US Car Rental -Am I on the right path??

pazza2000

Hi,

First time renting in the US. A little bit baffled by CDW, SLI etc... My understanding is that this is almost never included at intital qoute with it being a costly extra, and if included it is very basic with restrictions.

Anyway, for my chosen rental car/dates, Enterprise are cheapest, however there price breakdown includes no CDW whatsoever it appears, where as it looks as if booking through carhire3000 for e.g there is some some CDW cover albeit a more expensice qoute.

So... following Martins advice, I have looked at moneymaxim for car hire insurance and I can get CDW & SLI cover there at a good price, definetly cheaper than the $20+ per day enterprice would charge.

So I am wondering if that is all I need to rent? I dont need to pay anything adittional at the enterprise office upon collection?

This is my enterprise breakdown:

Standard SUV: LAX
Rate information (all rates in U.S. DOLLARS):
Extra Day Charge 1 Day @ 31.29 = 31.29
Base Rate 2 Week @ 219.03 = 438.06
AIRPORT CONCESSION FEE 11.11 PCT = 52.51
FACILITY CHARGE 10.00/RENTAL = 10.00
TOURISM FEE 2.85 PCT = 13.38
VLF RECOVERY .22/DAY = 3.30
SALES TAX = 45.66
Total Charge = 594.20


& my third party CD/SLI insurance:

Your daily policy premium is £89.84 for 15 days
USA and Canada Territory Only

• Collision/Loss Damage Waiver (CDW/LDW) up to £65,000 / €80,000 / $110,000
• Supplemental Liability Insurance (SLI) up to £650,000 / €775,000 / USD $ 1 Million
• Covers Excess damage to windscreens, tyres, roof and undercarriage
• Covers up to 9 named drivers in the rental agreement
• Price includes Insurance Premium Tax (IPT)
• Single-trip policy - use it once!

Just hoping someone can confirm I am on th right path. There will also be 4 drivers although we are renting from CA which does not charge an adittional driver fee at all(by law) I understand and the third party insurance cover can be for upto 9 named persons.

Many thanks

Nordictat2

I rent cars a few times a year in the States and I would use the company usrentacar . They include all inc. and you have the option for getting an add driver and tank of gas (gold package).
I don't know your budget BUT we got a SUV for 16 days with the gold package for under £400. If you don't need or want a SUV then a car of course would be cheaper.

pazza2000

I have used usrentacar before(when i was -25yo) when they were considerbly the cheapest for a a young driver. However looking at our chosen vehicle(standard SUV) they are certainly not the cheapest on this occasion. The method I have described of taking out cover through a third party is cheaper although it seems like a lot of work... booking on ebookers(for a Hertz rental) seems to include all cover however the car type qouted is not guaranteed -infact Hertz dont even list in their vehicle guide.

Really baffled by all the options... to mix things up there will be 4 of us in total who want to drive, in CA adittional drivers are free and there is even a law to enforce this rule however I am wondering if third party uk insurance cover will cover all drivers.

pompeyrich

Have a look at Netflights, I would really think hard about going down the seperate insurance route. If you have a problem/damage the rental car, you would have to pay any excess or amount not covered by the hire companys insurance and then claim it back from the insurance when you get home. If you paid a bit more and went for a gold or platinum upgrade, on a car from a British agent, you would just have to sign a box on a form and it's all taken care of.

If there are 4 of you they have a Jeep grand Cheokee for around £430, so just over £100 each for full cover and a tank of fuel, so less than £7pppd for a worry free trip and peace of mind IF something went wrong.

pazza2000

Thanks... perhaps you are right and it is worth paying a little extra for piece of mind. It is highly confusing as some providers; ebookers, netflights etc if appears that insurances are included where as others as hotwire and direct through the rental agencies themselves it does not.

FYI; with your current example I could not see the Jeep Cherokee at that price, just the lower end Ford Escape... as we are heavy on luggage load a Jeep Cherokee Grand is the smallest vehicle we need, that being said I thank you for taking the time to look.

pompeyrich

pazza2000 wrote: »

Thanks... perhaps you are right and it is worth paying a little extra for piece of mind. It is highly confusing as some providers; ebookers, netflights etc if appears that insurances are included where as others as hotwire and direct through the rental agencies themselves it does not.

FYI; with your current example I could not see the Jeep Cherokee at that price, just the lower end Ford Escape... as we are heavy on luggage load a Jeep Cherokee Grand is the smallest vehicle we need, that being said I thank you for taking the time to look.

Ok, not knowing your exact dates I entered 1st-16th October 2011(15days) and the JeepGC is on page 3 of the results at £369 with Thrifty and £407 with Dollar, the price I arrived at was higher due to adding the "platinum" package.

The reason that prices from a US website seem cheaper or don't have the full insurance option, is that US car insurance usually extends cover to rental cars, so US drivers would not need the extra cover.

If going direct to the rental company best to use .co.uk rather than .com to get a package more tailored for us Brits.

claire16c

I agree with pompeyrich on this one.

If you are likely to travel to the US more than once a year and rent a car, it can be worth getting one of these policies because it does work out cheaper.

However, for peace of mind, knowing that if something were to happen you can just walk away because you have used the car rental companies insurance, for me makes it a winner.

So if you are planning on a couple of trips I would get an annual policy elsewhere, but if its just this one trip, personally I would just pay up.

Its expensive because americans dont need it because their own car insurance covers them. Which is also why you have to request it and it doesnt always show up automatically.

pazza2000

Thanks pompeyrich and claire16c

Very informative, maybe for peace of mind we should simply go with a .co.uk broker or rental compamy for full cover beforehand. The seperate ins. policy in my first post & advantage.com rental is still slightly cheaper than the cheapest all-in price I can find right now but piece of mind is important. FYI; it is Aug 20th, LAX, Standard SUV for 15 nights what we are looking for.

One issue is that there is 4 of us looking to be covered by the isurance, renting from CA it is free for adittional drivers and the rental companys insurance of the third party insurance covers all drivers, but I am wondering about the likes of usrentacar & netflights cover.

One more question questions.... I need a Sat Nav and rental agenices seem to charge at least 9.99 per day for this, thinking about buying one from the UK beforehand and loading it with a USA map -what do you think?

neilbond007

Even though i now live in the US i still use UK brokers (normally netflights) as they are much cheaper and I know I'm covered. I had an accident once in LA. Some !!!!!! ran in to me. I took it back to Dollar and once they knew I had netflights full coverage there was 1 form to fill in and I was away.

I would buy a satnav when I got to the US and sell it on ebay when you get home. You can get them for less than $100 at most stores (walmart, target, best buy etc).

pompeyrich

All named drivers will be covered with netflights/us rent a car etc. Named drivers must be 25 or older and held their licence for at least a year, younger drivers can be covered but usually around $25 a day.

If you could find your way to a Walmart in LA you could buy a sat nav for around $80 and probably get that for it on e-bay when you get back. If you already have a sat nav you can get USA maps from various sites, the maunfacturer at a cost or some others that don't charge but I wont post them as it's probably against the rules.

neilbond007

Oh, and don't forget Quidco!!