Road trip ... Rent vehicles or use my own?

[MetalSlug]

Sometime next years around march 2026. I will plan on making a trip from DFW Texas to Ontario Canada and drive back. I look at google map and total miles is about closer 3000 miles . 2 week trip

My wife and I will also plan on stop by Indiana to visit family. And visit American popular spot on our way back.

I have a few option in mind .

If I drive my own vehicles which is properly my Lexus. It’s had all new tires , I don’t know how that affect driving through snow state .

My oil choice would be Mobil 1 0w20 with Carquest premium or Autozone STP XL . Will total check everything thing and doing complete tune up 2 week before the trip .

My other option is flight there and rent a vehicles to drive back . But I don’t know how much it cost to rent a car from Canada and drop it off in USA. This might be the most effective option that way I don’t get too tired after drive 1400 miles then had to drive another 1400 or more home since we will visit few place . Also not so hard on my own vehicles . The flight from DFW to Canada is less then 3h

 

[edyvw]

Sometime next years around march 2026. I will plan on making a trip from DFW Texas to Ontario Canada and drive back. I look at google map and total miles is about closer 3000 miles . 2 week trip

My wife and I will also plan on stop by Indiana to visit family. And visit American popular spot on our way back.

I have a few option in mind .

If I drive my own vehicles which is properly my Lexus. It’s had all new tires , I don’t know how that affect driving through snow state .

My oil choice would be Mobil 1 0w20 with Carquest premium or Autozone STP XL . Will total check everything thing and doing complete tune up 2 week before the trip .

My other option is flight there and rent a vehicles to drive back . But I don’t know how much it cost to rent a car from Canada and drop it off in USA. This might be the most effective option that way I don’t get too tired after drive 1400 miles then had to drive another 1400 or more home since we will visit few place . Also not so hard on my own vehicles . The flight from DFW to Canada is less then 3h

That does not mean anything. What tires are on?

 

[AZjeff]

I'd rent a car at DFW and sight see and visit relatives on the way there, have a nice Ontario visit and fly home. The question mark will be the weather where you're going in March. Summer tires won't cut it.

Last year in June we did 3x700 mile days from Az to Pa, spent a week there then 3x700 days back. The return trip always feels longer and more tiring than the trip out.

 

[ecotourist]

March may not be the best month to visit most of Canada. It could be sunny and warm, or snowing and blowing.

We went to my BIL's funeral in April. It blizzarded for the 3 days we were there. Nice before and nice after but miserable while we were there.

How about June instead? That's a nice month in most of Canada.

If you really want to come to Canada in March and are hoping for good weather, come to Vancouver or Victoria BC. I'll be mowing my lawn twice a week and the flowers will be blooming. It could snow too, but most likely not.

 

[rstsco]

My wife will be making a similar trip in a few weeks, although she'll be driving through DFW and making a stop in Madison, WI at our daughter's before swinging around Lake Michigan to enter Canada to visit her sister in the Ontario Province. She'll also be stopping in Indiana on her way home and is taking our car, which is a few months old.

Totally agree that March is questionable in the Ontario Province. My wife has already talked about repeating the same trip early next year, and I told her not unless she agrees to my putting full winter tires on the car (Honda Pilot Elite AWD). I don't trust the OEM tires for the potential inclement weather. Not really a fan of the Bridgestone Alenzas that came on it, anyway.

If you get a rental, make sure taking it across the border is even an option. I would imagine if you were to fly into Ontario, the vehicle will most likely be registered in Canada. An option, and we've done this, is to fly into Buffalo, rent a car there, and drive across the border into Canada. Verify it can be driven to Canada, and dropped off, in Texas. Stop at Niagara Falls on the way into Canada, and cross back into the US in Detroit or the crossing north of Detroit. Not much to see, but you'll pop out next to Indiana.

Regardless if you fly into Buffalo to start your car rental journey, or DFW, I'd highly recommend getting a more premium car such as an Audi, which has a reputation for its sure-footed ability in inclement weather (we owned one and made several trips to Wisconsin in the winter with it). The trip will be more comfortable and less of a worry about the weather.

 

[MetalSlug]

Yes march is only option, we had to go for a personal reason.

Look like rent a vehicles is better option, I will call to see what option I have and it’s able to cross the border or not

 

[RDY4WAR]

I've never rented a car for long drives. I drove from Texas (San Angelo) to Maryland to Ohio back to Texas and then to Georgia in an '85 Bronco with just shy of 400k miles on it. It did fine. In 2 weeks, my wife and I will be taking our oldest daughter and her boyfriend to Louisville, KY from central South Carolina for Louder Than Life metal festival. We're taking our 2007 Grand Caravan. I see no reason to rent anything.

 

[97prizm]

Sometime next years around march 2026. I will plan on making a trip from DFW Texas to Ontario Canada and drive back. I look at google map and total miles is about closer 3000 miles . 2 week trip

My wife and I will also plan on stop by Indiana to visit family. And visit American popular spot on our way back.

I have a few option in mind .

If I drive my own vehicles which is properly my Lexus. It’s had all new tires , I don’t know how that affect driving through snow state .

My oil choice would be Mobil 1 0w20 with Carquest premium or Autozone STP XL . Will total check everything thing and doing complete tune up 2 week before the trip .

My other option is flight there and rent a vehicles to drive back . But I don’t know how much it cost to rent a car from Canada and drop it off in USA. This might be the most effective option that way I don’t get too tired after drive 1400 miles then had to drive another 1400 or more home since we will visit few place . Also not so hard on my own vehicles . The flight from DFW to Canada is less then 3h

There have been numerous articles that are showing even crossing state lines in a rental can be a $20-$30 plus dollar hit on your rental car. Unless there was some specific agreement I'd assume it would be expensive or a rental liability.

 

[cptbarkey]

You didn’t define any metrics to decide other than oil choice. Good luck on the trip.

 

[2002 Maxima SE]

We did a family trip last year from TN to SD and back. It was 2 weeks, 3000 miles and about $900 for a Chrysler Pacifica. I chose the rental to save miles on our own cars plus if we ran into issues they'd send us to pickup another vehicle.

 

[JohnnyJohnson]

I go to Dallas every year or so. But I drove there once. By the time you figure gas lodging and food a discount flight is a lot cheaper. The only way I drive anymore is if I plan on doing some site seeing. Gives you way more relaxed time with the people you plan to visit.

 

[Dave Hess]

Rent.

That way if any accident your car is not stranded 700 miles away from home.

 

[The_Jeff]

Any rental car will have cheezy all season tires if not the OE ones which are mediocre in snow. They'll be about as good as your Lexus with the all-season tires you chose.

I'd take the car you know. And do the tune-up one to two months before the trip in case any gremlins appear.

If you hit snow just get a hotel room for the night and change your itinerary slightly. Main highways are kept clear. Locals survive snow just fine, don't let it intimidate you.

 

[John105]

20 years ago rent. Today drive your own. On rentals, people can get charged for damage they didn't do thanks to AI, why bother. It's the oldest trick in the book--I call it the ski pole conundrum. One person stole someone else's ski poles (back in the 80's), and it sets off a chain reaction where the next person does the same, ultimately stopping when someone (in 1985 dollars) says oh shoot, my poles are gone. I'll have to go into the shop and spend $80. Jumpin' gee willikers, I'll miss 3 runs. My point is don't get into that mix of dishonesty, when you can avoid it.

 

[ATex7239]

I’d trust my own vehicles over most rentals. I like to fly for quick trips but if there’s time I prefer driving.

 

[SC Maintenance]

There isn't much to see on that drive and a flight to Detroit is pretty cheap likely. I would do that - or to Toronto.

I don't think renting a car in Ontario and dropping it back in the USA would be cheap - or even possible. There technically different companies - Avis Canada vs Avis USA for example.

If you are taking a rental in and out of Canada you need to get a specific form at the rental car company. I forget what its called, but they will print it out for you.

 

[Patman]

Enterprise will allow you to rent in one country and drop off in another but the cost might be pretty big. Someone will eventually need to retrieve that car and bring it back to its original country

 

[Cujet]

My entire aviation career involved rentals and driving all over the place. Renting a truly nice vehicle is rather difficult. Most of the time, I did not care much. But getting stuck with a truly bad one was always infuriating. Flat spotted tires, smelly interior, mechanical damage to the suspension, etc. For a while there, I'd reserve a large premium SUV to carry supplies, and end up with a minivan.

I understand the idea of saving the miles on a personal vehicle. But I'd take my own vehicle if it serves the needs properly. That's why I purchased it. To use it.

 

[Dave Hess]

We did a family trip last year from TN to SD and back. It was 2 weeks, 3000 miles and about $900 for a Chrysler Pacifica. I chose the rental to save miles on our own cars plus if we ran into issues they'd send us to pickup another vehicle.

I agree 100% with another rental if there’s any issues.

 

[50yr Street Mech]

Drive you're own. You know how well/ or not well it's maintained....and you won't get bed bugs either.