A buddy and I are making a 500+ mile trip this weekend. It's a coin toss on which of our cars is more likely to break down, and said buddy NEEDS to make it back for a court date, so failure is not an option.
Looking online, it appears as though we can grab a rental econobox for around $30 a day (pickup Fri., drop off Mon.) with unlimited miles. Does this sound right? Any "hidden fees" or other nonsense? I'm pretty sure I get rental insurance if I use my AMEX. Pitfalls to watch out for?
thx.
Not really, make sure you return it with the same amount of gas that's in it. Pretty sure you have to sign up for the Amex insurance thing (we just did).
Don't rent from an airport, the "usage" tax that's tacked on to airport rentals will kill you... rent from a "neighborhood" office.
Check the oil. Have fun at the autocross! :)
Couple of things:
1) Since it sounds like you don't care who it comes from, I would go to Priceline and name your own price. I get smoking deals on hotels doing that. Just know that if your bid isn't "accepted" you've basically got to wait 24 hours to submit another (so do it quickly)
2) Check with your insurance about renting. Turns out my insurance (Allstate) covers me any time I drive a car that's not mine. From borrowing a buddy's car to rentals.
3) If you Priceline, you'll probably pick it up at the airport, if you don't, the "neighborhood" locations are usually cheaper.
4) In regards to gas, I usually pre-pay because I don't know what's near the airport and certain areas (here in Austin for example) you really don't want to try to fill up near the airport unless you want it to cost you a LOT extra.
5) The extra insurance automagically turns a rental car into an offroad/rally/autocross/gymkhana/drift machine...... 
-Rob
rental car+rental insurance=cheapest track beater ever. And if you burn it down, they bring you a new one!
4Msfam wrote: Don't rent from an airport, the "usage" tax that's tacked on to airport rentals will kill you... rent from a "neighborhood" office. Check the oil. Have fun at the autocross! :)
HA! I wish. Only thing I'm starting to get concerned about is getting the thing back on time. Getting back by 6PM is going to be a wild card depending on ATL traffic. Will I get boned for another day if I bring it back when they're closed?
Some have the ability to drop it off "after hours", some don't.
Basically, you fill out a little form and drop the key in a slot. No way for them to check whether it was 6 p.m. or 4 a.m.
-Rob
"Will I get boned for another day if I bring it back when they're closed?"
Probably. Rental contracts are usually based upon 24 hour rental days. Most will give you 1 hour grace period.
Also, check the fine print regarding unlimited mileage - many have geographic limitations such as travel within the rental state and adjacent states. Will they catch you? Only if something goes wrong - breakdown or accident.
Otherwise a fine plan - I routinely pound 6-800 miles on rental cars in a 48 hour timeframe. A 2010 Buick Luxo-barge beats the heck out of racing seats and 600# springs for a trip like that.
The "airport thing" depends entirely on where you are. If I rent from a local neighborhood office, I'm guaranteed a E36 M3box piece of crap. I get great 24 hour service at the airport, decent car, at a cheaper rate than the neighborhood office.
Yes, $30 per day sounds about right. I put 1500 miles on a rental in a week recently for the $30 per day fee without any extras (except for the darned speeding tickets I earned). 
Be aware of small town speed traps. You may be wearing out-of-state tags.
OK this seems like a good place to mention this. After my second year of college, my high school friends and I got together to take a road trip. One friends Dad's had this gem of a 86 Olds Cutlass Cierra Bougham. 4 of us pitched in and bought it for $200. It had a drippy fuel line (rusted metal-type line) by the rear passenger side doors, but it wasn't that bad, so we let it ride (I feel old saying 'gas wasn't as much then!' - this was only 10 years ago...)
We decided that if it died, we'd leave it and take a bus or flight back home. But we didn't need to worry - that POS made it from NH, through New York to Toronto, to Niagara Falls with a quick stop to Virginia Beach on the way back to NH. Best road trip I ever took - I have so many memories from it (like my friend Dave stealing my sunglasses off my face when I threatened to throw the damned Journey tape out the window).
As for rentals, I just had a 2011 Camry for two weeks a short time ago, and that thing STUNNED me. It was a 4-banger, but man that thing hauled some butt and stuck it to the corners just as well! I was really pretty shocked that a run of the mill Camry moved like that. There were several times where the thing kicked down a gear or two when I nailed it and I had to grab the wheel with two hands thinking, "What the - !? Where did THAT come from!?" So you know...get one of those if ya can... :)
I pass on the insurance.
I fill it before returning because they charge you a "tank" of gas when going prepaid.
I rent the smallest, cheapest car and they always try to upgrade me. "Sir, you would be more comfortable in a bigger car"......"I like little cars"......Sometimes I get a free upgrade since they don't have the little car and sometimes I get stuck with the little car.
If you go over your days, you can get hit with hourly charges, which almost equals a days charge.
I must rent a lot of cars. I never make a reservation. I pick up at the airport. I walk out to a special row of cars with keys in them, grab whatever I want, and drive off the lot with a wave of my membership card. If they don't have any cars in my lot, I get to walk over to the luxury aisle and grab a Jag or something.
Whether you pass on the insurance would depend on your own policy. My policy with Liberty Mutual covers a rental. It's really worth checking.
What you're planning happens a lot. My idiot Bro-in-law rents a van for the trip when he and his idiot wife 'come to visit'. They usually do this through a car dealer. He swears it's cheaper than 'putting miles on his own car', but then he buys the cheapest possible insurance, and puts a ridiculous yearly mileage limit on it. God forbid he should ever get schmucked, because I really doubt the insurance would do anything more than bury him. The other guy would probably be stuck with the whole thing.
Actually found a coupon for hertz, which brings the total to $60 for Friday evening through Monday evening, and I get cash back if I use my amex. w00t.
I suppose I need to call around today and see if I get insurance with my CC or auto-insurance, maybe even with my AAA card??? Otherwise, it's another $20 a day, doubling the price.
Chances are you will be covered either by your personal auto insurance or your credit card, give your insurance agent and the CC company a call.
If you do a google search on "should I buy rental car insurance" you'll get nearly 50 million hits; the first few I looked at all agreed that it's basically a cash cow for the rental car companies.
Except that rental insurance can be cheaper than filing a claim with your own company and all that entails, including having claims on your history.
Duke wrote: Except that rental insurance can be cheaper than filing a claim with your own company and all that entails, including having claims on your history.
tr00dat. Damn, this "cheap road trip" is getting expensive.
As a note, some insurance companies cover rental cars ONLY IF THEY KNOW YOU ARE IN ONE.
poopshovel wrote:Duke wrote: Except that rental insurance can be cheaper than filing a claim with your own company and all that entails, including having claims on your history.tr00dat. Damn, this "cheap road trip" is getting expensive.
Nah, man...you're overthinking this by a bunch. Rent the car, avoid doing dumb stuff, return car. You're in it no more than the rental. I mean, you COULD have the mother of all accidents, and it's POSSIBLE an asteroid will cut your trip short, but how LIKELY is any of that?
Mikey52_1 wrote: I mean, you COULD have the mother of all accidents, and it's POSSIBLE an asteroid will cut your trip short, but how LIKELY is any of that?
Depends... http://www.earthmatrix.com/impact_asteroids.html
poop, just give ye ole insurance agent a ring through the tin-can and string.
They take 10% of your premiums, I use their knowledge to keep that premium as low as possible.
Nah, man...you're overthinking this by a bunch. Rent the car, avoid doing dumb stuff, return car. You're in it no more than the rental. I mean, you COULD have the mother of all accidents, and it's POSSIBLE an asteroid will cut your trip short, but how LIKELY is any of that?
Nothing drives like a rental car.
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