Car hire Florida

[mark_eire]

Its been about 10 years since we've been over and hired a car in Florida.
We're going back over this year with the family including some of the in-laws!!, I'm going to need to hire an 8 seater premium SUV to fit us all in!!

Can anybody enlighten me as to what I need to add to the rental to adequately cover ourselves!

Enterprise and Avis seem to be the only ones guaranteeing an 8 seater on my first brief search.

Also, I know we needed a credit card previously to rent but unsure if this is still required, bearing in mind, the car is from the premium listings.

Thanks in advance

[DadsMorrisMinor]

Sounds like an interesting holiday 😉

I’m just back from West coast US where I hired something smaller.
Yes, credit card essential, (CDW) collision damage waiver insurance which I prepurchaed , wasn’t mandatory but highly recommended- to cover vehicle damage) and (LIS) liability insurance supplement (personal injury arising from vehicle incident) which I hadn’t purchased in advance, minor surprise after an 11 hour flight!

Bring the credit card you use to book/pay for the car hire - assuming you do the booking/payment in advance

Shout if anything else more specific or related. Think I’m jet lagged here


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[Traco]

I've found best deals on last two trips through Expedia and I buy the insurance through them. I also have an annual car hire excess policy to pick up any gaps.

Not sure if you will get an 8 seater through them though as I will take the best deal I can get so usually end up in a National or Dollar. Usually high milers and not the best nick but leaves more over for the beer fund.

[mark_eire]

Cheers lads, I've seen Budget/Avis with an 8 seater Chevy Superior premium suv for around $1700 for 2 weeks including ldw insurance, just need to dig around and see what's included/excluded 👍🏼

[RPC]

Check out www.turo.com - I haven’t used it personally but it seems popular over here and may give some nicer options. It’s basically like Airbnb for cars as you rent an individuals car. There’s a FAQ section at the bottom of the homepage which explains licence requirements, insurance, pickup/drop
off etc.

[DadsMorrisMinor]

Check out www.turo.com - I haven’t used it personally but it seems popular over here and may give some nicer options. It’s basically like Airbnb for cars as you rent an individuals car. There’s a FAQ section at the bottom of the homepage which explains licence requirements, insurance, pickup/drop
off etc.

I almost used Turo. I booked and paid for 2 week hire (a few months in advance) comfortable in the knowledge that I could cancel up to 24 hrs before hire. Only problem is , so could the other party. He messaged me 3/4 days before we departed to say the car wasn't available. I guess it works both ways!

In the end I took the same approach as Trac0 - used Orbitz (same owner as Expedia I understand) to book and pay for hire and CDW, although I was much later in booking than normal. The silver lining in this episode was that I got a very good deal in comparison to what I was quoted earlier in the year via the main outlets - which was a major fluke.

[GT]

I use Arguscarhire.com as a search engine and ended up renting from Green motion/VIP cars on a trip to Florida last year got a almost new V6 Dodge Durango 7 seater for about 900 dollars for 12 days
only anxiety was to have a good supply of quarters as a lot of toll booths did not take cards

[Traco]

Around Orlando there are physical booths where you can pay with cash or card I think now but around Miami some of the turnpikes have no booths and need a registered reg. I imagine the rental company will just pass on the charges but may add an admin fee.

For tolls its worth checking out sunpass and see if you can set up an account thats plate based. I have a physical tag like the ones here (you can buy them in 7-eleven or other garages etc). I top up with a card and switch from car to car when over there. Handy enough but I am there at least once a year if not more so the tag makes sense to me.

[Username]

I think it was Alamo I used most recently. You sort out all the hire/insurance stuff before you get there and you're not limited to a specific car, you just pick whichever you like from the multi-storey and head to the exit booth where you show them your docs and check out.

You can get all sorts of things. There were Ford and Dodge pick-ups, Camero's, Little Kia things and loads of Chrysler Voyagers.

I went with the Voyager. It was an 8 seater with full leather, reclining second row with arm rests, front/rear air-con etc. Be sure to pick something with decent tires and take pics of it from all angles before you leave, just to cover yourself. They ride you for returning it low on fuel too, so be sure to document how much was in it and top it up before you give it back.

[arginite]

Check out www.turo.com - I haven’t used it personally but it seems popular over here and may give some nicer options. It’s basically like Airbnb for cars as you rent an individuals car. There’s a FAQ section at the bottom of the homepage which explains licence requirements, insurance, pickup/drop
off etc.

I've used Turo in the UK, so it may be different in the US, the guy I rented it of had good reviews but ended up being an hour late dropping the car of and the car was a bit of a dog wear wise (clutch judder, suspension arms knocking), otherwise it was reliable.

[BF1979]

Lots of toll roads & a lot don't take cash/cards - so if you are driving a bit probably worth getting unlimited toll coverage form the hire car company. I paid about $100 extra from Dollar for it last April for 2 weeks & spent a good bit more on that on tolls, so was worth it

[mark_eire]

Thanks for all the advice lads, great help,

Had never heard of the Turo site, looks really interesting, I'd definitely like to hire something off that when we go back another time but with the In-Laws coming this time I don't fancy starting the holidays with a row if the rental car doesn't turn up 🤣

Found a Chevy Suburban 8 seater on Argus hire via Dollar cars for approx $1400 including insurance which doesn't seem too bad compared with other offerings...

[admredux]

Yeah turo can be hit or miss. We rented a car for three weeks when we first moved here and it was far from clean but grand since we were trashing it with the two kids anyways.

It's gotta be bargain basement cheap to make it be worth looking at!

I think we had a Plymouth people carrier for 21 days at 25 a day. Moved house etc with it, great deal!

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