age requirement for car rental?

[hiimfiffy]

does anyone know of a car rental company that will rent a car to an 18 year old? we really need a car to get to disney but my boy is driving and he's 18 and we cant find any that rent to anyone under 25.

 

[pugdog]

might be able to if you rent it and just add him as a driver

 

[Debi]

Enterprise will rent to drivers under 25. There is a young renter fee (I believe $10/day), but they will rent to him. www.enterprise.com

 

[trip]

I was curious about Enterprise renting to young drivers in Orlando, so I plugged in some dates- picked 18-20 year group and this was the online response that I got.



Our Apologies

Many of our locations have age restrictions.

For our underage customers
Unfortunately, due to your age we will be unable to rent you a vehicle.
Thank you for choosing Enterprise Rent-A-Car and we look forward to serving you in the future

 

[hiimfiffy]

i would rent a car for us but ill only be 17 by the time were leaving so that doesnt work lol

i was thinking of asking a friend who's 22 to rent us one but im scared if we happen to get a ticket for whatever reason we'd get into alot of trouble since he shouldnt have been driving that car in the first place..ahh idk what to do

 

[safetymom]

22 year old will have problems also. I know places like Rent a Wreck rented to underage drivers. You will have a hard time with the major agencies. Isn't there an adult that can drive?

 

[jtopp]

AMAZING!! People under 25 regularly vote, buy homes, cars, insurance, have jobs, go to war, get married, have children, and do any and all of the other requirements of life, yet they can't rent a car. I think the car rental companies should look at individuals before limiting rentals.

 

[bicker]

It's actually a major source of debate, here in MA, right now: Should each driver be considered exclusively as an individual, or should MA, like most of the rest of the country, allow insurance companies to assign risk to drivers based on demographic characteristics, like youth. That, however, is a governmental decision, since the choice is with regard to changing government regulations.

That's not the case with rental car companies who can readily map renting to younger drivers to greater losses incurred. There is apparently no amount of money that could legitimately be charged younger drivers as a surcharge to overcome the losses associated with younger drivers renting practically-new cars. It is a shame, but I don't think many older drivers would be willing to accept a significant across-the-board surcharge for renting cars that would balance the losses that rental car companies would incur from implementing a more lenient policy.

 

[helenk]

i would rent a car for us but ill only be 17 by the time were leaving so that doesnt work lol

i was thinking of asking a friend who's 22 to rent us one but im scared if we happen to get a ticket for whatever reason we'd get into alot of trouble since he shouldnt have been driving that car in the first place..ahh idk what to do

If someone else rents the car, and that person takes out the insurance with the rental company, and a party who is not listed as a driver has an accident, then the insurance company for the rental car company will not honor any claims. This would mean that the person driving the car would be liable for the cost to repair the rental car as well as any damages etc to the others involved in the accident.

 

[ducklite]

AMAZING!! People under 25 regularly vote, buy homes, cars, insurance, have jobs, go to war, get married, have children, and do any and all of the other requirements of life, yet they can't rent a car. I think the car rental companies should look at individuals before limiting rentals.

The rental car companies hands are tied because of their liability insurance carriers. The carriers refuse to underwrite any driver under 25, which is their right to do. If they start makign exceptions based on "demographics" then they will run into all sorts of trouble with people claiming discrimination. The government can't require insurance companies to insure rental car drivers under 25, that would be meddling in private business ventures--might eb the Taft act? Bicker--I'm sure you know the correct legistlation.

Anne

 

[bicker]

Actually, that's not the case with the larger rental car companies, such as Hertz and Avis. They are self-insured; they use insurance companies only for administration and for secondary coverage. So it isn't a matter that insurance companies are unwilling to underwrite the rental car companies, but rather that it doesn't make financial sense for the rental car companies to underwrite that risk themselves.

The Taft-Hartley Act pertains to labor relations -- it comes up most often here on the DIS when discussing potential airline strikes and other threats to transportation to WDW.

The federal government does tend to avoid entering into businesses that would directly compete with private enterprise, but there is no actual law to that effect. There are actually many examples of where the government does compete, and in such cases they do so because there is a compelling public interest, but of course that's a matter of opinion, and some folks would hold the opposing perspective in each case.

However, that's also not really relevant to this situation. Rather, the issue here is with regard to whether government should regulate whom business can and cannot discriminate against in the offering of public accommodations. The answer is, however, a resounding YES. The government can and should regulate such discrimination. Having said that, there is no reason to think the government will or should prohibit discrimination against youth. While there is a significant personal interest, on the part of youth, to prohibit such discrimination, there is no compelling public interest in that regard, as far as I can see. To some extent, the opposite is true: The vast majority of the general public benefits from that discrimination, and there is no evidence that that discrimination fosters a culture of inequity, since everyone is equally subject to membership in that class, and all those who are discriminated against eventually grow out of the situation.

 

[Lewisc]

The major car rental agencies not only rent to drivers under 25 but waive the underage surcharges when the renter is an employee of a major corporation that has a corporate account with the rental agency.

Enterprise in Orlando will rent to someone 21 and above. EZ Rental will rent to people 18 and over. Double check, the websites might not be current. AFAIK all the major agencies will rent to a qualified driver over 21 with a surcharge.

By the time you pay the underage surcharges, particularly for an 18 year old, staying onsite and taking Disney transportation is an attractive alternative. Even a cab or limo for offsite transportation is probably cheaper.

New York requires rental car agencies rent to young drivers, I think over 18. They do impose surcharges.

 

[Dznypal]

2 years ago we were on a family trip to Hawaii--the package included air hotel and car--you had to be 18 to rent so my DD and her DBF could rent but with the surcharge--

we asked since my son is a police officer if they could waive the charge because of his job--of course the answer was no (but figured nothing to lose just to ask) unless he was there on business

it sure to be nice to be sent to Hawaii for business