UK citizen flying to NY, crossing border to canada in a car!!

hammy_the_hammer

it's standard rental policy with the majors to allow use in Canada.
when stopped by the Canadians going into their country explain the nature of your journey ie visiting the Falls and you will be returning that day / next day...there's no way that they should take out your VWP card in the passport.
they'll stamp your passport and you'll be out of there pretty quick off peak (i've done it many times in the Niagara area at more than one of the crossings and never spent more than 15mins)
on the way back you will be stopped by US customs / immigration who will ask you probably more questions than the Canadians (come to think of it i'm sure i always get asked about alcohol purchases by the Canadian officer)
one word of warning is be careful about taking fruit back into the US as the Niagara region has lots of vineyards and orchards ....now my memory of this is it's ok to take locally grown fruit back with you but not fruit sourced from other countries that has been brought in by the farm shops, so peaches would be ok whereas mangos wouldn't and you'd get fined .....to be honest it isn't worth it.
by the way it is ok to depart from one crossing and re-enter from another.....i'd probably recommend crossing at the queenston /lewiston bridge (I190) go to niagara on the lake and then visit the Falls and come back across the crossing there into the US

withabix

As Hammy's comment above - it is standard with major car hire firms in USA to allow use in Canada and vice versa.

In fact, I'm in Canada at the moment and the Mercury Mountaineer (Ford Explorer) I picked up from Avis at Vancouver Airport is actually a USA one registered in Washington State!!!

To the OP: I hope you booked your Avis hire car via their UK website - much cheaper and NO EXCESS on the isurance.

Also, re-check your quote using AWD code W300012 - it saved me 100 quid on a 13 day hire and made 'pay later' cheaper than 'pay now', so no up-front costs and no cancellation penalty! It's a safe code to use and is intended for Barclays customers with an Advantage current account, but you won't get asked for proof.

TighterThanTwoCoatsOfPain

Thanks guys thats spot on..

When you say off-peak do you just mean not 'rush hour'? I reckon we'll likely hit the border around 1pm ish

@Withabix - We've had the Ford Explorer (or Eqv!) when we're in long island, picking it up in middle of NYC should be fun!! We've booked a convertible for Niagara but have already paid in advance.. 3 full days for £82 reduced from £175 at the time with no xs and full insurance! The code above claimed to reduce the same car from 150 to 120 so seems i had a bargain!

Thanks again.