Best Place to hire car in LA

poormaria

Hello All

Just after some quick advice on where is best to hire a car in LA - will be collecting from LAX and dropping off in same place. Is there anything I need to consider as well? I have heard that they charge you a full tank of petrol but not sure if that will be a worry as we shall probably drive a lot.
Also, if we choose a 'convertible type' does it mean we will def get a convertible even if its a different model?

Many thanks

Caz3121

Insurance is the main one to watch out for. Check what is included what the extra insurance will cost (either from the car hire company or via a standalone policy)

HHarry

We booked from Alamo (although through Netflights). Was offered the option to pre-pay for fuel at the counter, but declined and just took it back with the same amount of fuel in.

All insurance was included with our booking - the T&C's stated the excess was zero which was a surprise - so nothing more to buy. I think this is a California quirk.

Plenty of convertibles at LAX, all the tourists have them. They mostly seem to be Mustangs, with a few Cameros. Careful, the boots aren't that big!

Mr_Wang

Car hire at LAX is off airport, but is connected by buses. You will be tempted to leave the cases with someone and go back for them with the car - LAX is a traffic jam, much easier to all go together.

Dollar is usually the cheapest car hire in US, book through the UK sites such as usrentacar.com and everything is always included as standard in terms of insurance and taxes.

ALWAYS opt to return it full. Use gasbuddy to find cheapest place as fuel varies hugely in the US - Always fill up before heading back to California.

cubegame

Don't get a convertible if you're doing lots of driving or any sort of road trip. They are too small for yourselves and your luggage. Much of the year is also too hot to have the top down safely.

It won't be worth the hassle for a photo or two.

dickydonkin

Mr_Wang wrote: »

Dollar is usually the cheapest car hire in US, book through the UK sites such as usrentacar.com and everything is always included as standard in terms of insurance and taxes.

Excess insurance is unlikely to be included from some locations - although the agents will attempt to sell you this when you pick up the car.

For peace of mind and to avoid the scaremongering tactics used by the agent to sell you an extortionate policy, you can get this in the UK before you go for a few quid a day if you need it for other collection points.

cubegame

dickydonkin wrote: »

Excess insurance is unlikely to be included from some locations - although the agents will attempt to sell you this when you pick up the car.

For peace of mind and to avoid the scaremongering tactics used by the agent to sell you an extortionate policy, you can get this in the UK before you go for a few quid a day if you need it for other collection points.

US car hire normally doesn't have an excess on the insurance. However, you might want a policy to cover wheels etc.

Interestingly, when we visited Dallas recently the price Alamo offered us for fuel for a full tank (so we could return empty) was quite a bit cheaper than the pump price (20c per gallon approx). I still figured that returning full was better as we wouldn't have to try and work out how to return it empty.

jamesbrownontheroad

I agree with all of the above, and there are at least two gas stations in the vicinity of the major car rental lots at LAX, so give yourself an extra 30 minutes to fuel up to the brim on your return.

I would recommend National or Alamo. We've twice used the UK broker Auto Europe, along with cashback from Quidco. UK brokers are keenest for prices as there is always a lot of tourist demand for LAX, SFO, LAS, etc.

Along with Enterprise, National and Alamo are part of the same group. National is primarily for business customers, and a little more expensive, but they get the newest cars. Alamo is targeted at tourists, and has the cheaper rates but will often have slightly older cars. That said on two occasions I've rented from Alamo and chosen a car with less than 1,000 miles on the clock

I say chosen because both National and Alamo offer you the pleasant perk of being able to select your own car. After doing the paperwork at the counter or self service machine (do this to avoid the queues and the upsell) you are directed to the section of the lot for your class of car. Then you pick whichever model, colour, age etc vehicle you want.

Picking up a midsize sedan about six months ago, we had a choice of about twenty, including a few Chrysler 200 (horrid), VW Jetta (boring) and some funky Kia Souls. You can clamber around as many as you like, and you will see other people doing the same thing to find the newest model or the one that still has the manufacturer's 3 or 6 month complimentary subscription to satellite radio (the newest cars will often still have this).

This might sound like a modest thing, but it's a great little perk to get to choose your car. If the aisle is empty, ask an agent nearby politely. They can usually bring something up from the back lot, or if nothing is available they'll direct you to a better class of car. The Flyertalk forum for National has a reasonably accurate sticky near the top of the forum listing all current vehicles in the fleet.

As an aside, if you want to be really cunning, have a search in the aforementioned Flyertalk forum for National for UK membership of the National frequent renter programme. If you are a UK resident, you can join for free by emailing National (sorry I don't have the link to hand, I'm on a mobile device). If you book a midsize car at National, membership permits you to choose any vehicle you like (including full size SUVs, pickup trucks, luxury sedans) from the Executive Selection aisle. Again, availability depends on the precise fleet at the time you arrive, and can't be predicted, but that way you can get a better car for the midsize rate. See the National forum for other travellers reports of what they found in the Executive Selection (ES) and higher tier Emerald Aisle (EA) at various US airports.

Oh, and PS. Don't rent a convertible. Although you might get a Mustang, it'll be the cheapest model with the weakest engine. You'll have no luggage room, you'll either get sunburnt or fed up with the California fog and you will clearly be a tourist.

dickydonkin

jamesbrownontheroad wrote: »

Oh, and PS. Don't rent a convertible. Although you might get a Mustang, it'll be the cheapest model with the weakest engine. You'll have no luggage room, you'll either get sunburnt or fed up with the California fog and you will clearly be a tourist.

:rotfl: So true.

Ok - I confess, I did the touristy thing a few years back and rented a Mustang convertible and I have to state that I was grossly underwhelmed.

I think you are correct about the weakest engine as it did seem unresponsive.

To be fair, we managed with the luggage as there were only two of us, but I suspect it would be challenging with more passengers.

I think the Mustang thing is based more on nostalgia - the old Mustangs looked great but the modern models do nothing for me.

Nowadays for my US trips, I go for a practical vehicle.

jamesbrownontheroad

dickydonkin wrote: »

:rotfl: So true.

Ok - I confess, I did the touristy thing a few years back and rented a Mustang convertible and I have to state that I was grossly underwhelmed.

Me too

When my American wife and I were first going out we booked a convertible from Chicago O'Hare for a five day road trip up to her family in Northern Minnesota, home via Wisconsin. We were initially offered a Chrysler PT Cruiser convertible which we refused on the grounds of human decency. The agent understood, and searched high and low, eventually pulling a white Mustang that had just been withdrawn from circulation, having reached it's maximum intended mileage. It was a cheap badly made heap of crap. Because Americans (for all their charms) can't bring themselves to drive manual transmissions, it had a feeble V6 engine tied up to the lamest automatic gearbox you could imagine.

At least we looked fabulous rolling through Minnesota's one horse towns... :rotfl:

One important addendum about Alamo and National - the agents in the lot have some leeway. If there is a glut of full size sedans or SUVs, they can sneak them into the other (lesser) categories. So walk around and look out for bigger, better cars snuck into your aisle. And if you're really not happy, a discrete ten or twenty dollar tip to the parking lot agent can usually find you a better car.

John259

Alamo's depot for LAX is in Aviation Boulevard, with the usual free courtesy bus provided between the airport terminals and the depot. If you're not familiar with the area and/or driving in the USA then you might like to have a look on Google Maps and perhaps do a StreetView virtual drive to your first destination. Here's a link to StreetView outside the depot, looking north:
https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Alamo+Rent+A+Car,+Aviation+Boulevard,+Inglewood,+CA,+United+States&hl=en&ll=33.954592,-118.37702&spn=0.009807,0.01929&sll=37.6,-95.665&sspn=38.050549,79.013672&oq=alamo+rent&hq=Alamo+Rent+A+Car,&hnear=Aviation+Blvd,+Inglewood,+California&t=m&z=16&layer=c&cbll=33.954498,-118.377019&panoid=9Uiac_KdLiDXwCnggWjxEA&cbp=12,39.21,,0,3.45