Car Hire in USA

judithevans_2

Hello - apologies if this has been posted already, I had a search but couldn't find anything.

I'm going to be travelling in the USA and want to drive around.
I would like to know if it's best to hire a car or to buy one.

Can anyone recommend any good / cheap car hire companies?

I am planning to visit the East coast and West Coast, but probably fly between them rather than drive coast to coast. Therefore I'll probably rent a car in each place.

Thanks for any advice you can offer

hieveryone

As far as I'm aware you can't buy a car in the US unless you have an 18month visa or more, that was the case when I was working in New York for 6 months.

You can hire cars at the airport when you get to the destination, or book them online.

eslick

book it here or you will be charged a fortune, for the last 4 year the cheapest we have found is fifteen02.com, the next cheapest is usrentacar

hairy_g

judithevans wrote: »

Hello - apologies if this has been posted already, I had a search but couldn't find anything.

I'm going to be travelling in the USA and want to drive around.
I would like to know if it's best to hire a car or to buy one.

Can anyone recommend any good / cheap car hire companies?

I am planning to visit the East coast and West Coast, but probably fly between them rather than drive coast to coast. Therefore I'll probably rent a car in each place.

Thanks for any advice you can offer

http://www.airline-network.co.uk/Homepage/Homepage.asp

http://www.uscarhire.co.uk

http://www.yescarhire.com

http://www.airline-network.co.uk/

http://www.fastcarhire.co.uk/

http://www.allstatescarhire.com/index.htm


these are ones i found on this site after a quick search, there are many more

dzug1

Buried somewhere in the FAQ here is advice on buying a car in the USA:

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/forum.jspa?forumID=26

The conclusion is DON'T. The difficulties of registering it, insuring it, and eventually selling it at short notice when you leave far outweigh any benefits. It is possible if you are determined enough (some states may be easier than others) but just not worth the candle.

LittleMissAspie

We have booked a car for a short road trip later this year. I learnt that the advertised price is most usually only for very basic insurance. You need to top it up and there are two options here:
1) take car hire company's extra insurance
2) buy your own car hire insurance from a company

We decided to go with 1 as it wasn't much more money and was much simpler. If you are going for quite a while it may be cheaper to do option 2.

Also, one way drops off will cost you quite a lot, but IIRC Florida and California don't have these? I could be wrong but it's well worth investigating.

Also also, in California it's illegal for them to charge you to put an extra named driver on the insurance.

judithevans_2

Thanks, some brilliant advice here. You are all great!
Looks like renting is the way to go rather than buying then.
I'll look into all the links you've provided.
Thanks so much, this is really useful.
I love MSE!!