My parents are planning to come over to visit us in BC for 2 months next year. They'll need a car but the usual car hire companies cost a fortune for such a long time. We can't lend them ours as we need them for work. Has anyone had this issue before and how did you resolve it? Are there companies that hire cars longer term with good rates?
Any ideas appreciated!

Some car rental companies offer monthly, it is not cheap though, especially with the add on insurance. Just rent one when it is needed. Send it back when not in use. Plan journeys together. Go to a dealer and see if you can do a deal to buy a used car then sell it back to them.

I used to rent a car for a month when my parents visited annually. I suppose the last time was ten years ago but we did it for several years and it didn't seem ruinous, it was around $800 each time. The major firms were the better deal than the local ones as they'd accept payment on my Amex so we could waive all the insurance. I recall using Hertz, Enterprise and Discount.

I remember back in 2009 (I guess recession days) contacting a number of the main car rental companies to ask their rates for a fixed 3 month period. Thrifty Car Rental gave us a 50% discount deal - so half price.

Buy an old one and then sell it on. The number of owners doesnt seem to be a factor here like it is in the UK and old cars dont seem to depreciate much past a certain point. You might even make some money!

Thanks for your replies. Looks like it might be worth ringing round and asking for discounts for a long term rental. We had thought about buying one and selling it a couple of months later, but I thought sorting insurance would be tricky... and crazy expensive here in BC!

Sorting the insurance will take about 5 minutes on each end of it (when getting and returning the plates) and should cost about $300 for two months (a lot less than a rental company's liability waiver).

Which you wouldn't take. The resident rents the car using a credit card with cover for that and is the principal driver. The visitors are named drivers on the rental. That's completely kosher and avoids paying for the waiver.

Definitely call around a few branches, they should be able to offer you a more appropriate rate than what is posted on their website

And it's worth trying multiple branches of the same chain, though not the ones at the airport.

Downtown Vancouver with a Slim Jim, problem solved.

On my reconnaissance trip a few years ago in Canada, I rented a car from Enterprise via the skyscanner website. They automatically populate the discount field giving a better rate than the original one.

Like the other posters have pointed out it maybe cheaper to buy a car for a short term.