# Is there a rental car company that will let an 18 year old drive (not rent) the rental car? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 1, 2017, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-rental-car-company-that-will-let-an-18-year-old-drive-not-rent-the-rental-car/795212 "2017-09-01T01:33:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Enola\_Gay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3ab097/32.png) [@Enola\_Gay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Gay)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2017, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-rental-car-company-that-will-let-an-18-year-old-drive-not-rent-the-rental-car/795212/21 "2017-09-01T16:19:55Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > Why not? I never get the insurance from the car rental place, my own auto insurance covers me. Does the 18 year have insurance for another car already? Would that transfer to the rental? Yes he is insured to drive both of our cars, but my understanding from talking to the rental car companies (I’ve called Hertz, Budget, & Enterprise) is that if he drives it, the contract is void, and if we violate the contract, our own insurance will not cover us. > [@Alley\_Dweller](#): > > Will your insurance cover unauthorized use of a car? If you drive a car without the permission of the owner, that’s unauthorized use. This is correct. We also have a credit card that covers us for car insurance, but I’m guessing that would also be void in this case. Insurance companies are always looking for reasons not to pay. > [@LSLGuy](#): > > When you say “I am driving across the country …” do you mean you’re taking a one-way trip or that you’re driving a long way from \ to \ then later back to \ again? We live in southern California & the plan was to rent a car, drive him to college in Boston & visit family along the way. Once we get to Boston & get him settled in, I would return the car at the Boston airport, then I would fly home. Such a perfect plan, except for this one snag. So far in my research, only the large rental car agencies will allow me to rent in CA and return in Boston. Btw my kid is not the typical irresponsible teenager, but a straight A student & excellent driver. And as **Really Not All That Bright** mentioned upthread, Uhaul will allow him to drive. But he’s moving into a dorm room & doesn’t have that much stuff, plus I haaate driving trucks. We know lots of other people taking kids to college on the east coast & they are just renting the car & letting their kid share the driving, in spite of the contract that says all drivers have to be 21. But I’m pretty risk averse, and while he is a very responsible driver, if someone hits us while he’s at the wheel, we’d be screwed. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2017, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-rental-car-company-that-will-let-an-18-year-old-drive-not-rent-the-rental-car/795212/22 "2017-09-01T16:22:04Z")
> [@Enola\_Gay](#): > > Yes he is insured to drive both of our cars, but my understanding from talking to the rental car companies (I’ve called Hertz, Budget, & Enterprise) is that if he drives it, the contract is void, and if we violate the contract, our own insurance will not cover us. Fair enough. I wasn’t sure of the rule. I haven’t been 18 for a while 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2017, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-rental-car-company-that-will-let-an-18-year-old-drive-not-rent-the-rental-car/795212/23 "2017-09-01T16:35:39Z")
> [@Enola\_Gay](#): > > And as **Really Not All That Bright** mentioned upthread, Uhaul will allow him to drive. But he’s moving into a dorm room & doesn’t have that much stuff, plus I haaate driving trucks. They have cargo vans or pickups. Still a big-ass vehicle, but a lot less annoying to drive than a box truck. However, now that I think about it, unlike Enterprise or other passenger car rentals, they charge for mileage so that will be extremely expensive if you’re going across the country. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2017, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-rental-car-company-that-will-let-an-18-year-old-drive-not-rent-the-rental-car/795212/24 "2017-09-01T17:45:12Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > They have cargo vans or pickups. Still a big-ass vehicle, but a lot less annoying to drive than a box truck. > > However, now that I think about it, unlike Enterprise or other passenger car rentals, they charge for mileage so that will be extremely expensive if you’re going across the country. And UHaul charge out the yin-yang for mileage. Something like $0.50 a mile over 100 miles IIRC. And the rental companies charge huge fees to drive one way, as they normally have to hire a driver to return the vehicle back to the point of origin or put it on a car hauler. I know because I’ve been paid to do this, they are called drive aways. My uncle used to deliver new work box vans for a manufacture and he would deliver the new truck to a customer designation and then see if the one of the rental companies had a car that needed to be taken back close to his home (if not he hitched a ride to Greyhound). You may want to look into this. Maybe one of the rental companies in California have a car that needs to be taken back to the east coast. It’s been 20 years since I’ve done this and all of it was handled by a dispatcher over the phone, [I imagine that it all can be done online now.](https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2013/dec/03/driveaway-drive-across-us-canada-free-drive-out-courier) ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2017, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-rental-car-company-that-will-let-an-18-year-old-drive-not-rent-the-rental-car/795212/25 "2017-09-01T18:42:26Z")
I don’t know exactly where you live, but you might want to try a neighboring state- I know in NY, car rental companies must rent to licensed drivers 18 and over, although they can impose a surcharge on those under 25. NY is probably not the only state with such a requirement. ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Gay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3ab097/32.png) [@Enola\_Gay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Gay)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2017, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-rental-car-company-that-will-let-an-18-year-old-drive-not-rent-the-rental-car/795212/26 "2017-09-01T19:31:20Z")
> [@Si\_Amigo](#): > > … You may want to look into this. Maybe one of the rental companies in California have a car that needs to be taken back to the east coast. It’s been 20 years since I’ve done this and all of it was handled by a dispatcher over the phone, [I imagine that it all can be done online now.](https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2013/dec/03/driveaway-drive-across-us-canada-free-drive-out-courier) Unfortunately, they still impose the policy of no drivers under 21 ☹ > [@doreen](#): > > I don’t know exactly where you live, but you might want to try a neighboring state- I know in NY, car rental companies must rent to licensed drivers 18 and over, although they can impose a surcharge on those under 25. NY is probably not the only state with such a requirement. I looked into this and only NY & Michigan have that law–we’re in California ☹ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-rental-car-company-that-will-let-an-18-year-old-drive-not-rent-the-rental-car/795212.md?page=1)