When we decided to move from Indiana to Florida we started looking into the costs on moving. Our family was moving separately in two stages for two main reasons. One was timing issues, and the other was that we would not have been able to fit all of our stuff into one rental truck anyway. It is quite expensive to rent a large truck for a long distance one-way move, so I definitely recommend checking around and exploring every major company and option. If you are thinking of moving a long distance, you should definitely consider asking the bigger moving companies about any trucks that they may have available for purchase. I checked into that option, and I am thrilled that I decided to buy a truck as opposed to renting.
The moving truck rental companies sell their trucks as they upgrade and the trucks become older. The larger and more reputable companies upgrade pretty often, regularly service and maintain their trucks, and generally take good care of them. They also tend to be pretty honest about the quality and condition of their trucks for sale because they do not want to ruin their reputation. You can get some great deals on trucks this way if you plan ahead, especially if you are handy and willing to buy one of the cheaper trucks with a known issue that you are able to fix. At the time of my move U-Haul had just decided to decommission entire fleets of their trucks simply because they ran on diesel, and then decided to sell them all dirt cheap because the demand for buying diesels was a lot lower than for gasoline among the people buying their used trucks. Even though I would not want to drive a diesel all the time and usually prefer gasoline, I thought that was awesome because diesels are generally much better for hauling and towing big loads. Since I didn’t plan on tooling around in an enormous U-Haul truck as my daily driver it really didn’t matter to me what it ran on as long as it ran well.
Because I bought from a large supply of diesels they had priced to liquidate, I was able to buy a truck from them for about the same amount it would have cost for only one one-way rental. Most of the trucks they had available were cheaper than the one I bought, but I told them that I specifically wanted the most reliable large diesel truck that they had available that was in great physical shape. They did not have exactly what I wanted in the immediate area, but the local rep really worked with me to make sure that the truck I received was exactly what I asked for. After they had selected the pick of the litter from a nationwide list of available trucks and had it brought to the location, they even serviced it and then sent it to an outside local shop to be inspected prior to me taking it. The rep was rigorous enough in making sure that the truck was in good shape that even though I made the first trip to start getting the new place ready with just my youngest son, I had no qualms when I started out on the trip to our new home. That says a lot when you are talking about a 35 year old woman travelling alone for 1400 miles with a two year old, in a fully loaded truck that is pulling a trailer.
The truck I got by buying was not a new model like the one I would have rented, it was a 1994 model truck; but it was also in very good shape physically and mechanically, and it only had right at 100,000 miles on it which is really low for a big diesel. When I picked up my truck after they had serviced it; it had fresh oil and fluids, a brand new battery, tires that were obviously recently new, and everything worked great on it. It had also passed a full inspection from an independent diesel shop. They also gave me a discount on renting the tow dolly for my car because I had bought the truck instead of renting it. I was already saving money, and this made it an even better deal. Even had I only used it for one trip, it would not have been significantly more expensive to have bought this truck than paying for a one way rental would have been. I had no problems of any sort with my truck during my either of my trips. The U-Haul rep had given me their contact number just in case, and when they did not hear from me after a few days they called to make sure I had arrived okay the first time, and that I was pleased with my truck. I thought that was very considerate of them. The title for my new truck arrived by FedEx at my new home exactly when it was supposed to. I had no problems at all with my purchase.
The best part of buying this truck is that the way it worked out, it was a free truck. One way or another, I was going to have spent at least that much money on trucks to move. Since I was able to re-use this truck for the second stage of the move when my family joined me; I did not have to rent twice, so I ended up saving a bunch of money. And at the end of my move, I had a truck that belonged to me to do whatever I liked with in the future. You just can’t beat that! I could probably have sold this truck and gotten most or maybe even all of my moving costs back. It could also have been useful to keep for any number of future tasks or moves. If you know you won’t need it long term or don’t have the space to store it you can also do what I did and donate it to a church or a charity when you are finished using it, and get an extra tax break.
I asked around about worthwhile nearby charities that may need a truck and found out about a great food pantry. They provide food to elderly people that have little or no food stamp benefits and live on fixed incomes. After a tip from the manager at the store they get the food from, I watched them picking up the donations in numerous vans and pickup trucks, and I offered them the U-Haul. This has made them very happy because there were times in the past when they were unable to pick up everything the stores were able and willing to donate. They can also save a lot of time and gas money now by not having to make multiple trips, because it is unlikely they will ever run out of space in their new truck. They were also able to later take advantage of the hitch on the back to pick up a good sized storage trailer that someone else offered to donate to help manage the increased flow of incoming food. They are now able to help a lot more people than they were before.
As an added bonus, the money I paid for the truck was fully tax deductible because I gave it to a not for profit agency. I will also still be able to claim moving expenses against my taxes, because I spent enough on gas and moving supplies like tape for the two trips and on renting the tow dolly to qualify as having moved, even without claiming the truck purchase itself as a moving expense. This means that I can now legally claim costs from my move twice on my taxes this year; once for the cost of buying the truck I donated, and another for the costs of the move itself.
I am very happy with my decision because I feel like I have done something that is helping people who really need and deserve it; and not only did it not cost me anything to do, it saved me quite a bit of money. I would highly recommend that anyone looking to move long distance by truck consider purchasing as opposed to renting. You gain a lot of great options by acquiring the truck as an asset, and the chances are very good that you will come out ahead financially in the long run. I will definitely look into doing this again if I should ever find myself moving long distance at some point in the future.
Source: http://www.gzyn.com/cmp/contentReadingActions.do?method=readArticle&id=5651&edition=1&title=How+to+save+big+money+when+moving+a+long+distance
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