Mrs. Sharp, the two curds, and I are going from (approximately) Atlanta, Ga. to Pittsburgh, Pa. to visit a close relative. Even though it will take us 9 and 1/2 hours longer to get there (vs. flying,) we’ve decided to rent a car to drive there. I don’t want to trust the 100,000+ Honda Civic we own,so we want to rent a car .
So, any helpful hints and/or suggestions to renting a car?
There are several major rental companies that do not allow you to take one of their cars into a state that does not border the state that you rent the car in—They don’t wan’t renters going cross-country in their cars, (even if the rental includes unlimited miles) so be sure what the specific policy is before renting…
Try Enterprise Rent-A-Car.
If the rental company doesn’t allow multi-state passenger car rentals, see if they offer multi-state van rentals (if a van would suit you).
Call your insurance company and have your deductibles for everything lowered to zero (or as little as they allow) for the time period of the trip. Decline the insurance offered by the rental company.
It’s of course fine if you don’t care to take the Civic for whatever reason, but be aware that if it has been properly maintained then the 100+K miles is not an issue. I’d drive my 200+K Accord cross-country with no qualms. If you do end up taking the Civic, have a trip-readiness inspection performed first.
One more thing, certain credit cards provide you with automatic insurance coverage when you use them to rent a car, (American Express is usually a good choice for this, depending on what specific AMEX card you may have) allowing you to save $$$ by declining the rental cars supplemental ins. coverage, which is usually considered a rip-off…
(Of course, if you do get in a wreck with the rental car, the rental cars supplemental insurance is the best 12 bucks per day you will ever spend, so some folks always spring for it, if just for peace of mind)
When you do rent, tell them it’s a local rent (even though you are driving interstate). Otherwise you may get stuck with hidden airport charges even though you didn’t fly to the location to pick up the vehicle.
The way I see it, it’s a vacation. I don’t want to be stuck in an econobox. I usually go for the Grand Marquise, if I can get one. Great road car.
Or, what the heck, it’s really fun to drive a Lincoln Town Car. Nice highway car. And it’s sort of fun to show up in it in shorts and sandles. We are the ‘cool’ uncle and aunt. .snerk.
There is nothing wrong with suprising yourself, or other people. It needs to be done.
Yep it will cost a couple of hundred more, but what the heck.
As the driver, I figure – It’s my vacation too.
Upgrade. That is my advice.
I use www.kayak.com — it searches all of the major car-rental sites for you.
The last two times I’ve rented, I’ve used Thrifty, and if you go directly to their site, they often have a week-long special deal for a medium or larger sized car. Last month on a vacation in Florida, I ended up with a nice Grand Marquis— the last real car made, sadly likely to end production after 2011. So try www.thrifty.com.
As the others have said, check with your credit card company to see what coverage you have. Last year, I made the mistake of assuming that my MasterCard covered everything; they stripped that benefit away some time ago and decided not to tell me about it.
Regardless, do your homework to make sure that your credit card and/or personal car insurance will cover you, and then decline the rental company’s overpriced offerings.
As GaryT said, I wouldn’t be all that worried about taking an older car on a long trip—none of my cars has less than 100,000 miles either.
But, as he also said, you definitely would want to give your car a good checking over. When was the last time you checked the air pressure in your spare tire, for example?