Rental car worth it?

I'm leaving to visit DB on Monday. He doesn't have a car, or a license, because he says he hasn't needed one yet. I want to rent a car while I'm there so we can go do things. We're going to stay at his parents' house in Essex since he's done with Uni for the year and staying there. There is little public transportation and we would have to rely on his parents to bring us places.

I don't want to rely on them. I feel like it's putting them out and both of his parents work and he has an 8 year old brother his mother has to be around for after school. He says it's no big deal, it's not putting them out, and that his mum is talking about wanting to drive us places.

He just doesn't see the point in renting a car, he feels it would be too much money and that gas is so expensive it will just really be a "waste of money."

I really want to rent a car. I want to try driving over there and as I said before, we're staying at his parents and I want to have the ability to go somewhere to get out for a bit and not have to rely on them and their schedules to drive us. He's used to having people drive him around and I'm not.

I don't have a lot of money, so the cost is an issue I'd have to rent an automatic. I just see more positives than negatives. I would prefer not to spend that money but I do think that if we wnt out to do things, like we plan, that it would be worth it.

Am I letting my desire to drive and have the freedom to see the sites of our choosing in our own time leading me to make a really bad financial choice? I've found automatic rental cars for the 5 days for $250. If it wasn't almost twice as expensive as a manual, which I can't drive, I would definitely rent a car.

for me part of the UK experience is riding the busses, trains and walking. Taxi's aren't that expensive either. I drove for a week last year in the UK and unless you have a Satelite Navigation unit or your DB is pretty good with maps the stress level in the car might elevate  and become unbearable.

We drove from Gatwick to London in 3 hours, it should have taken 1 maybe 1.5 hours. A friend in London let us borrow her Tom Tom, as soon as we programed in the first location and heard the first directions the stress in the car disappeared. I would have killed someone if another person with poor map reading skills tried to tell me where to go. We then drove to Barnsley a 3 hour trip that a friend told us would take 5 hours due to "first time American driver". With Tom Tom it took 3 hours.

If I were you I would save your money and concentrate on being with DB. If you are planning on moving to England, try to embrace the UK pace now rather than later.

Just my 2 cents.

Doug

I want to rent a car while I'm there so we can go do things.
He just doesn't see the point in renting a car, he feels it would be too much money and that gas is so expensive it will just really be a "waste of money."

I really want to rent a car.
I don't have a lot of money, so the cost is an issue I'd have to rent an automatic.
rental cars for the 5 days for $250. If it wasn't almost twice as expensive as a manual, which I can't drive, I would definitely rent a car.

I found a small car from Dollar Rent a Car at Manchester Airport for a lot less and it had an automatic.
Be careful on renting. I rented at Heathrow and they wanted 600 pounds deposit
Its seems every American, when they got to the counter, was having a fit at the unusual method of renting and the amount of money they would tie up. I needed the 600 for my expenses.
Oh, and don't forget the $70 to fill up the tank each time.
If you can try to avoid renting.
The government has to have their tax on everything. Lets see if they taxed 120 pounds every time a couple had sex.........no people would cheat like they do for the TV license

for me part of the UK experience is riding the busses, trains and walking. Taxi's aren't that expensive either.

If I were you I would save your money and concentrate on being with DB. If you are planning on moving to England, try to embrace the UK pace now rather than later.

This is my third time visiting England and the past two times we have done the buses, trains, and taxis. We have been out in his Uni area where they are more plentiful and I might have wanted to rent a car for a day just to try it out, but wouldn't want to rent one longer than that. Part of the reason I want to rent a car is that we're staying with his parents. They live in Essex in one of the tiny villages there. There is only one bus that runs to that village each day and it just doesn't seem to me to be realistic to rely on public transportation there. It's a beautiful area, but not one where someone can get by without a car.

I found a small car from Dollar Rent a Car at Manchester Airport for a lot less and it had an automatic.
Be careful on renting. I rented at Heathrow and they wanted 600 pounds deposit

I'm flying into Heathrow, the prices to rent at Stanstead, which we would have to take a bus to for his parents to get us aren't a lot cheaper and the difference would be the cost of the bus ride.

I was thinking about the petrol as well. I know it's so expensive and that would be another way automatics are more expensive than manuals since if I remember correctly, manuals have better mileage than automatics?

Thanks for the advice. I'm not sure if there are any rental agencies near DB's parents that would do a pick up so I could just rent for a day...I might look at that. Then we could go out if it might inconvenience his parents but wouldn't spend as much on rental if we do stick closer to the house or where it would be convenient for his parents to drive us to.