Rang Alamo in Vancouver, our pick up point , The chap asked where we were going, I told him, he said you will have winter tyres. I asked how does that work.. They have 30-40 vehicles around at any one time in each make size. Some with winter , some with D&S , The roads we are on will require D&S at the least. AWD v 4wd v 2wd, wont really matter. AWD is a nice to have, but winter tyres or D&S are the factor. Open for comments
I rent between 10 - 20 cars a year for work, both in Aus and O/S. I would agree the airport would have that many cars available, but not the branches. Most branches would have 30 - 40 cars total, many of these would be booked, waiting for pick up, or have just been dropped off. It's a bit of a lottery what you can get. As an example, we booked a full size SUV for a month out of Pacific place in Vancouver last year and got a mid size. We eventually got the full size and hefty discount for stuffing us around. 90% sure you will get M&S tyres. Read the driving in Canada thread if you haven't already.
In BC you must have M+S tyres for travel outside of metro Vancouver and Victoria. You're not being unreasonable to insist on them on any rental vehicle.
I have read thread.. we booked the airport as it is now the same cost as the branches. I rang the airport and asked how many cars. Its seems the answer is correct. Not sure on tyres, dont care. winter v d&s , we will get there. May be a bit slower enjoy the view
Roads in BC are well maintained and the govt operates a truly excellent road info website, www.drivebc.ca. You will be fine with FWD on the highways and ski hill approach roads, just be careful once in the resorts or in towns. Steep driveways and neighbourhood streets can defeat FWD even with good rubber.
I just came across a site autorentals.com, a search site, which offered a Jeep Wrangler for 15 days for $19 a day. Final price was via Routes Car Rental, $330 for a few hours over 14 days, all up, except CDW, and including Vancouver airport pickup. I will report on how they deliver at the end of the month. At that price I can afford to pay for parking in Whistler for it.
And after a fairly thorough search it seems rentalcover.com is the most affordable cdw provider. Note for them, 4x4 cover is only needed if driving off road. Car cover is ok for a 4x4 on road use. Cost me $150. So $480 all up for 15 days, or $32 a day.
Whoops, that turns out to be incorrect. For NZ'ers, Rentalcover.com only offers excess cover, which is already covered by my travel insurance. This looks to be the same when it comes to credit card insurance cover, it only covers the excess. Still looking for a CDW or LDW policy available to me, but it might have to be the rental company's waiver fee.
Please dont rent a Jeep Wrangler. All the things that make them good in the bush make them sh1t on paved roads. They're top heavy and prone to rollover, and the short wheelbase and narrow track make them a handful to keep in a straight line on the highway. Highly NOT recommended, especially for someone not used to winter driving.
Thanks for that comment. I've cancelled that booking, mainly because the cdw was too expensive, but happy now too. Is a Jeep Cherokee any better?
I'm currently looking at easyrentcars.com, who include CDW and booked with Routes Car Rental Vancouver, for about the same price as going through autorentals without cdw. Limited to 2500km, and .20c per km after that, but 2500 should be fine. .20c per km is a lot less than paying $1300 more for unlimited mileage!!!
Yeah Cherokee is a more road friendly SUV style. But Jeep is still the weakest brand from the weakest of the big three US auto makers, no getting around that.
Picked up our mobile village (some huge monster with hot tub etc. in back) from Enterprise at Richmond on the 27Dec. Last year when picking up from Canada Place, downtown Van, I was asked to sign a form saying I had been in the country for at least 2 days. I thought this was a bit weird as I often rent vehicles and have never had to sign one of these before. As we had flown in a couple of days prior it wasn't an issue. This trip I expected the same, albeit at a different branch. Nope, just the standard check in. In fact they came out and walked me through the basic car features and damage/scratch/dent report. Probably the best pick up/ check in experience I've ever had
We rented through Enterprise again this year....big ass Yukon XL....I think there is actually a mini bar in the back next to the hot tub. Bloody huge.
Can't tell you by the day... we are $1800/month. Got this price by booking very early in the year and then when they say do you want to upgrade...pressed the yes.
Our vehicle (full size suv) booked in March was CAD$1730 without CDW. Ended up with a Ford Expedition XLT, with plenty of bells and whistles. Booked directly with Enterprise. Rental car protection.com insurance AUD$317.00 for full coverage.
1 month. Although I will be handing it back after 26 days. The monthly rate is cheaper than the weekly rate x 4.
phoooooaaaarrrrrr... +1 will be angry, he grunts with satisfaction at the size as we walk past each day.
Are you sure the rental car protection is full cover, and not just excess cover, which is all they offered to me as a kiwi.
I loved that car. The boot was so big I could lay all our skis in it. I wish they would make 4wd's with heaps of boot space behind the third row. I want one here!
I rented one of those last trip, a Ford Expedition Platinum. It was the size of a small house. Car parks were my worst nightmare ....
On booking longer, in times past I have booked the extra day beyond our departure date as sometimes I have found through research that the extra day was better than the late charges whacked on if you bring it back outside the expected return time.
our first trip, for 6 adults and associated snow gear was in a 10 seater Chev Suburban plus. It was bigger than my house!!
Full cover, even tyres, underbody and glass. $500 excess I think, would need to recheck that to be sure, inc 2nd driver. CDW does not cover wheels and underbody, unlike my policy. With CDW you pretty much hand the keys back and they sort the problem. With separate insurance you pay for damages and insurance reimburses you. Maybe not for everyone, but works for me.
