Rental car quotes

[Freyja]

I´m looking for a rental car for our upcoming trip to California. We need a car that will hold 6 passengers as well as quite some luggage ("normal" luggage for 6 people, a stroller and LOADS of shopping bags).

Since I don´t have a very good feeling for the size of American cars (SUV´s) I was hoping someone here could help.

Thanks
Freyja

 

[ktulu]

You may want to consider a full size van or SUV, such as a Chevy Suburban. My wife and I have a Chevy Tahoe, which is just a bit smaller than a suburban, and it would hold 5 people, with luggage in the back. It can actually seat up to 8 with the third row of seats, but then there is no space for luggage. If you find something and have questions, feel free to ask, we'll be more than happy to help out

darren

 

[hlbtimes2]

If you go to Alamo.com they have a chart of how many people and how much lugage each type will hold. I would probably recomend a mini van over a SUV. It will get better gas mileage and have a smoother ride.

 

[Snow Brite]

I agree that a minivan will work better most likely. If you have small children for some of your passengers then it will work for sure. Dodge Grand Caravan, Ford Windstar, etc. If that is not going to work, then and SUV or pasenger van is the next step up. I hesitate to reccomend this for someone not used to driving in LA traffic though as they are awkward at first.

An "out of the box" idea...but have you thought of getting two cars instead and having two drivers? It might be hard to stay together, but it could give you some flexibility and more room with an easier to drive vehicle.

Also, coming from out of the country, you might check into the car seat regulations if you have children under the age of 8 here in California. The car rental agency can help you with this as well and can provide any required car seats you dont have or choose not to bring.

 

[LucyKate]

American rental car quotes do NOT include insurances costs - as most Americans don't need insurance (it's often covered by their personal car insurance or credit cards).

This is NOT the case for overseas visitors who will need to add the cost of comprehensive car insurance to the rental cost. In my case, this doubled the cost of the original quite I was given.

Make sure you factor this in, and check what you are getting for your quote.

 

[Freyja]

American rental car quotes do NOT include insurances costs - as most Americans don't need insurance (it's often covered by their personal car insurance or credit cards).

This is NOT the case for overseas visitors who will need to add the cost of comprehensive car insurance to the rental cost. In my case, this doubled the cost of the original quite I was given.

Make sure you factor this in, and check what you are getting for your quote.

Fortunately I have a Visa Platinum travellers card which includes very comprehensive car insurance. Although the annual cost for that card is pretty high, it still pays off, if I rent a car in the US.

Thanks for the info everyone.

 

[LucyKate]

We have those cards in Australia as well, but when I checked, this coverage did not include collision damage waiver, and, in some cases, personal injury or accident insurance - just the basic insurance on the car.

Double check with Visa - I'd hate to see you have an accident and be hit with a $3,000 excess and potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars in injury claims or hospital bills.

I'm aware of at least one Australian who relied on their credit card for insurance, only to discover it did not cover them for the claim made by the person they hit for their injuries, or the Collision damage waiver - cost them tens of thousands of dollars.

There were, believe it or not 4 different types of insurance offered to me, and at least 3 of these were essential.