Help renting a car for a week in California, insurance, boot space and performance?

Baz_2 · 19 May 2007 at 6:32PM

We need a rental car to drive from San Francisco to San Diego from 8 July to 16 July. And as this is our honeymoon we are wanting to get a convertible to enjoy the west coast drive, the missus is insisting on it.

The two cars we have come across that seem readily available are the Sebring and the Mustang, but before I book I have some concerns.

1) Both cars have been said to be a little, how shall I put it, poor. Now I dont mind them not being in the Audi or VW class just so long as they handle like a normal car, i.e a focus rather than like a cityrover. Im not expecting supper performance from either of them but similarly at least the performance of say a 1.6 litre Astra or focus etc? Has anyone driven either car that can comment on if Im going to be disapointed with either?

2) The boot space. Now some websites say you can get 2 medium cases in the boot, some say 1 large and 2 small and so on and on. We plan to take two medium cases, i.e 2 of these. Do we stand any chance of getting both cases in either cars boot? The ford website says the mustang has a 9 cubic feet boot, which to me seems more than enough i.e a 3ft by 3ft by 3ft cube or similar, but that only converts to 84 litres which is what antler class as one of those cases. :huh:

3) The Rental Company. I really want to get the mustang from is hertz, mainly because I need to ensure we get good service and actually get the car we want, I don't want to get there and them tell me they don't have a convertible but do have plenty small economy cars. Hertz have got good reviews on other sites and they are a big name. Please feel free to correct this assumption.

Anyway only hertz seem to do the mustang, whereas the Sebring seems universal nearly. Anyway price I'snt the driving issue but rather customer service and ensuring I get the car I want and the insurance I need. Can anyone recommend the best company to use bearing this in mind.

4) The insurance, The insurance offered by hertz seems to be lacking a few essentials, even if I go through the .co.uk site, i.e CDW etc etc. Where, bearing in mind the first 3 points should I go to ensure I get all the insurance I need included in the price? I don't want any surprises if there's an accident or anything. Also I want to avoid the likes of insurance4carhire unless there charge is much less than the £125 they want. Does the hertz site give me the insurance I need? Also it doesn't seem to offer me a insurance upgrade like other sites. :huh: again.

I think the whole 8 days should be around the £190 - £260 mark.

Im so confused and time is running out. Any experts care to put my mind at rest or make some recommendations?

Thanks in advance.

wdyw · 19 May 2007 at 7:49PM

Had a mustang convertible twice. Boot was fine for the two of us. The Yanks prefer the Sebring while the Brits always go for the Mustang if possible just because we know the name. Think we had the 2+ litre engine on a West coast trip and it was fine for us. Couple of thousand miles with no problems at all - nice simple electric hood. Had the 4.5 litre engine in a New England trip - WHOOSH!!!!! Think we used Dollar or Alamo for both trips. Only used Hertz once in the USA and they were fine..... except they didn't have the car we had rented, but upgraded it and threw in a SaTNav. Not such a good option for your rental though!

Baz_2 · 19 May 2007 at 8:57PM

wdyw wrote: »

Had a mustang convertible twice. Boot was fine for the two of us. The Yanks prefer the Sebring while the Brits always go for the Mustang if possible just because we know the name. Think we had the 2+ litre engine on a West coast trip and it was fine for us. Couple of thousand miles with no problems at all - nice simple electric hood. Had the 4.5 litre engine in a New England trip - WHOOSH!!!!! Think we used Dollar or Alamo for both trips. Only used Hertz once in the USA and they were fine..... except they didn't have the car we had rented, but upgraded it and threw in a SaTNav. Not such a good option for your rental though!

Thanks for that. The Mustang seems ideal to be hoenst, Ive never had a 2.0 before never mind a 4.5!!!!

I take it you used the boot? Its just that in between destinations we are going to want to stop and do touristy things and leave the car unattended. I rather have the case tucked away out of sight and Im a bit worried that isnt going to be possible.

Can you recall?

wdyw · 19 May 2007 at 9:36PM

Boot was fine for us. Two decent sized bags plus "bits". Would never dream of leaving bags on view either so bags and everything else accumulated during our trip would have been in the boot.

Baz_2 · 20 May 2007 at 9:56PM

Anyone else please?

jfdi · 20 May 2007 at 10:07PM

I've had both - Sebring in Florida via Dollar, & a Mustang in Las Vegas/California from Hertz.

They were both good - got 2 trolley bags & all the bits in the trunk on the Mustang, & one big f$$ker of a case plus all the bits in the trunk of the Sebring.

Both times there were 3 of us, both times we had the other large bit of luggage on the 'spare' back seat.

FWIW the Sebring via Dollar was in better nick (just) than the Hertz Mustang, but both easy to drive.

Didn't book direct either time, went via a best buy site, & ended up getting the fully all in Insurance, 2nd from top whack. I remember that 16 days from Las Vegas & back again with Hertz was just over £500 in Nov 2006 - hire & insurance.

HTH

A

marble · 21 May 2007 at 12:51AM

Hi,
I just had a look hertz.co.uk and the rate is £188 (though I did go through moneysupermarket.com, so it may have stored a cookie somewhere). This rate included SLI/CDW - all the insurance you could want (you don't need personal accident insurance as this is covered by travel insurance).

What quote did you get from hertz and what didn't you think the insurance covered?

Al

Baz_2 · 21 May 2007 at 6:58AM

Yes I get the same rate, but when you chose the car below that it says:

Rates listed above include: Loss Damage Waiver, Tax, Liability Insurance Supplement, Vehicle Licensing Cost Recovery, TRANSPORTATION AND FACILITIES FEE, Califonia Tourism Commission Assessment

which doesn't mention CDW? Are you saying thats the same as LDW? I thought it was different.

Im just not convinced that it has everything I need.

Thanks by the way.

marble · 21 May 2007 at 2:27PM

I've never been 100% on the difference but this is my understanding. CDW usually only covers the customer in the event of an accident (collision), while the LDW usually covers any loss to the rental company. This includes glass and tire damage, vandalism, theft, and "loss of use". "Loss of use" is when the car is being repaired for any damage related to the customer, the rental company will continue to charge the customer.

So, I think LDW covers everything CDW does and more. Give Hertz a call ... I'm sure they can explain it better than I can!

Al

cabbyman · 6 September 2007 at 5:19PM

I hope you won't mind me adding questions to this thread, it is along similar lines.

The Hertz site quotes:

"If renting in California:

Hertz provides no liability protection under the terms of the Rental Agreement to the renter from claims of injury by others against you resulting from an accident. Your personal/business insurance may cover your liability."

This, as I read it effectively leaves me without third party liability cover.

Does anyone have any experience of this problem or any suggested solutions?

We're going at the end of September. Any advice gratefully received.

torbrex · 7 September 2007 at 5:51AM

cabbyman wrote: »

I hope you won't mind me adding questions to this thread, it is along similar lines.

The Hertz site quotes:

"If renting in California:

Hertz provides no liability protection under the terms of the Rental Agreement to the renter from claims of injury by others against you resulting from an accident. Your personal/business insurance may cover your liability."

This, as I read it effectively leaves me without third party liability cover.

Does anyone have any experience of this problem or any suggested solutions?

We're going at the end of September. Any advice gratefully received.

I have never taken any extra insurance when hiring a car, I usually get the car from Alamo and find their cover is good enough. That being said I have a cover all travel insurance which gives me third party cover for all sorts of eventualities.
Out of all my trips I have made 2 claims, neither of which were my fault and although I had to hang about waiting for a police report number at one of them, all that I did was phone in my claim and nothing more was said.

Help renting a car for a week in California, insurance, boot space and performance?

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