Iron rules about renting a car

Wrote and edited: Yair Bar-Zohar

Date: 01.07.2004

Recently updated: 02.02.2009

A rented car abroad – Advantages: comfort, transportation from one place to another, freedom to travel independently, the option to stop at any time of the day, the option to reach places where public transportation doesn’t, cheaper (sometimes) than organized trip and public transportation. The profitability of renting a car rises when the number of passengers rises.

It’s very recommended (yet not mandatory) to work with international rental cars companies because they can solve any problem around the clock and they have a large variety of new cars. The only disadvantage is the high price. The price in local companies is quite cheap, but their downsize is that their service is not always available, so you’ll need to check if the renting point is open at the time and day reserved.

The advantages of the big/international (and known) renting companies:

Deploying branches: when you’re driving with the rented car and everything is fine, then there’s no problem and you are satisfied. But in life, everything doesn’t always go according to plan, and sometimes there are car failures, and then the problem begins: Where is the nearest branch, whether the workers come to you or you come to them. I had a serious failure with the car when I was in the Niagara Falls. I rented at a known company, and even then,   I had to wait for about 12 hours for an alternative car, it took from me a lot of nerves, and the other car was malfunctioning as well. I have lost 2 days of my trip ( don’t forget that wasted time is wasted money). What do I want to say? That you need to choose the company with the best deployment.

You need to check when the place is open. It is better to take the car keys from the workers and not counting on the luck that others put them in a box (though most of the time there are no problems with that). Not every company (especially the small ones) open their branches for a long period of time and they don’t always have an airport branch. In cases like this, you have to wait several hours for the opening (mostly in the early morning hours). Again don’t forget that wasted time is wasted money.

It is very important to choose your renting company directly and not trough a travelling agent because they usually offer sales that others cannot compete with, and if you belong to any big organization like “hever” or the teachers association, you might get a discount up to 15%.

Favorite client in big companies: when you reserve a car, you usually get the car you asked for and only rarely get upgraded. Why not be a favorite client without payment by signing up for it in the company’s website (not every company has one): pay for class B (for example), and get a class C free. As a favorite client you wait for the car no longer then 10 minutes, and you don’t wait in line. In case you do need to wait longer, most places will give you a refund, from my experience.

The count of the rental days begins when your lease form gets stamped at the car receiving station. A delay of an hour and above is being considered an additional renting day. The reserve and the following computerized reports allow a delay of up to 59 minutes in the return. A delay above 59 minutes, even if it’s because you waited in line, means another renting day. Day=24 hours.

It’s important to be precise in the reservation form with the driver’s name, the location where you take and give the car back, when you take the car, and most important the flight’s number (since you’ve made your reservation in advance, the renting company is expecting you at the time you have written. if there is a delay in the flight, they have your flight’s details and can track it accordingly. Your car will be saved for you 2 hours after the ordered time, in case you haven’t given away your flight’s details. You cannot change those details abroad. Changing the time of the takeoff requires changing the approximate time of taking the car and You’ll need to verify that the information is known to the renting company (if you won’t inform them, there’s a big change you will have to wait for a long time).

A big part of the insurances offered to the renter of the car when he gets the car is only a suggestion and not really mandatory.Pay attention and don’t sign any form without checking it’s content before you receive the car, in order to prevent unnecessary payments in the future.

When you rent a car, take in account that it’s not recommended to rent one in crowded cities (like: New-York, London, Barcelona, Paris, Las-Vega, etc) unless you plan to drive outside the city.

In the summer (for example Italy), order a car with air conditioning, and at ski areas in the winter, order a 4X4 car (better grip of the road) with snow tires + chains, and with enough trunk for the ski equipment.

A 2 doors car is cheaper than a 4 doors car (same size and car, just less doors). It will be abuse and lack of consideration to the other passengers in the back if you drive a 2 doors car with 3 or 4 people.

Special vehicles (Jeep, Van, Sport, etc) need to be ordered far in advance. Otherwise, you won’t have that kind of car to rent.

Days count: sometimes it is cheaper to rent a car for a week and return it after 5 days then to rent a car for 5 days. There is no refund in unused days.

In most cases, ordering a car from your home country is much cheaper than ordering in the USA or Europe.

Compare renting prices between big airports (or nearby airports) and cities. Renting a car at Kennedy airport is almost double the price of renting the same car, at the same company in New-Ark airport, New-Jersey. Its important to know that at airports there have port taxes.

Young drivers, below the age of 24-25: at the USA, most of the renting companies don’t rent to those under the age of 24 or 25. Those who does, rent for drivers at the age of 21 and above, but charge for extra daily (between 10-40 dollars a day. The sum of money depends on the renting place). Few are the companies who rent for drivers at the age of 19 and above (and charge from them 20 dollars additionally).

We advocate you plow the market, check, compare and only then order. It’s recommended to start the trip at the country that has the lowest renting prices compared to the others.

It’s always good to order the car from a company that is known in your country, its cheaper.

When you order a car, the company undertakes to the ordered car’s category and not to the type of the car.

It is important to make sure what are the unique add-ons, that you must pay when you order.

Ask for a diesel car (check diesel prices at the destination country – it’s not always cheaper than regular fuel, but in most cases, they are). In some areas, the price of the diesel is significantly lower than regular fuel (the gaps between the prices can come in some countries to 50%). Also consider the fact that you can drive much more (almost double) kilometers in a diesel tank instead of regular fuel.

Payment at home- it is cheaper to order at your home country than abroad. The place where it’s cheapest to rent: Europe – Germany,  USA – Florida.

It’s a must to compare the kinds of insurances and benefits (full tank, sunroof, etc). You should ask how much you must  add, if you return the car in a different country from where you rented it, find out how much is the extra insurance with you move to eastern Europe countries, what is the Deductible in case of an accident, etc. You need to make sure there are no safety limitations: traveling on ferries, entering certain countries, especially in the east, entering Italy, Mexico, age limitation, etc.

Its very recommended to make an extended insurance against accidents with a third side insurance, as well as an included Deductible insurance, in addition to the mandatory ones(theft for example). Other than then, there is no need to pay for any insurance program.

Insurance Codes:

CDW – Collision Damage Waiver: insurance for the rented car and for the other car. There is Deductible.

Many Companies don’t give you the Deductible included in the rent itself, charge you about 5-6 Euros per day, and if god forbid there is any damage to the car, you begin a tiring journey: You pay a fine about 400 Euros Deductible without any right to appeal, When you get back to your home country, you start negotiating with the company, fill out forms and eventually, they pay you back the money, but a lot of time pass till you reach there and along the way, you get very annoyed. There are some companies that do include the Deductible and save you a lot of money.

PAI – Personal Accidents Insurance.

TP – Third Person Liability Protection: insurance against all kinds of third person faults (theft for example).

STP – Deductible Included – not mandatory but recommended.

SLI – expended third person insurance (recommended only in the USA).

You can cancel the add-ons within 24 hours.

CDW TP – all the offers are included (there is a deductible – different in each country).

It’s recommended to order the add-ons in your home country.

The insurance company is exempted from paying you any compensation if the car keys were left somewhere by you and thus allowing or making the stealing of the car an easy job.

The insurance companies won’t pay the full value of the content of the cargo inside the car if the keys were left inside or if you didn’t lock the car properly.

None of the insurances above cover for damages to the panes, tires and to the lower part of the vehicle.

International driving