Before I bought, I often heard the advice "buy the plane for your main mission and rent a 4-seater for trips". Please keep in mind some other factors:
1. Many places that rent planes have flight schools, and the aircraft schedules will often be full on weekends when the weather is good.
2. Many places that rent planes have limits on the total number of consecutive hours or days a plane can be rented out.
3. Virtualy all places that rent planes have a minimum per day charge regardless of the hours flown. So a weekend trip (FRI-SUN) in that $90/hr. 4-seater to a destination 1 hour away is probably going to cost $450, not $180.
