Rental Car???

[Beeman]

I have never rented a car before but might have the need. Any tips on the best and cheapest rentals? What about insurance?

[fantasymaker]

local or one way? Budget is pretty good in most cases If you have a good full coverage insureance policy it may cover a rental car and you wont need thir VERY EXPENCIVE insurance

[agmantoo]

Enterprise for a short term rental. A credit card is essential to get a rental in most instances. The insurance should not be necessary. Check your credit card to see if they provide coverage for the insurance. You personal car insurance may also cover insurance. In some places I think your homeowners may even cover part of the insurance.

[fantasymaker]

Th smallest is not always the cheepest
Costs vary between locarions airports canbethe cheepest or the most expencive in the area
Costs vary by day picked up and days held usually over 4 days is the same as the weekly cost. and thursday and friday are the cheepest to rent on.

[clovis]

Renting a car is a supply and demand business. If there is a great demand for cars, the price of the rentals will sky rocket.

If they have cars sitting on the lot, they are typically willing to deal. I have found Enterprise to deal the most, if they have cars. Enterprise will usually match and beat whatever deal you have, if they have cars to rent.

Check travelocity for a basis of rates, even if you are miles from the airports.

Clove

[blufford]

Enterprise will even come pick you up!

[Cabin Fever]

If you are a member of an organization or club, check to see if that organization has a discount with a specific rental company. Most of the time, these discounts can be 20 to 25% off the listed rental price.

[DenverGirlie]

I just rented from Thrifty car rental at the STL airport. It was $10 cheaper a day than the other places and my total bill for the two days was $26.

However, that was a airport rental and I only took it one state away to IL. Had I crossed to IN the cost would have been 3-4 times more.

Many, many, many factors will determine the cost.

One way rental or round trip?
Are you picking it up locally or have you just flown in from someplace?
Are you the only driver?
How many state lines will you be crossing (din't think about lying about this they install GPS in their cars now)

Check with your credit card co and your normal car insurance co about if they cover your rental.

[turtlehead]

I second the suggestion to check prices at travelocity.com
Prices vary greatly and sometimes one company will be less expensive, other times another company will be less expensive.

Several factors determine the price, such as which days you're renting and whether it's local or one way.

You *can* rent a car with a debit card, but they put a hold on a huge amount of money so you have to have enough money in your checking account for that.

[Windy in Kansas]

I exclusively use Enterprise when I rent a vehicle. Mostly because they are about the only company with a rental presence in the area.

I always rent using cash. To do so requires one to bring in two current utility bills showing current address and that they are not in arrears. The rental use is calculated and a deposit of that amount is left with the agency--prepaying so to speak. Upon return of the rental unit they refund any unused portion of the deposit.

I typically have only liability insurance so opt for their additional full coverage insurance. It is high and nearly doubles the cost of the rental but give me peace of mind. I once drove over a farm field that poked weed stubble into the thin treaded foreign made tires which ruined two, didn't cost me a cent as I had the optional insurance in place. If a credit card or your insurance might cover any vehicle damage you will probably wish to forgo it.

Enterprise typically does not rent you a car with a full gas tank. The fuel level is logged and that is where it will need to be upon return or you will be charged for fuel to bring it to that level---at a very high rate per gallon. You will not be credited with any extra fuel you have added to the tank so to keep from overpaying try hard to return it at the same level.

There is special pricing for almost every weekend with Enterprise, typically about $10 per day. I believe the first 100 or 200 miles per day are free, charges for overage after that. I find that it is sometimes more cost effective to keep the car an additional day to gain the extra free miles than it is to pay per mile overage. If I'm traveling quite a distance a weekly rate may be more attractive.

Most of the basic rentals do not have cruise control. To get that and a more comfortable car you may wish to take a step up the scale to a mid sized car.

Depending upon time of rental and drop off, service can sometimes be slow as the offices are usually staffed for efficiency not customer convenience.

Oh, for holiday long weekends, etc. you will probably wish to reserve a car in advance so that one will be available.

[martygreene]

If you don't have a credit card (not a debit-credit, but straight up credit card) renting a car is a huge pain nowadays. Policies recently changed for all the major rental places, and you have to pay with a credit card in the name of the primary driver, or- in order to pay via debit/cheque you have to bring in copies of your phone bill and a major utility bill. It's all quite dumb. My partner was unable to rent a car because the bills are in my name. I ended up driving us both to Ohio not too long ago, so that a business opportunity wasn't lost due to inability to rent a car. Feh on the whole thing. Just figured I'd give the heads-up.

[fantasymaker]

If you are going a LOT of miles many places have unlimited milage.
If you are going a very short oneway a U-haul can be cheeper.
Many agencies will pick you up even if the chain doesnt the local might call them and find out.
So what is it that you need it for?

[wy_white_wolf]

Go for their Insurance even if yours will cover it.

A friend never got the insurance because his would cover it. The car was vandlized at the motel. Sure his insurance covered it. But his insurance went up by more than what the little rider cost.

[BlueHeronFarm]

I always use hotwire.com for car rentals. Then I pick the cheapest, no matter which company. I would highly recommend checking them out...I have gotten cars for $10.95 a day before.

[Gailann Schrader]

If you use a debit and/or credit? You MUST have ~$300 worth of credit or in the bank to rent, I've found.