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brettb
06-14-2005, 08:10 AM
We're arriving at LAX at 9pm on a Thursday in August. We'll be driving down to San Diego for the weekend and then returning to the DL area for following week. We'll spend 4 nights at Paradise Pier. We will need flexible mobility even while we're there, though.

So I see that Advantage, Alamo, Avis, Budget, Dollar, Enterprise, Hertz, Fox/Payless, National and Thrifty can all send their shuttles to the terminal. I'd prefer to stick to the more national chains -- I guess my short list would be Alamo, Budget, Dollar, Hertz, and National and we need a full size car.

Can anybody give me an idea of what kind of car I'd actually get from that short list? I'm not a fan of Tauruses, though I'd give a Ford 500 a try. In Florida, we used to get Dodge Intrepids, which I liked, even though I'd drive over a lot of curbs with them. (The wheels on my old Maxima and now my Accord just don't stick out that far!) The 2nd to last time I rented from Dollar in Florida, I ended up with a Taurus. For the last trip, I was able to upgrade to a "Luxury" for only a few dollars a day more and got a Chrysler 300 Touring (or some higher-than-base trim level). It had some quirks, but overall we liked it.

Also, how about general trends in terms of the condition of cars any given company rents out?

Many, many years ago (like 11), we rented a sub-compact or something tiny from Hertz out there and we were "upgraded" to a Mustang. We were barely able to fit our luggage in the trunk. The thing had something like 35,000 miles on it, which seems to me like the end of life for a rental car. Anyway, my wife (girlfriend at the time) kept asking me what the hell was I doing at every stop sign and traffic light -- the brakes were SO grabby, every stop was a short one. We made it to the hotel and within minutes we called Hertz about changing cars. We got to the lot and they were washing a brandy-new Toyota Camry. We asked if we could have it but it hadn't been entered into the system as returned-to-service yet. It was just radiating new-ness, though, so we persisted (nicely) and they gave it to us. It had less than 100 miles on it! *That* was an awesome rental. It wasn't particularly fancy and it was only the 4 cylinder model, but it was still sweet. :)

So, I'd love to hear about people's experiences with rental cars out of LAX. What kind of car did you get? How many miles did it have on it? How clean was it? How much did it cost for how long?

Thanks!
Brett

phoenixfire2k5
06-14-2005, 08:40 AM
Try looking into Enterprise, cause in California, they have unlimited gas mileage.

Osky
06-14-2005, 08:44 AM
Try looking into Enterprise, cause in California, they have unlimited gas mileage.

Unlimited gas mileage? My car gets about 19 on a good day. How do I get myself one of these? :D

MartyLuvsTigger
06-14-2005, 09:28 AM
So I see that Advantage, Alamo, Avis, Budget, Dollar, Enterprise, Hertz, Fox/Payless, National and Thrifty can all send their shuttles to the terminal. I'd prefer to stick to the more national chains -- I guess my short list would be Alamo, Budget, Dollar, Hertz, and National and we need a full size car.

Enterprise is the #1 national car rental agency.

I work for said for Enterprise, so I am bias. But look online we are running specials all the time :D

spectromen
06-14-2005, 11:28 AM
brettb, sadly most of the rental companies out here have tons of Ford and Chevy products, and if you're not one of the first renters, you'll have a mediocre car. My best advice is to get no less than a Full or Standard size car and avoid the subcompact/compact/midsize offerings. I can almost never find Honda, Toyota, Nissan or anything reliable for rent in the lower classes, and the additional $ is minor and will lead to peace of mind and better comfort, especially on the longer drive to San Diego. Good luck!

brettb
06-14-2005, 12:24 PM
brettb, sadly most of the rental companies out here have tons of Ford and Chevy products, and if you're not one of the first renters, you'll have a mediocre car. My best advice is to get no less than a Full or Standard size car and avoid the subcompact/compact/midsize offerings. I can almost never find Honda, Toyota, Nissan or anything reliable for rent in the lower classes, and the additional $ is minor and will lead to peace of mind and better comfort, especially on the longer drive to San Diego. Good luck!

Cool! Thanks! We wouldn't really consider anything less than a "full size" or "standard" at this point in our lives. (Older, wiser, slightly wider, and the safety of a 6-year-old on our minds.) Back then, we were penny pinching. But my wife (girlfriend and the time) called home before we called Hertz and her mother more-or-less shamed us into spending some more money to get into a decent car. "You both have decent jobs, just rent a decent car!" At that point, we were doing San Diego to LA to San Fransisco, too......

I'll look into Enterprise, too. I tend not to think of them because I once rented from them locally and though they delivered the car to me, they showed up with a smaller car than what I reserved (and my insurance company agreed to pay for). When I traded it in, they gave a bigger car than originally asked for to make up for it - and though the Grand Marquis rode nicely, the interior was a little past its prime.

Marty, will Enterprise pick up at the end of the rental from a hotel? Does it cost more to do this? We have an early-tush flight so I had planned on returning the car the night before (we're spending the night at the LAX Westin) and taking a taxi to the terminal the next morning. Originally, I had planned on checking in at the hotel, taking the car back to the airport, then catching the hotel shuttle or a taxi back to the hotel.

Brett

awinner
06-14-2005, 09:13 PM
ENTERPRISE (http://www.enterprise.com) is the only way to go!!! :~D

phoenixfire2k5
06-14-2005, 09:20 PM
Unlimited gas mileage? My car gets about 19 on a good day. How do I get myself one of these? :D

"MILEAGE IS UNLIMITED WHEN VEHICLE REMAINS IN AZ, NV AND CA. VEHICLES ARE NOT ALLOWED OUTSIDE OF THESE STATES."

Basically, that means when you return the car, you're not charged for the mileage. Where in other states, and this my rough estimation, you have 150 miles free mileage. After that, they start charging. So it doesn't include fuelage used or miles to the gallon. But as the other guy said, check the enterprise website out. Helps to do a little bit of homework as well, checking out which cars are available, and how much miles per gallon each gets. ;)

Tutter
06-15-2005, 02:12 AM
The only thing to watch with Enterprise is that they don't include insurance in the price - that is additional, whereas others do.

brettb
06-15-2005, 05:25 AM
I don't care about gas mileage in any way shape or form.

I don't think I've rented a car from anybody without unlimited mileage.....maybe that's because most of my rentals have been in Flordia....and my rentals in California had been with a corporate contract that had some of it's own rules. (For example, I was able to rent even though I was younger -- 25 at the time ; back then for many companies it wasn't even a question of outrageous surcharges for young drivers, they just wouldn't do it.)

But there are two big factors I want to get handle on:

Car type - that "or similar" is what scares me. I can pick out whatever class I want on the website, and they'll show me a picture of a car that I *might* get. With Dollar in FL, originally "full size" meant Intrepid, then it meant Taurus. So now if we go with Dollar again, we'll do "Premium" or "Luxury" which will be different trim levels of 300C's.

PITA factor - how easy is pick up and return, how likely are you to get a trouble-free car (i.e. in good repair, won't need a damage report, etc.)

Oh, and I'm always careful to get quotes without insurance or LDW, etc. Our personal car insurance plan is adequate coverage for us.

So, awinner and MartyLuvsTigger, do you work in the LAX office of Enterprise? Maybe I could PM you for more details about the cars you've got there.

Thanks!
Brett

Mermaid
06-15-2005, 08:00 AM
At Enterprise a full size car is:
Impala, Taurus, Sable, Altima, Grand Prix, Buick Century or Lacrosse, Camry (if you can find one ;) ), and maybe some others that will sneak in.
Premium tends to be:
Bonneville, LeSabre, Magnum
Luxury includes
Chrysler 300, Cadillac Deville, Buick Park Ave, Cadillac CTS, Lincoln LS
In my expeirence, Alamo and National tend to rent GM cars, Hertz more Fords. Enterprise has a better range then most others because they are the biggest car rental company in the country. Those cars might change in LA but that is what they are in Phoenix area. At the local branch level Enterprise does sometimes run low on cars, you will see branchs with more then 150 cars in fleet with one on the lot sometimes- which is what I am thinking happened in your experience. At the airports, they have the large selection that people think of.

brettb
06-15-2005, 08:33 AM
Thanks, Mermaid!

I think I'd be happy with just about any of those except the Taurus/Sable.

And actually, I'd probably only mind those during the summer (which is when my trip is :cool: ). Maybe I'm odd, but I find that the placement of the left-most A/C vent is so close to the steering wheel and my normal hand position that I get a frozen hand when it's hot and we need to crank the A/C. I seem to remember that even if you close it off, enough coolness leaks out to make my left hand unconfortable. Or maybe it was just annoying to have to choose between freezing my left hand or baking the left side of my body..... Maybe it's just my driving position. I think I tried various tilt positions for the steering wheel...but I pretty much stick with a 10 and 2 grip on the wheel.

Osky
06-15-2005, 10:45 AM
"MILEAGE IS UNLIMITED WHEN VEHICLE REMAINS IN AZ, NV AND CA. VEHICLES ARE NOT ALLOWED OUTSIDE OF THESE STATES."

Basically, that means when you return the car, you're not charged for the mileage. Where in other states, and this my rough estimation, you have 150 miles free mileage. After that, they start charging. So it doesn't include fuelage used or miles to the gallon. But as the other guy said, check the enterprise website out. Helps to do a little bit of homework as well, checking out which cars are available, and how much miles per gallon each gets. ;)

Yes. I know what it means. They said "Unlimited Gas Mileage" instead of "unlimited mileage". That is why I had the big grin on my post.

phoenixfire2k5
06-15-2005, 11:56 AM
Yes. I know what it means. They said "Unlimited Gas Mileage" instead of "unlimited mileage". That is why I had the big grin on my post.

Yeah, that was me that said the "unlimited gas mileage" a while back. Just noticed that. Sorry for typo or the confusion.

Now if I could just find a way to get unlimited gas.....heh heh.
Ahh, gone are the days when it was cheap as .89 cents a gallon, back in like 2001 or 2002.

Osky
06-15-2005, 12:08 PM
Ahh, gone are the days when it was cheap as .89 cents a gallon, back in like 2001 or 2002.

Here in California, you have to go back a lot further than that for .89 cents per gallon.;)

phoenixfire2k5
06-15-2005, 12:13 PM
Here in California, you have to go back a lot further than that for .89 cents per gallon.;)

That was the cheapest I saw, at least in Anaheim, for about a week or two and it was in 2001 or 2002 because that was the last time I had a car. :(

awinner
06-15-2005, 09:18 PM
The only thing to watch with Enterprise is that they don't include insurance in the price - that is additional, whereas others do.
where did you get this info? some other companies are deceptive and run what they call a "managers special", where they add it to the cost of the rental and if you don't want it they don't lower the price...very shady practice.

:geek:

awinner
06-15-2005, 09:19 PM
So, awinner and MartyLuvsTigger, do you work in the LAX office of Enterprise? Maybe I could PM you for more details about the cars you've got there.

Thanks!
Brett
I do not. ;)

phoenixfire2k5
06-15-2005, 10:02 PM
where did you get this info? some other companies are deceptive and run what they call a "managers special", where they add it to the cost of the rental and if you don't want it they don't lower the price...very shady practice.

:geek:

Enterprise does not include the insurance in the cost of the rental. For an additional fee, you are required or asked to pay for insurance. You are given a few options. I have rented from them quite a few times.

Tutter
06-16-2005, 02:24 AM
Enterprise does not include the insurance in the cost of the rental. For an additional fee, you are required or asked to pay for insurance. You are given a few options. I have rented from them quite a few times.

Yup that was my experience. I was told I could not take the rental without paying for insurance. As I had in the past with other companys understood the price to include insurance I was a bit taken aback. When I rented with Enterprise (a few weeks ago) I was then given the option of which insurance package.

So on paper Enterprise can look a lot cheaper, but actually isn't because they don't include insurance in the package.

brettb
06-16-2005, 05:30 AM
Yup that was my experience. I was told I could not take the rental without paying for insurance. As I had in the past with other companys understood the price to include insurance I was a bit taken aback. When I rented with Enterprise (a few weeks ago) I was then given the option of which insurance package.

So on paper Enterprise can look a lot cheaper, but actually isn't because they don't include insurance in the package.

Do you, Tutter & phoenixfire2k5, own and *insure* your own car? I could see a comany requiring, a New Yorker, for example, who doesn't have a car and consequently doesn't have their own policy to buy insurace. But I would think that anybody with their own liability coverage would not have to buy any. And many platinum credit cards still provide LDW coverage.

I seem to remember having to show my insurance card when I rented in CA all those years ago.....

Brett

Tutter
06-16-2005, 06:27 AM
Do you, Tutter & phoenixfire2k5, own and *insure* your own car? I could see a comany requiring, a New Yorker, for example, who doesn't have a car and consequently doesn't have their own policy to buy insurace. But I would think that anybody with their own liability coverage would not have to buy any. And many platinum credit cards still provide LDW coverage.

I seem to remember having to show my insurance card when I rented in CA all those years ago.....

Brett

I do have insurance for my own car, but I didn't realise I could use that as cover for a rented cover. That's a good point though, I don't know the answer. I have always paid for insurance extra.

phoenixfire2k5
06-16-2005, 01:25 PM
Do you, Tutter & phoenixfire2k5, own and *insure* your own car? I could see a comany requiring, a New Yorker, for example, who doesn't have a car and consequently doesn't have their own policy to buy insurace. But I would think that anybody with their own liability coverage would not have to buy any. And many platinum credit cards still provide LDW coverage.

I seem to remember having to show my insurance card when I rented in CA all those years ago.....

Brett

No I do not own my own car or have insurance. I think the minimum insurance that you can buy is liability. And its not per day. I seem to remember either 7 or 12 dollars for the insurance. I think.

brettb
06-16-2005, 02:18 PM
I do have insurance for my own car, but I didn't realise I could use that as cover for a rented cover. That's a good point though, I don't know the answer. I have always paid for insurance extra.

The best thing to do is to call your insurance company and ask them. You want to make sure that you're covered in every regard so that you can comfortably decline all insurance or loss-damage-waivers.

Liabilty will cover you if you cause damage or harm to something/someone.
I think collision coverage is specific to your own vehicle, which is why it's best to use a credit card that covers the "LDW" option. I think some cards scaled back their coverage, so it's best to call your card company to confirm. This covers any damage to the car itself, whether you drive into something or something/body damages the car.

Brett

Eighty8Keys
06-16-2005, 02:49 PM
Before renting a car last December, I called my insurance agent to make sure I was covered and that I didn't need to purchase the additional collision damage insurance that they offered for $9.00 per day. She said that I was covered, but in the event of an accident there could be charges that were not covered by my regular auto insurance. She specificially mentioned loss of use charges due to the rental companies inability to re-rent the car while it's being repaired. The car rental company could charge me the daily rental fee for every day that they are not able to rent out the car and it probably wouldn't be any sort of discounted rate. Instead of putting my mind at ease, she kind of freaked me out and I ended up paying the extra $9 x 4 days.

Recently, I noticed that my credit card company offers this extra protection. Next time I rent a car I'll review the fine print on the coverage from my credit card company and if it looks good, I'll skip the extra coverage.