Please help! Car hire newbie for our LA holiday

WhippetsRule

So I'm looking at Alamo car rental which has $0 excess (have read up how a lot of the rental companies have a big excess and then charge to waive it and how you can get cheaper cover for this in the UK) BUT, Alamo excludes: Tyres, Wheels, Rear view and side mirrors, Windows, Hubcaps, Taxi (transportation), Towing costs, Locks, Battery, Motor, Undercarriage and Interior of car, Clutch, Replacement Keys, Damage to oil sump, Catalytic convertor, Radiator). How do I get these covered here without taking out cover at the hire desk in LA which will no doubt cost a lot - don't fancy a clutch going and getting charged for it!!! Or will I just have to pay up in LA for this cover?

NiftyDigits

WhippetsRule wrote: »

So I'm looking at Alamo car rental which has $0 excess (have read up how a lot of the rental companies have a big excess and then charge to waive it and how you can get cheaper cover for this in the UK) BUT, Alamo excludes: Tyres, Wheels, Rear view and side mirrors, Windows, Hubcaps, Taxi (transportation), Towing costs, Locks, Battery, Motor, Undercarriage and Interior of car, Clutch, Replacement Keys, Damage to oil sump, Catalytic convertor, Radiator). How do I get these covered here without taking out cover at the hire desk in LA which will no doubt cost a lot - don't fancy a clutch going and getting charged for it!!! Or will I just have to pay up in LA for this cover?

You take out car hire excess insurance...as aforementioned.

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheap-car-hire#insurancetrick

Murphy_The_Cat

WhippetsRule wrote: »

How do I get these covered here without taking out cover at the hire desk in LA which will no doubt cost a lot - don't fancy a clutch going and getting charged for it!!! Or will I just have to pay up in LA for this cover?

Specify an automatic car and you do away with the clutch problem :beer: (FWIW, i can't ever recall seeing a vehicle with a manual gearbox with ALAMO for over 20 years !)

cubegame

All cars will be automatic in the USA.

I personally wouldn't waste your money on excess insurance. Hire car staff at USA venues don't bother looking over cars with a fine tooth comb like they do in Europe. They generally check if you've given the right keys back and then check the fuel before moving on to the next car.

hollie.weimeraner

cubegame wrote: »

All cars will be automatic in the USA.

I personally wouldn't waste your money on excess insurance. Hire car staff at USA venues don't bother looking over cars with a fine tooth comb like they do in Europe. They generally check if you've given the right keys back and then check the fuel before moving on to the next car.

Could be an expensive risk to take if someone has an accident or car gets damaged as most hire companies pre charge a large excess deposit prior to renting the car.

Read Martins page and decide for yourself:

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheap-car-hire

I travel in a few weeks and am not prepared to take the risk so have taken out cover for USA.

Murphy_The_Cat

hollie.weimeraner wrote: »

Could be an expensive risk to take if someone has an accident as most hire companies pre charge a large excess deposit prior to renting the car.

Read Martins page and decide for yourself:

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheap-car-hire

I travel in a few weeks and am not prepared to take the risk so have taken out cover for USA.

Hollie
Could you find out how much 'hold' is put onto an American car rental ?
On my recent trip, I couldn't see anything other than a very modest 'hold' that was put on my car.
Then again, I was on a zero excess policy with the renter.

Archergirl

Don't bother to upgrade at the desk, we had a VERY hard sell to upgrade which we declined.
When we went to pick up the car we were told to choose any car from the line, we picked a bigger one no problem......

cubegame

hollie.weimeraner wrote: »

Could be an expensive risk to take if someone has an accident or car gets damaged as most hire companies pre charge a large excess deposit prior to renting the car.

Read Martins page and decide for yourself:

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheap-car-hire

I travel in a few weeks and am not prepared to take the risk so have taken out cover for USA.

The MSE article is a prime example of the typical poor standard of MSE journalism, seemingly written without actual on-the-ground experience. For example, the idea of booking a US car on a US website is extremely foolhardy. It would make obtaining the correct insurances difficult and/or costly.


From experience of about 15 rentals in the USA arranged via a UK Broker or direct with the rental company there has never been an excess applied to a rental.


They NEVER pre-charge a deposit or "block" money on a card if you have zero excess. They will swipe a card to cover incidentals such as traffic fines and tolls.


This will also cover damage to uninsured items such as tyres etc....but none of this stuff will actually be checked. A typical US car hand back will be quicker than the time it takes to get the luggage out of the car.


So unless you are the kind of person who makes a habit of losing keys you are literally throwing money away buying excess insurance for US car hire.

NiftyDigits

cubegame wrote: »

The MSE article is a prime example of the typical poor standard of MSE journalism, seemingly written without actual on-the-ground experience. For example, the idea of booking a US car on a US website is extremely foolhardy. It would make obtaining the correct insurances difficult and/or costly.


From experience of about 15 rentals in the USA arranged via a UK Broker or direct with the rental company there has never been an excess applied to a rental.


They NEVER pre-charge a deposit or "block" money on a card if you have zero excess. They will swipe a card to cover incidentals such as traffic fines and tolls.


This will also cover damage to uninsured items such as tyres etc....but none of this stuff will actually be checked. A typical US car hand back will be quicker than the time it takes to get the luggage out of the car.


So unless you are the kind of person who makes a habit of losing keys you are literally throwing money away buying excess insurance for US car hire.

I would suggest that your advice is also a bit shaky. I have annual insurance that covers everything. Already obtaining full value from car hire in the Caribbean and impromptu car rental in the USA...booked in the USA via the US website.
In addition, some USA car rental from the UK may only include the minimum liability insurance, perhaps as little as US$20,000. SLI usually takes it up to US$1,000,000.

"Throwing money away" until you are asked to pay. Then you'll being crying in your soup. It will be checked if you come back with obvious damage and if you are involved in an accident.

So i would take it rental by rental, rather than assuming that your advice covers every USA car rental booking.
For instance, rent in Puerto Rico or the US Virgin Islands and different rules apply.

dickydonkin

cubegame wrote: »

The MSE article is a prime example of the typical poor standard of MSE journalism, seemingly written without actual on-the-ground experience. For example, the idea of booking a US car on a US website is extremely foolhardy. It would make obtaining the correct insurances difficult and/or costly.


From experience of about 15 rentals in the USA arranged via a UK Broker or direct with the rental company there has never been an excess applied to a rental.


They NEVER pre-charge a deposit or "block" money on a card if you have zero excess. They will swipe a card to cover incidentals such as traffic fines and tolls.


This will also cover damage to uninsured items such as tyres etc....but none of this stuff will actually be checked. A typical US car hand back will be quicker than the time it takes to get the luggage out of the car.


So unless you are the kind of person who makes a habit of losing keys you are literally throwing money away buying excess insurance for US car hire.

Really bad advice bordering on foolhardy.

That is akin to suggesting life insurance premiums paid over the years have been a waste of money because you are still alive.

For the sake of around 2-3 quid a day, it is worth that alone for the peace of mind - a pittance when it is factored in to the price of the trip.