Ford Mustang car hire in California

cubegame wrote: »

When you can drive one for free at your local Ford dealer?

I understand the appeal when they weren't a UK model., but now?

To be fair, you can't drive them at any Ford dealer. Only a select few sell Mustangs.

My wife wanted one but they don't seem to have any that they can sell so she bought something else instead.

owenjt wrote: »

Hi. Looking for some car hire advice for California. Will be starting in LA and finishing in San Fran and would really like to hire a Ford Mustang convertible. I know you can't guarantee this car but hopefully I'll be able to get one.

Back to your original post, Owen...

It's true, car hire companies will not guarantee a make and model unless you choose a company that offers a premium range of model-specific classes, but these are £££.

I've used National and their sister company Alamo many times in the USA. Alamo is the tourist-oriented budget arm, National is the corporate business-oriented arm. National get the newest cars, and then they filter down to Alamo as their age and mileage increases. If you look at the cars themselves there is no distinction; they use the same fleet management bar codes, etc. (They also own Enterprise, by the way, who are present at some airports but are generally focused on neighbourhood locations and the business of providing insurance loaners).

What you may not know is that many of the largest outfits in the USA offer a somewhat unusual (for the UK) means of getting your car. This is definitely true of Alamo and National, and may be true of others...

At SFO and LAX (and most larger US airports), you will arrive at the car hire facility and check-in, either at a self-service terminal or counter. The machine or agent will produce your paperwork, and then you go to the parking lot.

At this point, the fun begins, because an agent will greet you and direct you to an aisle (or aisles) of the car park with a selection of cars ready to go. You pick the one you want. The trunk is usually open, ready for your bags, and the keys will be in the ignition or on top of the dashboard. When you leave the car park, you will pass a kiosk where another agent associates your choice of car with your rental (and - in case you wondered - yes, they will charge you the difference if you've driven off in a car of a more expensive category).

So, at LAX and SFO you will usually find Camaro and Mustang convertibles in the 'convertible' aisle. They are almost always the weaker-engined base models. At busy times, you may have to wait a while, but if you are prepared to wait (even after a long-haul flight and lengthy customs queue) and are prepared to speak nicely to the agents bringing cars up from the cleaning facility, you may get lucky.

At LAX, Alamo and National share the same facility - National are upstairs and Alamo are downstairs, and like I said there are older higher mileage cars with Alamo (but the prices are cheaper). Both cater to a lot of out-of-state visitors who want a nice car. I've rented from both, and both operate the same way. Even downstairs at Alamo, you get to choose whatever you want from your class of car. On our honeymoon for instance, we only booked a cheap compact from Alamo, but still chose a funky Kia Soul from amongst the more dull VW Jettas and Toyota Corollas. On a business trip a few years later, I picked out a newer Chevrolet Malibu for a long trip because I wanted an easy highway cruiser. On a Christmas trip to family in northern Minnesota, I was able to select precisely the SUV we wanted because it was definitely 4x4, and not 4x2 as some alongside it.

Finally, one thing you may be interested in. In addition to the 'pick your own' principle across all classes, National offer a park for frequent renters called the Emerald Club. It is targeted at North American customers but UK renters can enrol for free. Basically, membership allows you to reserve a special member-only class of car at the price of 'Midsize' car (i.e. one above a Ford Focus, usually a Chevrolet Malibu or equivalent) but then pick any car in the Executive Aisle.

To keep members loyal, National employees proactively populate the Executive Aisle with a range of car types, always 'midsize' or better / larger. You will likely find a range of mid-size and large cars, SUVs and convertibles here.

Frequent renters (with 12 paid rentals or 40 paid rental days in a calendar year) get access to the more exclusive Executive Selection’, where a better selection of premium and executive cars are available, again at the midsize rate... often BMW, Cadillac, Acura, Lexus, etc, or big behemoth SUVs.

For inside info on making the most of the Emerald Club, check out the National forum at Flyertalk here. In addition to some handy FAQ threads, regular renters post latest sightings from the Emerald Aisle (EA) and Executive Selection (ES) indexed by airport.