Opinion - Car Rental

[asta]

I need opinions on a car rental for WDW. We are scheduled to drive down to WDW in three days on Thurs., 7/14 and I was just involved in a rear end collision. There is no chance the car can be driveable by the time of our trip. I am not hurt but just sick over the situation. The other drivers insurance will pay for a rental but I don't know what to rent. We have a less than year old Volvo XC90 (mid size SUV). We bought this car for traveling space and because we think it is one of the safest SUVs made. There are 4 of us (2 adults and 2 teens) and the Volvo has a third row that works great for road trips. You apparently can't rent Volvo XC90s and I don't know what else to look at. Other SUVs are too big and truck like. I wonder if I should look at just getting a big car instead of an SUV? Does anyone have a quick recommendation?

 

[safetymom]

Just watch with the rental the insurance company may give you. I know when I had an accident the car couldn't be driven out of state.

 

[Aimeedyan]

I couldn't drive my rental after my accidents out of state, either. They kept track of mileage.

If you can get around that, it might be good to spring for a minivan. It gets better mileage then an SUV. I guess it just depends on what you're willing to pay since your ins usually covers something like $20 a day or so which doesn't cover a very large car.

We rented a minivan on our last drive down and it was comfy.

 

[DebbieB]

There usually isn't a $ limit on the rental if it's being covered by the other driver's liability coverage. If it's on your coverage (your fault), there is.

 

[asta]

The other driver's insurance is paying. He was at fault but we had to fight hard to get them to agree to pay for something we would want to drive on our trip. They started with an offer of $20 a day for ten days. I argued and ranted at the other driver's insurance company until they agreed to pay for a SUV and to direct bill the cost to the insurance company for the length of time that we will be without our car. (This is important because the rental companies rent to the insurance company at a much lower rate than they charge individuals. This valuable bit of information came from a clerk at the rental company.) My problem is coming up with something that is like the type of vehicle that I was driving. I probably sound like a spoiled baby, but I put a lot of thought into buying the Volvo. I want something that has the extra seating and storage of my XC90 but that drives like a car instead of a truck. There are very few SUVs even available for rent at this short notice. The best we have found so far is a smelly, dirty Ford Explorer that was used for the Bonaroo music festival (a muddy, outdoor music festival held in rural Tennessee). Right now I am just so mad at the kid in the big SUV, talking on a cell phone, that didn't even look up to see me in time to use his brakes.

Sorry for the rant. This whole thing has me so upset. I just want our trip to be perfect after all of my planning.

 

[agnes!]

First off, *thank God* everyone is ok (even the idiot who ran into your car).

Would it be possible to lease a car for just a month? Maybe that way you'd get a vehicle you could accept...(note I didn't say 'like' or 'love', lol!) Are short-term leases available in your hometown? And if you can't find any deals you can live with at home, how about the nearest big city airport...

When things like this happen, it really does stink, but I kind of have my own take on the situation...
I saw two different accidents in three days last week - right after each one happened. At least one was fatal (a pedestrian was hit) and another was a multi-car pile-up that looked really bad...I've never had to call '911' twice in three days before.
I'm grateful that no-one was seriously hurt during your particular accident.


Now go have fun at Disney World !
agnes!

 

[Alexander]

The PP has a good point. Is there something you could work out with your Volvo dealer? Would they "rent" you a car you are happy with and bill the insurance company? Maybe they have a gently used Volvo like yours that they wouldn't mind earning a few hundred bucks on? Just an outside thought, don't know if it's even possible.

Personally, I'd be making the other insurance company fly me to WDW and renting me a car for the week, if that happened. And to be honest, I love my SUV. It is a little truck-like, but no where near as truck like as DH's F-350. Personally, I feel that these vehicles make it safe for my family.

 

[asta]

Thanks for all of your kind suggestions. I have finally calmed down about the accident and am excited to be leaving for WDW on Thursday. Enterprise rental was able to find a GMC Envoy for us to use until our car is fixed. I picked it up this morning and it "feels" a lot like my Volvo XC90. It seems to sit a little lower to the ground than the Explorer and drives a little more like a car. The only thing we had to give up was the third row seating. I am already practicing my stay on your side of the car warning. Even though my girls are teens, this is still an issue. Some things they never grow out of.

I could now write a book about how to get what you need out of insurance companies. Apparently the want you to rant and rave before they do what they ought to do in the beginning. They must hope that they can avoid paying as much for people that just won't push the issues.

 

[agnes!]

Yay, you're goin' to DISNEY WORLD!!!

As to the 'stay on your side' warnings...desperate times call for desperate measures.
In your case, I would resort to some form of reward/bribery. $ for shopping while on vacation would be most teenaged-girls idea of heaven . Maybe start out with a certain amount, like $20. For every infraction, each girl would lose a dollar. Even have a wallet for each girl, show them the $(lol) at the beginning of the trip & every time they cross the line?...physically take a dollar out of the wallet. Also very early on, tell them that if there are fewer than 5 infractions total by the two of them together during the whole trip, they each get a $5 bonus.
Something along those lines might work.

agnes!

 

[manning]

Thanks for all of your kind suggestions. I have finally calmed down about the accident and am excited to be leaving for WDW on Thursday. Enterprise rental was able to find a GMC Envoy for us to use until our car is fixed. I picked it up this morning and it "feels" a lot like my Volvo XC90. It seems to sit a little lower to the ground than the Explorer and drives a little more like a car. The only thing we had to give up was the third row seating. I am already practicing my stay on your side of the car warning. Even though my girls are teens, this is still an issue. Some things they never grow out of.

I could now write a book about how to get what you need out of insurance companies. Apparently the want you to rant and rave before they do what they ought to do in the beginning. They must hope that they can avoid paying as much for people that just won't push the issues.

Check the terms on the Enterprise rental. They are a great one for not allowing you to go out of state or add mileage if you do.

I'm going thru the same thing. Got rear ended may 24 and still don't have my car. I made the mistake of filing claim with the other guy's insurance (All State). They failed to assign a claim adjuster for over 2 weeks. If you can, file with your insurance company and let them fight it out. Turned out if I had filed with my insurance (State Farm) I would have my car back now. Dealership said they are great on settling.

And yes I am dickering over the rental with All State.

Don't get me started on what should be done with those who rear end you.

 

[Disneyjosh229]

I need opinions on a car rental for WDW. We are scheduled to drive down to WDW in three days on Thurs., 7/14 and I was just involved in a rear end collision. There is no chance the car can be driveable by the time of our trip. I am not hurt but just sick over the situation. The other drivers insurance will pay for a rental but I don't know what to rent. We have a less than year old Volvo XC90 (mid size SUV). We bought this car for traveling space and because we think it is one of the safest SUVs made. There are 4 of us (2 adults and 2 teens) and the Volvo has a third row that works great for road trips. You apparently can't rent Volvo XC90s and I don't know what else to look at. Other SUVs are too big and truck like. I wonder if I should look at just getting a big car instead of an SUV? Does anyone have a quick recommendation?

Hertz rents XC90's at some of there locations.

 

[asta]

I think we are OK with going out of state with the rental. After reading your warnings, I made sure that Enterprise knew that we were traveling to Florida and they made a special note on the rental form. We also have more than enough mileage on the agreement to get there and back.

I did check with Hertz here in Nashville and they apear to be the only ones with Volvos in their fleet. The problem was that they have nothing available. We even had them check throughout the region and nothing was available.

As far as dealing with insurance companies, I can only hope that my insurance company would never treat someone that I might hit as poorly as Travelers Insurance has treated me. I know that my insurance would ultimately pay if the other driver's insurance did not, but we have a deductible that we would have to pay. I think my insurance would then have their lawyers pursue the other guy. It just seems wrong to have to do this when there is no question that the other guy is totally at fault. Travelers Ins. even tried to deny the damage to my car (starting repair estimate is over $6,000) by blaming the damage on the tow company that separated the cars. They have been very hard to deal with on this and only agreed to pay after many calls to several layers of their management. I think the real trick may have come when we threatened to also open a medical claim. All of this when I was only sitting totally still, with my left signal on and waiting to turn. How they thought they could deny responsibility is beyond me.

 

[manning]

You mean you weren't signaling a backup turn?

I filed with other insurance also because of the deductible. I am picking up the balance of the rental because I wanted a bigger car. After what I am going thru it would have been cheaper to pay for the repairs myself.

Insurance....what a racket. They want your money, but don't want to live up to their end of the bargain. Except for a few.