How Much Does It Cost To Rent a Minivan?

Sometimes, renting a basic sedan just won’t cut it. When you need to take several people with you on a camping trip, moving adventure, or a long road trip across the country, odds are you’ll need plenty of legroom and lots of seats to accommodate everybody. Minivans are just the ticket for many Americans, as they offer seating flexibility and manageable handling where larger vehicles do not.

However, many Americans have no experience renting minivans and therefore don’t know how much renting one of these vehicles will cost. If you’re wondering how much it costs to rent a minivan, you’ve come to the right place; let’s answer this question and more below.

Why Rent a Minivan?

A minivan is a unique type of vehicle that’s designed to fit lots of people in a generally smaller car frame compared to a standard van. Most minivans have two or three rows of seats and can fit between six and nine passengers depending on their configurations.

Furthermore, many of these minivans allow the seats to be configured. Some allow you to push down the rear row of seats, for example, to make room for cargo instead of extra passengers.

Regardless of the type, many Americans want to rent minivans for reasons like:

• Taking a group of kids on a school trip or camping expedition
• Taking a large family on a road trip without having to drive multiple vehicles
• Taking tons of friends to Vegas or another fun destination
• Moving an entire family across the country in the same car

Minivans are versatile, relatively spacious compared to other cars with lots of seats or room for passengers, and aren’t nearly as difficult to handle as larger trucks or vans. That said, these benefits do come with a greater than average cost for many minivans at rental agencies.

Average Cost To Rent a Minivan

The exact price for a minivan rental will vary from place to place and throughout the country. Generally, because of their size and their expense, minivan rentals will cost you more than $50 per day after fees on average. That’s on the low side of things, and you might see even higher minivan rental rates if you try to get a newer make and model or a minivan with more bells and whistles.

Why is it so expensive to rent a minivan compared to other vehicles? It’s all because of what they offer.

Minivan rentals give you additional passenger capacity, a generally safe way to transport multiple people at once, and more. Most importantly, minivans are more expensive than economy cars like sedans or basic trucks. They also cost more to keep fueled compared to economy cars, as they weigh more and don’t always take the most eco-friendly or fuel-efficient gas types.

As a result, the rental companies have to pay more to purchase the vehicles, meaning they then charge the people who rent minivans more on a per-day basis to make up that cost.

Factors That May Affect Minivan Rental Cost

When deciding whether to rent a minivan for your upcoming camping trip or other expedition, keep these major factors in mind. They can affect the end cost for your minivan rental when all is said and done.

Age of Driver

Like all other rentals, minivans are more expensive for drivers under the age of 25 to rent. Why? Because of young driver fees.

Young driver fees are nearly ubiquitous charges that rental companies impose because young drivers are statistically more likely to get into accidents or cause damage to rental vehicles. As a result, rental companies hedge their bets and add these fees to ensure that they can recoup the costs from any accidents.

If you really want to save money, try not to rent a vehicle at all until you are 25 or older. This is doubly true if you plan to rent a minivan. Alternatively, sub-25-year-olds can be listed as secondary drivers to a primary driver who is 25 or older. This way, they won’t necessarily have to pay a young driver fee.

Number of Drivers

The more people listed as drivers for a minivan rental, the pricier the rental will be. This is true for all other vehicle rentals as well.

To cut down on costs, designate one person as the minivan driver if at all possible. If you are going on a long road trip, another driver may be necessary.

Minivan Make and Model

Naturally, the newer and better the minivan is, the pricier its rental will be as well. Older minivans are usually cheaper, but they also usually have more miles on them. They might also not be as gas efficient. Due to this factor, renting an older minivan might cost you more in the long run because of the gas you’ll have to pay for compared to a newer minivan that seems to cost more upfront.

Features/Accessibility

In addition, minivans with extra features or bells and whistles will cost more than minivans with the bare minimum. For example, a minivan with an accessibility ramp for disabled individuals will cost more because of this added functionality. Minivans with warmed seats, special cupholders, and other special features will also cost more to rent on a per-day basis.

To cut down on costs, you should rent a minivan with the bare minimum features you actually need. Since minivan rentals start at around $50 per day for a very basic, budget-friendly minivan, fancier minivans that include tons of great features can easily cost over $100 per day if you aren’t careful.

Not as Common as Other Rental Vehicles

In addition to the other factors, keep in mind that minivans are not nearly as common as other classic rental vehicle types, like sedans or pickup trucks. Because of this, any minivans that a rental company has are more likely to be scattered around at all their available locations.

If a minivan is not available at your chosen rental location, the rental company will have to drive the van to your chosen sport, which increases the cost significantly. In addition, the scarcity of minivan rentals means that many rental agencies can increase the price artificially, as there is increased demand for these vehicles among a certain subset of the population.

Summary

At the end of the day, it’s impossible to calculate exactly how much it costs to rent a minivan without contacting a rental agency directly. Call up your favorite rental agency and ask them about the minivan models they have in their fleet. They should give you a straight answer and be able to calculate an average rental amount based on the dates you need the rental vehicle for.

You can also contact Advantage Rent-a-Car today. We not only have several minivans in our fleets, but we also offer a wide range of other vehicle types available at airport lots and other convenient locations. Whether you need to rent a minivan or any other group vehicle, Advantage can help. Contact us today for more information.

Sources:

Best Minivan Buying Guide | Consumer Reports
Minivan Car Rentals at Denver Intl., DEN | Expedia
How to Avoid Paying the Under 25 Car Rental Fee | NerdWallet