I would not ever again rent a car from a small Mexican owned car rental agency. These companies are not bound by anything as far as I can tell. Avant might have good reviews but they do not take Amex in a traditional way. In other words, Amex protection is not available with Avant.
I have rented from smaller Mexican car rental companies in the past and have had problems because of the age or maintenance of the car. I had a Suburban that had a bad battery leaving us stranded until someone came to fix it. They gave me a jump start and the Suburban died at the resort. It was a hassle to have the resort allow this company into the garage to replace the battery. On a different trip I had a nice looking minivan that began to overheat that I rented from a local provider. They didn't have anything to replace the minvan. The worst was a vehicle that was left for me at the airport that had steering problems.
The other problem with renting from Mexican car rental companies is that there is no way to verify that the extra insurance you purchase is valid or that they will follow through on any thing. When you rent from a major corporation like Avis, the corporation is bound by their terms of service, everything is in writing and if you have a problem you can call someone other than the people you are having a problem with.
The last car I rented at Cancun Airport was through Alamo. It was a VW Jetta with less than 10,000 km on it. Very nice car with very nice amenities. The year before that I rented a Toyota Corolla from Avis Cancun with less than 10,000 km on it. Very nice car.
Bill
Well Bill, a few errors and misconceptions.
First, you are correct that Avant does not accept American Express; they accept Visa & MasterCard with their respective "protection". You elude that you rely on "Am Ex protection", however while driving in Mexico, that isn't going to help you. As anyone renting and driving there should know, if you are involved in a mva with damages or injuries, you will be held until the police determine blame. In Mexico, you are presumed guilty until proven innocent, and
you are the foreigner. If you are found responsible for damages or injuries, you will be detained until you pay up for these, or your selected source of
Mexican purchased insurance comes to your rescue. Thus, relying on your Am Ex, or any cc for that matter for "protection" isn't worth the paper it's printed on in Mexico. You're going to jail. Being reimbursed by your cc for damages or injury after you return home is not going to be your objective. Getting home will be. So much for your cc "protection". It's useless in Mexico. Look it up.
Second, not all small Mexican car rental companies are created equal. You've already proven my point by indicting Avant, a smaller Mexican company that provides outstanding service, true protection, and new vehicles. I've rented from many of the rental agencies in this region over the past 25 years, and have my own examples of old, dilapidated rental cars. However, the vehicles we've rented from Avant were NEW. We, and our friends accompanying us will be renting vehicles from them very soon, and I'd be happy to post photos of these vehicles, as I'm confident they won't be junkers, but new.
Third, you need to do more homework, and
read your contract before making a statement like this: "
problem with renting from Mexican car rental companies is that there is no way to verify that the extra insurance you purchase is valid or that they will follow through on any thing". What proof do you have that your privately owned Avis
will? Can you please reference a first hand example or two?
Finally, you apparently are unaware that the "major corporations like Avis" in Cancun are not affiliated with these U.S. companies. Avis in Cancun is a privately owned company, by a local resident. You are assuming that you will receive the same type of service, protection, and response of Avis USA, and you would be very mistaken. These small Mexican based rental agencies
license the name from Avis, Hertz, Budget, etc. So many unknowing tourists are misled by this tactic only to learn
when they have a problem that these companies are nothing more than the "Mexican car rental companies" that you've indicted. Avis USA just told me "you could anticipate a delay of up to 45 days for any assistance" from them, if you have a problem with Avis Cancun.
Look it up. Or, call them yourself.
