# Car rental tips **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 7, 2017, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-rental-tips/790703 "2017-07-07T16:24:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2017, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-rental-tips/790703/21 "2017-07-08T02:25:57Z")
Long term rental you can inquire about “mini-lease” (I think that’s the term). It’s usually for greater than 30 days, and the discount is substantial. I had to do this while working in Mexico about 15 years ago or so. It would have been Hertz or Avis, and I had the car for four months. It was a PITA once to perform the “required service,” because I had to drive back to the USA! ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2017, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-rental-tips/790703/22 "2017-07-08T03:01:13Z")
> [@Alley\_Dweller](#): > > As for the deductible, let me ask you, you seem to be quite comfortable taking a $1000 risk on your own car, why not on a rental car? You can afford to pay for the first $1000 of damage on your personal car, but not on a rental car? **Do you think you are much more likely to have an accident in a rental car?** > [@TriPolar](#): > > You can ignore some damage or live with some patchwork or find an inexpensive repair if you like. You won’t have those choices with a rental. In addition to what **TriPolar** said; yes, I think the likelihood of an accident in a car you are unfamiliar with is higher than one you are familiar with. The location of the wiper stalk can change; needing to look down longer to adjust climate control/defroster (or radio) settings, etc. Not realizing how bad that blindspot is, even after adjusting the mirrors for what you _think_ is good. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2017, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-rental-tips/790703/23 "2017-07-08T16:44:37Z")
> [@Celidin](#): > > For insurance - most credit cards do carry rental insurance. American Express, in particular, is big on this. However - be very careful. Many times the CC’s insurance is “secondary insurance” and will only pick up anything that your normal car insurance doesn’t cover. If you don’t have a car and thus don’t have primary car insurance, I don’t know how that would work and it would be smart to look into. AX does provide an option to cover as a primary carrier for the damage portion (you subscribe to it and it’s added to each rental on the card) at a much lower flat rate than the rental comany’s, which can be quite steep. As mentioned, the brand-name renters, especially if you are in their affinity program, can have quite good deals depending on location and time. If it is going to be something frequent or prolonged you may want to speak to the management about specific options for that sort of usage. Vehicle choice OTOH is a different story, mostly unless you are a “club member” you do not get to pick a specific vehicle but one from a “class”, and what’s in each class varies per provider – what they call a compact or intermediate is usually tinier than what I would. For reputable companies, the usual “best practices” are that if there is no reasonable availability of the class reserved, you be offered a free bump to whatever’s available at the closest next class up, which may NOT be bigger or fancier at all – the classes overlap at top and bottom of the range. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c57346/32.png) [@Little\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Pig)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2017, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-rental-tips/790703/24 "2017-07-08T23:05:18Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > #3 - charge the rental to your credit card. Many of them include rental car insurance as a free perk but check with your credit card company to make sure you use one that includes it. You don’t need to buy it from the rental car company if that is the case. I always buy the insurance for the following reason. Once upon a time, somewhere on this board, there was a discussion about buying insurance from the car rental company. Someone posted the following, or along these lines. You use your credit card and take the rental car insurance as a free perk. You get into an accident. The rental car company claims there was 12 grand of damages. Your credit card company, or the insurance company associated with the free perk, says the damage is 7 grand at most and that is all they will cover. If they both stand hard, you the renter could be on the hook for the 5 grand difference. On another front, I also buy the insurance because I don’t want to get a surprise bill from the car rental company saying I returned the car with a scratch that I am now liable for. If the above is wrong and you are in the know, please correct my post. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2017, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-rental-tips/790703/25 "2017-07-09T01:15:52Z")
Use [carrentals.com](http://carrentals.com) and stick with a name brand rental agency. You’ll almost certainly pay far less than you would at Honest Bob’s No-name Rentawreck. And you’re assured to get at least as much car as you paid for. The only “hidden fees” should be taxes clearly labeled as such. Which are an industry-wide problem since tourists don’t vote in the places they visit. If you use [carrentals.com](http://carrentals.com) all fees are fully disclosed up front. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-rental-tips/790703.md?page=1)