In May some friends and I will be flying from the east coast to Northern California for a camping trip. We will need to rent a Jeep-type vehicle to haul our gear and get around. Our base of operations will be a rustic cabin not very far from Redding, CA that we are renting from the U.S. Forest Service. The approach to the cabin, we’ve been warned, is an unpaved (dirt) road.
Now, every car rental agreement I’ve ever seen prohibits driving on unpaved roads. I thought maybe a non-national brand rental agency would be more flexible, so I asked a highly-rated mom-and-pop outfit in San Francisco (where I will probably be flying into) if they would allow it, and even they said No.
Any recommendations or ideas?
(Let me throw in one more detail, in case it matters. It is quite possible that none of us will have our own pre-existing car insurance, since there might not be any car owners in the group. I know that one’s own car insurance can cover rental cars, which could make us less dependent on the agency’s coverage, but that option may not be available to us.)
Go by a car wash before returning the car. I’d use the type that you wash the car yourself with a high pressure wand. Be sure to hit the wheel wells. Vacuum the carpet.
I’ve driven a lot of unpaved roads and didn’t damage my car. I wasn’t mud bogging or anything. But, just driving a gravel or hard packed dirt road shouldn’t cause damage. You might crack a windshield, but that’s happened to me before on an Interstate.
Get more details about this unpaved road. How long is it? Does it require 4WD? Can a normal sedan negotiate it? Is high ground clearance needed? Is a transfer case required? Are there any steep up/down hill sections, and how’s the traction in those sections?
Same questions, but what about if it’s rainy/wet? You might get in with good weather, but if it rains you might not be able to get out. :eek:
You have some questions for the USFS, my friend.
Also, do any in your group have experience driving off road?
Based on the answers, you can either get by with a Prius, or you may need a Jeep Wrangler. Once you get the answers, the choice comes down to calculating the risks and making an informed decision.
Redding is far from me, about 250 miles one way, otherwise I’d have been happy to scout it out for you. I only drive a 2001 Honda CR-V mini SUV. It’s mostly stock but I’ve taken it where many Jeep owners fear to tread.
Oh, and no need to wash the dirt and mud off, unless it’s caked on thickly. Cars get dirty on normal roads, and like someone said upthread, how will the rental agency know unless one of you tells them?
(unless you slide off the wet, muddy road into a ditch because you were going too fast for conditions…)
Hey Hilary, it seems to me that you’re contradicting yourself. I agree with calculating the risk, and then proceeding accordingly (meaning, either to go ahead and do it, or to decide not to do it).
Anyway, I jumped back in mostly because this thread reminded me of an old joke.
Question: What’s the difference between a rental car, and Jeeps, Land Rovers, and HummVees?
Well, I myself do not see an actual contradiction, per se, but IMHO I definitely missed (at least) two steps, which I then attempted to address in a quote of my own post (but after you had already posted).
I had a similar situation (as the OP), years ago. On my first and only trip to Hawaii’s big island, the rental car company’s map clearly marked Highway 200, Saddle Road, as RESTRICTED - NO RENTAL CARS ALLOWED. I noticed this when picking up the van, but didn’t ask them about it (because if you ask, and you were verbally notified not to drive there, you could get in more trouble if you did!).
We were staying at Waikoloa Village, and one day had taken a day trip to Volcanoes National Park and Hilo by taking the coastal route. It took longer than anticipated, and as we returned it was getting late and dark.
Saddle Road cuts directly across the island, from Hilo to Waikaloa. A natural “short cut.” I took it. It turned out being a paved but very narrow, winding, twisty and bumpy road with some large dips and sharp, tall humps. Like a roller coaster ride. You could be sailing along at 45MPH but then all of a sudden have to slow to 15MPH to negotiate the various “challenges”. It certainly needed care to negotiate, and someone with failing eyesight or simply going too fast could easily end up crashed and seriously hurt. But with extra care it was no problem and we got back just fine. I was driving a van with church youths. Some were scared but most thought it was a fun ride. I was very careful.
A calculated risk, and in the end it wasn’t very risky at all for me (and us). And, I figured I always had the option to turn around at any time and take the same, long eay back.
You should probably get the damage waiver or whatever its called. Those things are usually pretty generous, I’ve had friends who have done all kinds of improbable things in rental vehicles, like put bullet holes in the floorpan/bed from careless handling of their rifles, etc. and the insurance has always covered it.
Insurance usually does NOT cover use of the car in a way which is specifically forbidden in the contract. (common example: if you let an unlicensed driver use the car).
Before I posted this Q to the Dope I did some online research and discovered some things which make me think twice about simply ignoring the rental agreement’s dirt road prohibition. (Truth be told, I did that once or twice on camping trips back in the old days.)
Apparently these days it’s pretty standard that rental cars are equipped with GPS trackers that monitor your travel. One common tale I found online involved renters who drove their rental car out of the state, another disallowed act – btw, apparently this is (or was) a common California prohibition. When they turned in the car they were informed that because they violated the rental agreement the unlimited mileage rate no longer applied, and they were charged at some onerous per-mile rate instead.
Please see my OP. It is likely that none of the campers in my party will have our own auto insurance.
I have rented SUV’s for some Appalachian Trail section hiking and have taken them on some serious off road conditions, didn’t even know it may be a issue, and it wasn’t.
One idea is that you may be able to rent a crew cab pickup truck from a company that specializes in construction equipment rentals, like Hertz’s construction equipment division. A company that rents backhoes and such probably won’t have a pavement-only policy.
