that person.

With used cars being in such a premium state now a days and their resale being quite high, I've began to wonder what the financial impact would be if a person would buy a used car and then resell it (possibly back to the selling dealer) 5 or 6 months later. I know they always say that a new car looses a several thousand dollars as you drive it off a lot, but I wonder what the difference would be if you bought and then sold a good used car within a short time period. I'm not recommending you do that, but your question got me to thinking about the cost of temporary ownership vs renting or even buying and then paying for storage and whatever other cost that would be associated with owning a car for 12 months (e.g. insurance, repairs for things that would go wrong with having a car sit for 6 or more months). Just thinking . . . . .

Have YOUR CAR transported here. Cheaper than a rental. Probably cost you $1500 each way depending on time of year or just buy a hoopty and trash it after 6 months. :D

You don't have to pay for storage of a car that you don't use for several months when you're back north. Just leave it in the driveway or the garage. Expect that it'll probably need a jump the first time you use it when you come back down.

Or you could give the keys to a trusted neighbor and ask that they pull it out of the driveway, drive it around the block, and return it to the driveway once every week. That'll also keep the tires from rotting.

The OP is renting, don't think the landlord would go for that.

If you rent and house comes with golf cart, just use that. (or just rent golf cart) You can do about everything using golf cart. If you need to go some where else, call taxis or rent car for day or two from Spanish Springs behind the theater. Most snowbirds I know have their cars shipped or they drive them. I’d it was me and I didn’t want to drive, I’d ship my car. It will be cheaper IMO.

As others said previously, I'd rent a place that has a golf cart included. Pretty much everything is available via cart, and you can Uber/rent car for other longer drives as needed. But I personally think it's worth the drive to have my car available in TV (my drive is 1300 miles done in 2 days).

Thank you. This is the most logical answer here finally!! “Buy a car for six months and sell”. “. Have it transpirted $1500 each way”.l Lease a car for 6 mos “. “Put it in a storage bay for 6 mos”. Not realistic or decent ideas at all

Would it help you to drive yourself if you took the auto train?

After 2 - 3 years you could have owned a car.

If in the Northeast you can take the Autotrain from Washington right to Sanford Fla. Less than $500 each way.

Vroom, etc
 

Buy a used car from Vroom, or one of their competitors, and sell it back to them. They pickup and deliver, no hassles. Probably net cost about $3,000.

Staying 6 months, think about shipping your car to and from Florida. Some rent a home with a golf cart and just use the golf cart for transportation in and around the Villages. If you decide to travel outside TV then you can rent a car for a few days or a week to do the things you want to do. Like taking a vacation from your vacation. The. rental cart with the house needs to be in great shape if thats alll hyour going to have. Comfort & dependablity important. Issue here is you can't go seperate places unless you make friends that are willing to take one or the other of you. i.e. both golfing men with men ladies w ladies on same day. One of you needs a ride.

But, you can't leave a car in the driveway of a rented house.

I’ve heard that some folks rent annually even though they spend only six months. They keep the car in the garage when not here. You’d have todo the math to see if that makes any sense. No taxes on a long-term rental of over six months.

This is probably the best idea so far. The summer months are most likely the time you won't be there, so the cost in your mind is not as much. Do this for a few years, then sell up north, have goods shipped ....all set

The clincher that we are all forgetting, and it doesn't affect us all, is if the is a dog 🤷*♀️
Gotta love fifi, but if you can't put him on a plane and can't leave him, then you are in the same boat as us. Now there's something to ponder...😁

I own a home that I rent out a few months out of the year and use it a few months ourselves. We bought a 2008 car for <$10k, probably find something less expensive if you're not picky. I am going to store the car for the months when we have renters in our house for $50 +/- a month proably at the place near Walmart on 466... it has good reviews.

Quick thought if storms and house is damaged with someone car stored who pays for damages homeowners or the person who renting the garage.

See post #11

All these answers, very few people read the original post apparently. They live in OREGON! That's on the west coast of the USA.

It seems like a lot of the people who have responded didn't read the original post closely. The original post indicated they were from Oregon. So shipping the car or even taking the auto train from Virginia is either not applicable or would be VERY expensive. Also, the original post indicated they wanted a car here in The Villages. So a lot of the responses about leaving the car in their garage (in Oregon) aren't applicable either. And since they indicated the need to store the care someplace, I assume they would be a snowbird who will rent a home for a few months.

I still wonder if buying a good used car and then reselling it back to the used car dealer isn't a viable option. I've got to believe the amount you would loose would be far less than the cost of a rental for a few months (especially at todays rental prices). And probably less than it would cost to ship a car from Oregon and then back again. Plus you wouldn't have to deal with the summer storage cost. And then there would be the extra hassle of trying to sell a car that was in storage while you were in Oregon if you decided not to come back to The Villages the following year (since they are Snowbirds who are renting). Once they buy a home here, all that of course changes and they could buy a car and leave it in their Florida garage.

Buy, Use, Sell
 

Carvana...
Buy a car; they deliver.
Sell a car, they pick it up.

Ohiobuckeye
 

Don’t know how it’s handled but I’m sure you won’t get any special favors or any super deals. Car rentals have sky rocketed. Last Nov. I paid $324. for a full size car for 11 days to go to Ohio & free mileage. GREAT DEAL! In Mar. this yr. the same size car & everything else & the same rental place & 3 others wanted $950. They say it’s because rental cars are hard to get. Hope
You find a good deal, good luck! PS: We drove our own car to Ohio.

You have the 2 options.

We had our car shipped. It was way, less expensive than renting.
 

We had our car shipped. Was way, less expensive then renting. We used "Ship Your Car Now" 1-888-532-8805 david.wood@shipyourcarnow.com. We had our car picked up a couple days before we flew to our destination and it was there at a predetermined place when we got there. Same arrangement when it was time to go home.
Sarah Super-Moses

Tim, I shall put you in my contacts…

Question
 

Could you please tell me the name of storage place for car @ $50 +/-/mo?

Buy a car in FL. When it’s time to store it, park at the Doubletree MCO for $70/month. I’ve kept two cars there for the last 6 months. I visit the construction process monthly for 2-3 days and parking at the Doubletree has worked out well. Although, I had to pay $140/mon. for 2 cars.

Soon I close on the house in SC and will be able to keep both cars in my garage.

car
 

We finally bought a used car and a trickle charger - it works great - I find I love the golf cart but don't tend to go long distances in it due to time restrictions for me

And get taken to cleaners.:popcorn:

I own a house near a cul de sac but you could rent such a house. When I left for 3 months, I left my car in the cul de sac and a kind neighbor drove it around once in a while. Lots of people park cars in cul de sacs, it is allowed in The Villages. I know the finish of the car might do better if not outside all the time, but with modern finishes, there is not a huge difference. My option was to use a storage place - outside storage was cheap but why not park free in the cul de sac. Inside storage existed, but that depends on your budget. Snowbirds probably have the budget to afford it, depending.

Drive the golf cart.
Need a car, rent one.
That also will keep your license current.
Much cheaper than gas, insurance and accidents.

What is your definition of cul de sac? The cul de sacs with plantings in the center would make terrible places to leave a parked car. The trash trucks and delivery vehicles barely make it around those with no cars parked in them. Someone could easily side swipe your vehicle.

Are you talking about the dead end streets in Villa neighborhoods? I thought those were used for visitors.

You might ask a snowbird friend who owns here if you could leave your car in their driveway while you are both gone.

I would bet that the homeowners on the cul de sac loved looking at your car for 3 months parked in front of their homes.