Rent Rims For Cars
Just when I thought I had heard it all, I found out I haven’t. The other day I heard a radio commercial for a local business that allows you rent rims for cars. Rent rims for cars? Why in the world would anyone want to rent rims for a car? Bad enough many of these spinning tire toys cost up to $2,000, but now people are renting them? Yep, I guess I’ve heard it all.
Photo courtesy of South Beach Cars
Rent To Own
I have never particularly liked the rent-to-own business model, because to me it is like financing a purchase over twelve months and paying significantly more than the item is worth. Why not just save up the cash for twelve months and buy the thing outright? Because people suffer from instant gratification disease. The disease afflicts millions of us and is largely responsible for this economic meltdown.
Nobody wants to build wealth the old-fashion way, they want a get-rich-quick scheme. Nobody wants to wait to move into that dream house two or three house purchases a way, they want their starter home to have five bedrooms, a pool and a three car garage with a huge wired shop out back. Nobody wants to wait until they are making $150,000 a year to buy that brand new BMW, so they finance more than they earn in a year in an attempt to show everyone on the road that they are better off than they really are.
Now car enthusiasts can take the same approach by renting rims and tires, GPS devices and CD players. What’s next, renting televisions? Oh, that’s right, you can do that, too. But when you do agree to one of these rental agreements, no one tells you that in the end you pay much more for the item than straight retail.
For instance, during Super Bowl Sunday madness a local rent-to-own store was offering one of those big, widescreen televisions for only $99 a month (for twelve months). Problem was, it was an $800 television. I wasn’t the top math student in school, but to me that sounds like an overpriced deal by about $400. Still, I wonder how many people stopped to make the annual cost conversion.
The bottom line is this; as a collective consumer society we are going to have to break away from the monthly payment mentality that has had a grip on us since the invention of credit cards and car deals. It is no longer sufficient to say, “I can afford the payment.” No, the larger question is, can you afford the car? And if they answer is no, then you need to keep saving or look for something cheaper. The same goes for rims, televisions, computers, and anything else than can be financed. Which in today’s world, includes just about everything.
It is amazing all the things that can be rented. Did you know that even college textbooks can be rented!
Thanks,
Nate
Also, many people don’t realize that as a rental situation, if you miss a single payment, they will aggressively repossess the item, and they will not go through a typical reposession/foreclosure process. They’ll simply show up at your door and take it. So if you’ve made 11 out of 12 monthly payments, and you’re three days late on your very last payment? They’ll come take it, clean it up, and rent it to someone else, and you’ve lost all that money.
They’ve been doing this in Waco for years. When they opened a Rent-A-Tire store here , I thought it could never work. Evidently, it’s pretty lucrative. A wheel repossession is strange, sad, (kinda funny) sight. I agree that we live in a monthly payment society, and that needs to change. Easy credit for (almost) all has warped the way many people in this country think.
Michael
Great post – I think you hit the nail right on the head. It’s amazing how people feel the need for instant gratification. I think people often feel entitled, and think that have earned whatever they want – even if they can’t afford it.
Interesting photo, but it looks like the tires don’t fit!!!
Maybe there were respossed ones that got sold at a discount:)
One of the local shops makes you prepay for the 4 blocks they will leave it sitting one if you miss a payment.
Fantasitc article Jason! You touch a lot of critical bases in this brief, to the point article.
Coupled with the (unfortunately) true but catchy title and picture, this is (in my mind) the model article. I wish I had a dozen of these on my draft board.
Keep up the great work Jason!
Dave
I used to suffer from the “can I afford the monthly payments” disease. I ended up in a world of hurt in no time. Luckily I was able to break that cycle and now ask myself if I can afford to buy it or not. If I can’t pay for something outright, I don’t finance it.
Great article, I like your sassy tone!
Renting to own = Dumb.
Renting something for a short time because don’t want to own it outright = Maybe smart. (Think a moving truck.) So, maybe you want to live large for a week, so you rent the rims. I’ve done stupider things with my money, to be sure.
I’ve actually been toying with the idea of renting a TV, for a month or two, to see if a particular type (size/resolution) works out for me. However, if an $800 TV is $100/month, then forget it. I thought it would be more like $39/month.
I wouldn’t have believed this if I didn’t see it!
Rent-to-own is a scam to take advantage of people without the self-discipline to know any better . . .
I have one of the Rent-A-Center places near me and I can not tell you how long I have been waiting for it to go out of business. It just won’t die! I don’t understand what could possible make you need to rent a sofa or a microwave(?). I don’t get it at all. If I can’t afford a sofa there is always Craigslist. I want to bang my head against the wall and scream at the customers I see going in there…but alas, we all must learn at some point.
Last year I bought furniture on credit. One year no interest and paid it off in nine months.
It was the first time I had bought furniture like this and I have to confess it was a really good thing to do.
I’m with FD about instant gratification disease.
Patience is no longer a virtue.
Great post Frugal Dad.
People have been renting expensive things for years. Watches and purses comes to mind, and let’s not forget love/companionship.
Wow, that is really crazy! I think the rent to own model is an awful one as well, but many people do not think like that – they think “What can I do to get it NOW?” This is definitely the first time I’ve seen it on hubcaps of all things.
Went treadmill shopping yesterday. Could not believe how pushy the sales lady was to use their financing option. I finally told her no way. I’ll only be buying what I can pay cash for.
I completely concur with the points in this article. The rental of rims example that you start out with is a great illustration of how far the sense of materialism can go. I mean, is a person going to rent them for a year, and then switch them back out to the stock ones when the rental agreement is up? Unbelievable!
“Can you afford the payment?”
Too bad so many people buying houses in the past 5 years only asked that question instead of can I afford the house. I think it is easy(easier?) to see the usefulness of that question once you are out of debt–or on your way. When stuck in the cycle, it is nearly impossible to ask it because you don’t really want to know the answer. At least I didn’t.
“Because people suffer from instant gratification disease.”
Ab-so-lute-ly! Nail on the head.
Renting to own is just about one of the most ridiculous things I’ve ever heard, even when I saw the TV commercials over 15 years ago. Even from just viewing the commercial, I did the math in my head in about 2 seconds and found that the renter is getting screwed. It is almost as bad as those payday loans. Patience is quickly becoming a lost human trait.
The first few times I purchased a car, I was thinking in terms of making the monthly payment. These days though, I determine if the entire financed price is worth it and then make my purchase accordingly. Especially now that these days I always pay off financed items early.
BRILLIANT business idea.
I’m still salty I wasn’t the person that invented spinners in the first place.
I had a “Now I’ve seen it all” moment the other day. I drove by a store called “Tobacco and Phones for Less”. . .
[...] Jason, the Frugal Dad recently posted a fantastic article entitled “Renting Rims for Cars – Now I’ve heard it all“… [...]
It’s incredible that people can actually put good money to use like this. We do not even see the rims while driving. We assume others see it and would admire us for the fancy rims.
Well, the business model must be such that it is assumed that most would not make the full payments.
Like you said, now we have heard it all.
Regards
[...] Dad wrote about the business of renting vehicle rims. What will people think off next? Is subprime rims going to be the next big financial mess? Or are [...]
I dont understand why rental rims bother you.When on us 19 in Florida about every mile or less.You can rent a woman for an hour or so!!!