It’s not impossible. Living in Southern California without a set of wheels is not exactly a death sentence. Then again calling the experience inconvenient is a total understatement.
It is a sentiment that frequents Pepperdine’s list of Top Things to Whine About. Here’s the gist: Pepperdine might as well be located on a remote island. The university is well aware of this fact and consistently strives to accommodate students’ concerns.
The remedy to assuage the frustrations of being stranded on campus is the new Connect by Hertz service. It is a noble gesture. However although the service may connect a person to and fro the impact of the service to one’s bank account flirts with extortion.
Connect by Hertz is a pseudo-lease program that allows students to roll on Hertz’s dubs.
Here are the stats: The service offers three different plans but touts its most affordable hourly rate at $8.50. It requires a little bit of prying to find out that the rate comes with a monthly bill of $125 and a $25 application fee. The cheapest plan “Connect 50” includes the application fee requires a $50 annual membership fee and students can use the car at $10 per hour.
Although Hertz and Pepperdine’s Public Relations like to tout the green aspect of the program they downplay the major green it will cost for students to actually take advantage of the program. Although Mother Nature should be respected Mother Nature isn’t sending carrier pigeons to transport students to the internships they have in the greater Los Angeles area.
The Connect by Hertz program is packaged nicely. It presents a façade of getting a deal on gas: Students are given a nifty fuel card that they can use to fill up the car at any time. That is very accommodating except with the $8.50 to $10 per hour price tag. The cost of a five-hour stint with the car is equivalent to the cost of a full tank of gas that can last more than a week.
Driving the Hertz way to Ralphs for an hour-long grocery trip would cost more than or just as much as the gas cost of borrowing a car or carpooling to and from Santa Monica for an entire day.
The Hertz program is indeed all-inclusive but it’s not an act of charity for college students. It has a steep price. Hertz is taking the opportunity to exploit the fact that most car rental facilities will not rent out a car to a person under the age of 25.
It’s a brilliant strategy. The program succeeds in making the service convenient and hip with readily available hybrid cars. It slaps on the quintessential “it” word of the decade green while masking the actual intent. It’s a new venture that capitalizes on the misfortune of young students.
Leasing a car from a dealer is more practical than using the Connect by Hertz service. Honda boldly boasts its ability to lease out quality vehicles with an affordable price tag to match.
Honda contends that if students have about $2700 to drop at signing they can enjoy a 2009 Civic for $149 per month for three years.
Of course there are other aspects to consider.
Fortunately – or unfortunately for the green initiative – gas prices are now on the sides of consumers. On March 19 the Automobile Club of Southern California’s Weekend Gas Watch reported Los Angeles gas prices close to the $2 mark. As a result a student can fill up virtually any car for less than $30 – that is good news when a tank of gas has the capacity to last as long as a week-and-a-half. The ease of purchasing gas lessens the appeal of the gas-included Hertz program.
The final burden students may face if their parents don’t foot this bill for them is insurance. According to the California Department of Insurance a 20-year-old woman with as little as three years driving experience and no black marks on her record could have a yearly premium as low as $806 $882 for a man. Even with this added expense leasing a car is still the more efficient and cost-effective option if for whatever reason a student may not want to go out and buy a car.
Merely throwing out a whole bunch of numbers won’t be enough to fortify the argument that Hertz is the money guzzler. Take a look at this hypothetical scenario: Alex has an internship in Hollywood two days a week. Since she is off at rush hour the traffic doubles her travel time which she has to take into consideration if she rents her car by the hour.
In three year’s time with a 10-hour a week need for a vehicle Alex would spend $15775 with the “Connect 50” plan and $17785 with “Connect 125.” And that’s only if she does not get hit by the mileage fee the late-bill fee the you-smoked-in-the-car fee or the you-showed-up-late fee. Whereas if Alex took Honda up on its offer and leased a 2009 Civic: her payments insurance and gas would roughly amount to $15161.
Now Alex being a savvy Pepperdine student wouldn’t take too long to see that paying about $600 more for a weekly 10-hour rendezvous in a rented car – rather than pocketing the cash and having access to a car whenever and as long as she wants – doesn’t make much cents.
Cinnamon Dolce Latte for the road: $3.15. Filling up at the cheapest gas station you can find: $28.55. Having unlimited access to a vehicle on a whim: priceless.