> Americans buy the car for the 1% trips. In my case, most of my car trips are short, but most of my milage is from long-range trips.

How many of these long trips are you making? Depending on number might be more economical just to rent for that.

At least once a week. I commute 120 miles round trip one day a week, 180 miles 1-2 times a month, and 300+ miles 6-10 times a year.

I also have 3 kids, a dog, and don't live near a city. If I lived in a city dogless and childless something like Zipcar would make much more sense.

BTW: The "transaction cost" (time) of frequent car rentals is a non-starter. One of the things I hate about renting a car is that every time it's a different car, some I like, some I don't. I just want to pick out a car I like, have it ready when I need it, have it set up the way I like it, and have my "box of crap" in the trunk where I know where it is.

I don't want to navigate through a young ambitious salesperson trying to sell insurance, or the AI car scanner charging me hallucinated wear and tear.