Car Rental Question
Thread started by
GarySe7en at 09.26.08 - 8:48 am
I'm in the process of getting rid of my car since I barely use it anymore. However there will be times when I foresee needing one temporarily, like going to a non local race or other event. So I would like to find a rental car company I can go to for such occasions. The problem is most car rental companies charge as much $20 or more extra for drivers under 25 regardless of driving record (mine is perfect). So I'm looking for a car rental company that doesn't jack up the price for 24 year olds, and has a location preferbly in Santa Monica or somewhere on the West Side. Anyone have any suggestions?
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or you could take the #4 bus...it rus from DTLA to Santa Monica everyday
MOM-RIDA-Raquel09.26.08 - 8:49 am
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I have been hearing a lot about Flexcar. Basically its a car-share program for ppl that rarely need a car. You should look it up, I don't know much about the under 25 rule with them.
SKIDMARCUS09.26.08 - 8:56 am
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plus i thought you had to be 25 to rent a car...when did that change?
i have found that car rental places near airports are more easy going with rentals
MOM-RIDA-Raquel09.26.08 - 8:58 am
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Some car rental places don't allow anyone under 25 without a 25 year old present to drive at all. Most seem to allow under 25 year olds but charge you almost double to do so.
About Flexcar, I had been following them for a while since they had locations in Santa Monica and it's a cool service concept. But sadly they didn't allow under 25 year olds. Then they were bought out by Zip car, which does allow younger drivers, but Zip car came and killed all the Flexcar locations that weren't next to a major university so no more Santa Monica locations.
Bus doesn't help me much if I need to get to some obscure location early in the morning with my bike and gear for a race, which is when I anticipate wanting to use a car.
GarySe7en09.26.08 - 9:05 am
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Rent4Less doesn't have that rule. I used to need to rent every so often and that was the best place to go to avoid the under 25 charge and get a fair price. This I am sure of. And the one in Reseda (if you're near there) is in a building that OBVIOUSLY used to be a morgue. There's other locations, including NoHo and Thousand Oaks, and I don't know where else. Go with them.
kryxtanicole09.26.08 - 9:19 am
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Join a local bike club and carpool.
sc_nomad09.26.08 - 9:23 am
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The problem with renting a car when you don't have a car is the insurance factor. Your looking at $20-$26 for insurance cost per day.
You can decline the insurance, but then you are left with a huge bill if something happens to the car. Some companies won't rent without you having or purchasing insurance. You are not going to have auto insurance since you aren't owing a automobile. I've tried to get a policy to cover rentals for when I would rent a car, and was not able to find a company that would offer such a policy. Remember many Credit cards will cover one aspect of the insurance if you use their card and decline that coverage. Which insurance coverage it cover will be stated in the cards details of benefits and coverage policy. Check your credit card policies.
The good news is, you are close enough to LAX to rent for one of the online travel agent. That is going to be the best prices you can usually find. You can use www.sidestep.com, put in LAX for the pick-up location and see what comes up cheapest. Remember if you purchase it on line and don't actually pick up the car, uou will still be charged for the rental, if you reserved it with your credit card.
If your carrying your bike, make sure you get something big enough to store it in the trunk easy. Always reserve the cheapest car. You can up grade when you get there, and sometimes the economy models are all rented out and they will upgrade you for free. Sometimes this may be a gamble. If you order the smallest car, it may be all they especially, if it is a busy weekend. Pay attention to holidays and heavy travel season. The price will usually dictate this or by calling a company and asking if they have many or few cars available. Most times it is best to order the smallest and cheapest car.
Always be sweet, nice and cordial with the rental person. I have gotten so many upgrades with my sugar tongue. The best is when I got a Cadillac Broughm for a economy size car price.
sexy09.26.08 - 11:36 am
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I guess it's because I know a couple of the people at my local Hertz, but when I rented before turning 25, they always blew off the underage fee in lieu of the insurance I bought.
Usually, the insurance you purchase tends to be cheaper with the class of vehicle you got.
The compact/midsize package only cost me $15/day with a $27/day rental.
bentstrider09.26.08 - 12:00 pm
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OF COURSE YOU COULD ALWAYZ STEAL A CAR, AS NEEDED.
IMAGINE THE CONFUSING OF CAR OWNER #1, WAKING UP, AND FINDING CAR OWNER #2's CAR IN THEIR DRIVEWAY...
... AND CAR OWNER #2 FINDING CAR OWNER #1's CAR IN THEIR DRIVEWAY.
SO 50 OF US, STEALING CARS, THAT'S 100 DISLOCATIONS, DON'T WORRY ABOUT THE CAR ALARMS, I GOT THAT COVERED.
eddieboyinla09.26.08 - 12:58 pm
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Up until the first week of September, Enterprise didn't have the under-25 underage drivers fee. Now it's $20 a day. :( They have a ton of locations in Santa Monica. I rent from them all the time. Get a credit card that covers the damage waiver (Capital One Mastercard does and you can pretty much get it with no credit history) and you'll only have to pay liability.
vladster09.26.08 - 1:31 pm
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there's a couple of rent to own places where you can set up an account to rent a car.
there is no state or federal law that prohibits drivers under the age of 25 from renting a car.
however, most insurance companies will not cover an under 25 driver on a rental car.
driving without insurance = illegal.
but find smaller places, and they'll have their own insurance set up so it'll be easier to take care of.
ijunes09.26.08 - 1:56 pm
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Thanks for the tips everyone, I'll start looking into some of these things. It's not immediate need, but I know at some point it's going to come up and I'd rather not get charged crazy style if I can avoid it. Although the monthly savings once I get rid of the car should more than make for several uses of even the more expensive rate.
GarySe7en09.27.08 - 8:27 am
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or... if you're a state farm customer you can speak with your agent and they would be more than happy to find you the best deals. i used to work for an agent and i did this for my clients all the time. just go in there and give them your situation and 9 times out of 10 they will do everything in their power to help you out.
Jazzy Phat Nastee09.27.08 - 11:52 am
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