Ask a twenty-something if they have a car, and these days you’re less likely to get a straight yes or no — more like, “Well, kinda.” They might have access to three or four vehicles depending on the week, none of which sit in their name at the DMV. That shift isn’t accidental. Car ownership, for a huge chunk of urban and suburban drivers, has quietly stopped making financial sense, and a new model has crept in to fill the gap.
The math behind the shift
The AAA put the price tag for owning a new car in 2024 at over twelve grand — $12,297 to be exact. In 2025, it eased to $11,577. And yes, that includes pretty much every cost you can think of: from depreciation and financing to maintenance, insurance, fuel, and all those little fees. Depreciation remains one of the largest components of that cost. On top of that, MIT researchers say the average car sits parked for roughly 95% of its life.
Car subscriptions are a different bargain: a monthly fee gets you a car, and maintenance is usually part of the deal. Insurance, registration, and roadside help might be included too — but it really depends on the provider. You get more freedom to switch cars or walk away, which is nice. But that flexibility has a cost — and over time, it’s not uncommon for subscriptions to end up more expensive than ownership.
Lease-rental hybrid
A lease? That’s a commitment. Two or three years, mileage restrictions, and a penalty box for anyone who tries to leave before the clock runs out. A subscription is closer to a gym membership than a mortgage — month to month, cancel when you like, swap vehicles if your needs shift from a hatchback to something bigger for a road trip.
Hertz tried their hand at it too, rolling out a subscription plan a few years ago — basically rental-car convenience, but without the sticker shock that comes with daily pricing. Curious about the real deal on Hertz’s subscription — pricing, mileage, vehicle swaps? There’s a detailed breakdown of the Hertz My Car subscription program worth reading.
Who’s buying into car subscriptions?
Everyone wants to pin car subscriptions on Gen Z, but the evidence suggests it’s not quite that simple. McKinsey ran a survey in 2023 with more than 4,000 people across France, Germany, and the UK, and about one in three said they’d be willing to give a vehicle subscription a shot. Millennials were the most interested at 39%, with Gen X right behind at 38%. McKinsey’s take? It probably comes down to the fact that they’ve got more spending power than younger folks.
And that flexibility means subscriptions could work for a bunch of different scenarios:
- Drivers who need a car only for a few months
- Consumers who want extended experience with an EV before buying one
- People whose transportation needs change frequently
The trade-offs behind the convenience
None of this is a free lunch. If you’ve got a trustworthy used car with no monthly payments attached, a subscription is going to look pretty expensive in comparison. Availability is another hurdle—subscription programs typically run through a sparse network of pickup spots, with most of them concentrated in and around large cities. Mileage matters, too. Then there’s the mileage trap. Some providers cap it so restrictively that if you’re the type to hit the road with GetExperience trips, you’ll likely get slapped with overage charges that wipe out any convenience advantage.
Practicalities first
If there’s practical advice worth taking away here, it’s this: don’t sign up for the first subscription that pops up in an ad. Run the numbers against your actual driving habits — mileage, trip frequency, how long you’ll realistically need the car — because the model rewards flexibility, and it only saves money if your life actually needs that flexibility in the first place.
