Renting a Van

[JºoºhnG]

Ok here is the story...

Last March DW, DD & her friend and DMIL and myself went to Florida and Disney World. Last year we had a van and the trip was great. We live in Northern Ontario so it is a full two day drive but we bought a TV/VCR Combo for the van and it made the time pass.

Anyway here is the problem this summer we traded in our van for a Ford Taurus. We are going back to Disney World this March and we were only planning on 4 persons going, me, DW, DD and another friend but lately my wife has been hinting that my MIL would like to come back this year with us. I have no problem with this other than there is no way we can fit five people in a Ford Taurus for the drive down and back. Also we have rented a 4 bedroom house so accomodations are no problem. Oh did I mention DD and friend are both 18 years old so it's not like they are little LOL.

So I told DW that I would look into possibly renting a van for the trip. So far I have stopped at only one place and inquired about renting a van for 12 days and driving to Florida....they quoted me $2100.00 !!!! Is this normal?

Is there anyone out there from the Northern Ontario, Sault/Sudbury area that knows a reasonable place to rent a van that doesn't cost as much as the entire trip itself. Or is there anyone who has rented a van recently and can give me an idea of what I should be paying.

Any and all help will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

 

[Cruisin]

I wonder if you could fly down and rent a vehicle there for the price they want to charge you to rent that van before you go?
Might be worth looking into.

 

[kalamazoo]

Why don't you arrange for MIL to fly down to meet you. Having the 5 of you in a Taurus just to cruise around Orlando would be okay and I'm sure it would be cheaper than renting a van, even if you got a more reasonable deal. Don't forget, a van will likely be less fuel efficient than your car so you'll be paying extra on that score too. Not to mention, I'm sure MIL would much rather get to Disney in a few hours rather than a couple of days (unless of course she's afraid to fly).

 

[JºoºhnG]

And there in lies the problem...

Ever since 9-11 my MIL prefers not to fly.

As for me, I love the drive down as it gives me time to wind down as my job is fairly stressful. (whose job isn't these days, right ? )

Anyway thanks for the suggestions..keep them coming

59 days and counting...yeehaw!

 

[kalamazoo]

Okay, my next best suggestion, assuming no one wants to fly, is to drive to the closest US city and rent a minvan there. A bit inconvenient I'll admit but cheaper because it is much easier to rent a car with unlimited mileage in the US than in Canada (I'm not sure it's even possible to get unlimited mileage in Canada). At least you would do a minimum of driving in the smaller car. Furthermore, you could possbly find some discount codes on Mousesavers.com to get an even better deal.

 

[jersey shark]

Kalamazoo, you're onto something....I agree that if you're in Northern Ontario...perhaps your best bet if you MUST drive down, is to go to The Soo, Michigan. Using the internet, check minivan rates from there. Alamo will probably be your best bet, you'll get unlimited mileage, you probably don't need supplementary insurance, you'll pay about $219/minivan per week (I just booked a FL week with Alamo) before the taxes and extra charges.

You'll also have a straight shot down on I-75!

Good luck!

 

[Canadave]

Just went through this situation...we are going to WDW in 2 weeks and are renting a van (mine has toooooo many K's on it ). We live 45 minutes from Peterborough, so I inquired there. I was quoted, for 2 weeks rental, at least $1000 + milage over (usually) 2000 km. I had heard that in Toronto, you could get a van for under $500 with unlimited milage...so I checked further (don't want to pick up a van in Toronto, drive it back to pack, etc.etc). When we rented a vehicle in Florida a few years ago, we rented from Avis and found them very fair in price and had excellent service....so, the closest Avis is Oshawa and they were great...$599, unlimited milage, liability insurance included, either a Windstar or Caravan. Done Deal
I can't figure out why there is so much discrepancy between companies. So the long and short of it is.....my suggestion is to keep looking. You probably won't get the same kind of pricing because of your location...but it's worth looking.

 

[JºoºhnG]

Thanks for the suggestions. I like the idea about driving to Soo Mich. and renting as this is only a two hour drive. I could pick it up the day before and bring it back to pack up.

Now I remember why I keep coming back to these boards..

The very helpful people!

 

[excitedmom]

well that seems a tad excesive! i live in KW ( just outside of TO) and i have looked at 2 places only but for 2wks it was $711 with 1400km/wk and .12cents/ extra km