GBock nailed it. I didn't want to quote his entire post. Owning gives you freedom. What is that worth to you? If you just want to bore holes in the sky one hour at a time, renting is the way to go. If you want to fly multi-day trips or fly that one beautiful weekend morning in January when the rental is booked, owning is for you. Just make sure you can afford the entire price tag up front.