is it better to rent a car or buy a car?

If you're talking about renting a car like from Avis, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, etc., You can run up a tidy bill renting from them as well. Keep in mind that you need to purchase auto insurance that will cover your liability in the event that you damage another car and/or person in an accident. You will also have to pay for any damage you do to the rental car while it's in your possession, unless you also purchase insurance coverage for that. The insurance sold by the rental agency can be quite pricey.

Depending on your car needs, and your location, you might try a car-share service like http://www.zipcar.com/ Such services work best for people who normally bus/bike/walk to work and only need a car once in a while to do something like buy groceries or go to the Laundromat. with ZipCar, you pay an annual fee plus a charge for each time you use one of their cars. Such services are cost effective for occasional use for errands and so forth, but when you want to go away for a weekend, the typical rental companies like Avis, Budget, etc. are more economical.

I am almost certain you meant to say lease, not rent. Renting and paying by the mileage can get very expensive over time. Leasing on the other hand requires a monthly payment and I think some company give you a certain amount of miles to stay within, kinda like some phone company giving limited minutes on outgoing and incoming calls or text messages. You exceed the limit and you pay double or triple the price for each miles you go over.

There are pros to leasing/renting....you can change cars more frequently (once your contract is fulfilled) and do not really need to pay maintenance fees to have the car worked on.

Cons...and lots of them. You'll never have a leased/rental car of your own even after years of paying for it. It goes back to the company and they turn around and sell it, you rent or lease new models...you start paying all over again at point A. You can't personally customize the car how you want it if you do want to. Nothing added, nothing taken away.

I'd never lease a car, ever!

It's on you though, whatever fits your lifestyle.

Cars are ONLY rented out at airports, etc. If YOU get a car for daily use, you have to LEASE it, so you can't change your mind every week. IF you rent out a car at an airport, that will cost you MUCH more than leasing a car from a dealer. You COULD change cars every week, but your insurance payments would be through the roof.

To buy it, Eventually youre going to want to put your own touch on the car and accessorize it . Rims,window tint, a paint job. All that jazz

Do you mean lease a car instead of rent?

It's usually cheaper to buy.

yes i agree