Renting a Car

Cherokeekid88

Cherokeekid88

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 30, 2007
Location
High Point, NC
Im going to Maryland at the end of September and will be renting a car....last time I rented a car..it ended up costing me $300 for like 5 days. I will only need the car for the weekend this time and is there any company that is a bit cheaper...I am 24 years old, so I know there is a charge for that...but jesus! Enterprise just throws all kinds of fees at you!
 
Pay attention to where you pick your car up from... if you pick it up from an airport location, you can sometimes get a better deal than if you pick it up from one of the town locations. The only downside to the airport location is that you will have to have someone drop you off and pick you up unless you want to pay to park your car at the airport (defeats the purpose of the cost savings).

I used to do that all the time renting cars to drive back and forth to Michigan instead of trying my luck at getting my beater vehicle through the mountains. It was worth it to me to know that if I break down, I call the rental agency and they bring me another car. Plus, the cars I rented wer typically 10-15 years newer than my car and they had better toys in them (functioning cruise control, AC and CD players usually.)

I used to LOVE Enterprise because they would rent an extended cab ranger with auto, cruise, tilt AC and CD player for $19 a day (occasionaly they even ran deals of 9 bucks a day!) if you rented over a weekend. Since it was usually just me driving, that was a TON more comfy than a subcompact. I'm only 5'11, but I like to stretch out and a Neon just doesn't cut it. I think they named it Neon because you bang your kNEe-ON everything!
 
I might just try the airport location then for enterpise....but I don't have full coverage on my jeep anymore, so they get me on that too whenever I get the car having to get the coverage on the car....
 
Use priceline. Usually but not always it is cheaper to rent from an airport. With priceline quite a few times I've rented cars for less than $15 a day, granted you aren't driving over 100miles a day. A few of those times were before I turned 25 too. Check slickdeals.net for discounts too
 
also remember that the insurance on your personal vehicle will cover the rental vehicle. so unless you've got liability only on your vehicle, buying their insurance is a waste of money. they'll try to sell you on it, but it isnt needed.
 
^^ plus your credit card policy may automatically provide coverage for rentals, that is common.
 
Considered taking a train instead?

Driving through DC to get here, and in Baltimore SUCKS.
 
We just rented a car from Hertz with unlimited milage for 3 days and it was $98.67. Use the online places like hotwire or orbitz and it will be ALOT cheaper. Granted we where in vegas but I saved over $130 by getting out of line, booking on my phone and using the self check in.
 
Cherokeekid88 said:
Well I wanted to stop in DC on the way up there, just to flip off obama. :) but hey, what are some good eating places in downtown baltimore?
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Well then you definitely want to take a train, ever driven through DC? :lol: lots of this :kaioken:. w/ the Metro you can get off at his front porch, do your :flipoff2: and head on up. Just look out for Jamaican guys selling fake souvenirs on the Mall lol.
In all seriousness with your age you'll be lucky to get out the door < $150-200, a train may be a lot cheaper.

Yeah there are lots of good places to eat around the Inner Harbor, Canton, etc. Watch where you are though 75% of Baltimore is sketchy w/ little islands of coolness.
 
We are going to a wedding in white marsh, so we would still need a car to travel around in....I am not invited to the wedding, so while the wifey is at the wedding balling her eyes out, I wanted to hit the streets and see what all the hype was about with Baltimore. Inner Harbor is where I am most interested in going.....So you think DC is not worth driving though? It would really be cool to see all the stuff, but if its such a headache, I might not worry about it.
 
88 BII said:
also remember that the insurance on your personal vehicle will cover the rental vehicle. so unless you've got liability only on your vehicle, buying their insurance is a waste of money. they'll try to sell you on it, but it isnt needed.
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yeah, it may be, BUT it will be one big pain in the ass if/when you get in an accident in THEIR car. if you have their insurance, even if it is your fault, you're done. need another car, it's delivered to you.

this happened to us last fall, someone pulled out in front of the wife while she was driving a rental car. We DID NOT get their insurance. No it was not her fault, I had to pay our insurance deductible to replace the rental car with another, and guess who got the $9874 repair bill ? it was promptly sent to the other insurance company (by me) , and far as I know paid, but I got a few letters about it a week or so later demanding payment.

If the accident were to happen to have been our fault, our insurance company ( and pretty typical of most from what I understand ) will close the case until which time the car rental agency says " HEY, you owe us money " at which time the case is reopened and you have to go thru all the crap of who what and where again....

if we have to rent another car, we'll get the insurance, it's worth it to not have to deal with it.

can't say it doesn't happen, because it does, far more often than you think ! ( neither of us had been in an accident in over 18years, then she was involved in 2 in 2 weeks, one her fault, the other not )
 
I've been to DC several times. I drove to the motel and parked. Did not move the car until we left. We relied on the metro to take us where we needed to go.
 
Cherokeekid88 said:
.....So you think DC is not worth driving though? It would really be cool to see all the stuff, but if its such a headache, I might not worry about it.
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Assuming you're wanting to go to the classic sites - no, you don't want to drive. There's nowhere to park (unless you pay a small fortunate) and traffic is awful. Everything is easily accessible via the Metro. You'll do some walking but it's more efficient. Get some guides and plan ahead, you don't need or want a car in DC.
Is it "worth it"? Well that depends how much time you have I guess.
 
If you go to DC the best way I've ever seen the city is by the little tourist bus thing. It is very reasonable and you can get on and off as many times as you want plus you get a tour guide to tell you all kinds of neat facts.
 
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