[JavaBrewer]

We're going to PHX the end of March for a baseball tournament my son will be playing in. Total miles over the 4-day weekend should be 825. I was considering renting a sedan for the trip but the numbers don't work out. Driving the wife's Land Rover Discovery which gets 15 mpg using premium gas @ $3.75/gal = $210. Rental sedan gets ~ 25 mpg using regular unleaded @ $3.50 = $115. Factor in wear/tear and I still can't justify a rental - yet.

Europe is a bad comparison. They have trains (which ain't all that cheap) but most folks live really close to work, lots of "flats" (apartment style or townhouse), and bicycles are used heavily. In parts of the East coast the situation is the same. Out West the distances grow very large. We have to drive 5 miles just to get a loaf of bread.