Car Rental In the US

Posted by: Dave Hartley on 27 July 2011

Hi,

 

We are planning a trip to the States in mid September and will need to arrange car rental for two parts of the holiday. Once in Chicago and then a longer hire period in Las Vegas.

Carhire 3000 had competetive rates and they advertise 0 excess charges. On reading various forums I'm not sure this is quite true and even more worrying I read about a couple of people who were told the hire didn't include any insurances and this would have to be paid now before the car would be released.

This sounds very much like a scam.

 

Can any one recommend a car Hire firm that I can pre book from the UK.

 

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

Kind Regards

Dave

Posted on: 27 July 2011 by Tony Lockhart
I've often used holidayautos, and used them once in the States. They've always seemed very open about pricing, and very competitive too. Try them and let me know. Tony
Posted on: 27 July 2011 by Rich27

Car hire in the US is always a nightmare in my experience, full of extra costs, collision damage waivers and other such nonsense.  My advice would be to pre-book with one of the well known companies (Hertz, Thrifty, etc, etc) always pay on a credit card and prepare to be confused at the other end.  Always, always fully inspect the car and make sure even the slightest damage is fully documented before you drive away.

 

On a recent business trip to the US, my so called pre booked hire car at a quoted cost of $275 turned into north of $800 when It turned out I had actually asked to drop off at a different location to pick up and wanted a couple of extras.  I told them b*ll*cks and got a cab!

Posted on: 27 July 2011 by Tony Lockhart
Holidayautos had no hidden extras when I used them for Cleveland. They really were honest, and used a top rental company.
Posted on: 27 July 2011 by Pat Mustard
I used enterprise on a recent trip to California, I said no to all the insurances and booked an economy car which was the cheapest they offered. For three weeks rental I do believe it cost around £300, the enterprise at LAX didn't have a single car that I would class as "economy" on the whole lot. We got a rather nice, if not a little bit on the large side Chevrolet HHR. I would definitely use enterprise again.
Posted on: 28 July 2011 by Geoff P
Originally Posted by Pat Mustard:
I used enterprise on a recent trip to California, I said no to all the insurances and booked an economy car which was the cheapest they offered. For three weeks rental I do believe it cost around £300, the enterprise at LAX didn't have a single car that I would class as "economy" on the whole lot. We got a rather nice, if not a little bit on the large side Chevrolet HHR. I would definitely use enterprise again.

Err...living dangerously in 'Sue for anything' land.

 

However I use Enterprise as one of the best deals in California BUT take the Loss Damage Waiver and Personal Liability insurance. Watch out and ask about any excess charge for say the first 300 $ on any superficial damage even with LDW just in case they play that trick. Hence the intense initial inspection is also to be recommended.

 

Hatefiull to have paid all these extras and have a completely trouble free rental but if something happens you will regret not shelling out.

 

Regards

geoff

 

Posted on: 29 July 2011 by Dave Hartley

Thanks Guys for your advice & suggestions.

 

I've never used Holiday Auto before. I did speak the them and they use both National and Dollar at the 2 locations we will hire from. Customer service sounded a little vague when I asked her about any hidden charges that I may be asked to pay on collection, her response was just show then your rental agreement at the time of booking.

 

I wondered if I would be better booking direct with the Rental company as they should know if there are any hidden charges.

 

Thanks once again

Dave

Posted on: 29 July 2011 by Exiled Highlander

Dave

 

As Geoff P said - whatever you do make sure you are well insured!!  When I lived in the US I hired cars almost very week and luckily for me my corporate agreements with Hertz and others meant I didn't need to worry about insurance as that was covered at company level.  I probably had close to 400 rentals in 12 years so I think I have some experience here.

 

Given that subsequently when my wife  was involved in a bad accident (not her fault as she was run off the Freeway by a pickup truck that changed lanes and knocked her off the road) and we were sued for a number in excess of $6M, the $300K of liability cover on our own car insurance did not seem very high.....

 

Luckily I had an other catastrophic event type policy as backup.  We did not pay up.

 

I make no excuses for repeating - make sure you understand your insurance cover!  Do not try to save pennies on this.  By the way "unlimited miles" means unmilited miles.  I've never known that to be a scam.

 

I'd still rather hire a car in the US than in car hire ripoff Britain!

 

Cheers

 

Jim