I am going to Cabo on 10/24. We usually take a shuttle from the airport to the resort. However I have thought about renting a car for the week. I am VERY leery of a car rental in Mexico/Cabo!! Can anyone please ease my mind a little? Can anyone suggest a reputable car rental company? How about insurance? How can I get the best pricing in advance? I have rented a lot of cars in the US but am VERY leery of Mexico. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks!
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Car Rental In Cabo
- Thread starter jyager
- Start date
PStreet1
TUG Lifetime Member
We do it and have never had a problem. The people on www.tripadvisor.com have lots of very specific recomendations for companies to use and to avoid. They also include ways to contact the providers they recommend. Just do a search for car rentals: http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowForum-g150773-i83-Los_Cabos_Baja_California.html
Be aware that there are two kinds of insurance.
1. insurance on the vehicle itself. If you choose to use it, your credit card probably covers the vehicle itself. American Express has insurance you can add to your card which covers the vehicle/medical for the cars occupants/theft of items. Am. Ex. insurance is about $25.00 (exact amount depends on the state you live in) and that covers the entire rental period up to 90 days (I think; it could be less time; check to see). They will add the coverage to your card with just a phone call.
2. MEXICAN 3rd party liability for damage you do to others or their property. No credit card insurance covers liability. You will be requirred to purchase liability from the car rental company; they aren't lying about your need for it; it is the law. It is also the insurance that will keep you out of a Mexican jail if there is an accident. Without it, you go directly to jail and you stay there until they are satisfied you can pay for any damage you caused. With it, the procedure is similar to the U.S. Liability insurance varies in cost from rental car company to rental car company; plan on $10.00 to $15.00 a day.
Be aware that there are two kinds of insurance.
1. insurance on the vehicle itself. If you choose to use it, your credit card probably covers the vehicle itself. American Express has insurance you can add to your card which covers the vehicle/medical for the cars occupants/theft of items. Am. Ex. insurance is about $25.00 (exact amount depends on the state you live in) and that covers the entire rental period up to 90 days (I think; it could be less time; check to see). They will add the coverage to your card with just a phone call.
2. MEXICAN 3rd party liability for damage you do to others or their property. No credit card insurance covers liability. You will be requirred to purchase liability from the car rental company; they aren't lying about your need for it; it is the law. It is also the insurance that will keep you out of a Mexican jail if there is an accident. Without it, you go directly to jail and you stay there until they are satisfied you can pay for any damage you caused. With it, the procedure is similar to the U.S. Liability insurance varies in cost from rental car company to rental car company; plan on $10.00 to $15.00 a day.
Have you checked out the sticky on rental cars in Mx? Some decent info. there. http://tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=91121
I don't get why American's are nervous to drive in Mexico (other than being brainwashed by the media, and stories that happened to a friend of a friend). They drive on the same side of the road, use the same signage pretty much, and even if you dont speak spanish you can still understand the signs for the most part.
On the other hand, driving in England/Australia/carib islands with british roots/japan its vastly different, especially getting used to the steering wheel on the other side and the manual shifting with the left hand. Or elsewhere in Europe or Asia with tiny roads, incomprehensible signage, and some downright awful drivers. MX is a cakewalk compared to driving elsewhere in the world.
That being said, my tips for you are: do the speed limit although locals may be speeding. Get proper coverage. Drive safe. Have fun!
I don't get why American's are nervous to drive in Mexico (other than being brainwashed by the media, and stories that happened to a friend of a friend). They drive on the same side of the road, use the same signage pretty much, and even if you dont speak spanish you can still understand the signs for the most part.
On the other hand, driving in England/Australia/carib islands with british roots/japan its vastly different, especially getting used to the steering wheel on the other side and the manual shifting with the left hand. Or elsewhere in Europe or Asia with tiny roads, incomprehensible signage, and some downright awful drivers. MX is a cakewalk compared to driving elsewhere in the world.
That being said, my tips for you are: do the speed limit although locals may be speeding. Get proper coverage. Drive safe. Have fun!
sjsharkie
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This is not exactly true. Mexico car rental agencies are required to provide the basic minimum insurance as part of the rental rate. To be sure, you should check your contract, but all of the majors do (i.e. Hertz, Avis). However, it is the bare minimum of insurance, and if the damages exceed the basic -- you will likely be detained until you can prove that you can pay for the damage you caused.
So, my recommendation is that you either purchase the supplemental liability insurance from the rental company or purchase third-party insurance from a reliable Mexico company.
Reference is here:
http://www.sfgate.com/mexico/mexico...r-in-Mexico-What-you-need-to-know-3787891.php
Good luck,
Ryan
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sjsharkie
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In addition to my previous post around insurance, be sure that you look for the Avis driver and Avis van. Do not be fooled by the timeshare or other companies that sit outside arrivals and tell you that they will take you to the rental lot.
Inspect the car thoroughly and note any dings or scratches before you leave the lot. While this is good advice for any rental anywhere, some of the roads outside of the Cabo area (like going up to Todos Santos) can be quite dusty and rocky. Luckily, on average the cars seem to be a bit more beat up than what I'm used to when renting in the states.
Finally, as long as you aren't going into any off beaten paths, you should be fine. The tourist areas of Mexico are pretty safe.
Good luck,
Ryan
pacodemountainside
TUG Member
I hit Cabo every January and always rent and no major problems.
Do check car's condition carefully and note everything. Most do have a few worts. Same when getting back from valet parking.
Make sure gas gage is on right side of full when returning. Best to pay for gas in pesos!
Speed bumps are not very well marked if at all.
Read and heed prior posts on insurance.
Make copies of driver's license in case stopped.
There will probably be a body snatcher at rental place offering voucher to cover most of rental for sales pitch.
To locals stop sign means slow down not a complete stop.
Do check car's condition carefully and note everything. Most do have a few worts. Same when getting back from valet parking.
Make sure gas gage is on right side of full when returning. Best to pay for gas in pesos!
Speed bumps are not very well marked if at all.
Read and heed prior posts on insurance.
Make copies of driver's license in case stopped.
There will probably be a body snatcher at rental place offering voucher to cover most of rental for sales pitch.
To locals stop sign means slow down not a complete stop.
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Every car on the road in Mexico is required to have liability insurance. Its the same dealio in the USA. With car rental companies the liability can be part of the quoted rate or can be an add on.
In Mexico, Fox, Alamo and maybe a few others requires you to purchase the liability insurance from them. Avis and Hertz include the liability insurance in their rate.
Avis is an American corp. Hertz in Mexico is a Mexican corp. I prefer Avis but have used Hertz and last year my only option in Loreto was Fox as I needed to drop the car off in Cabo.
What I like is Avis using the RCI car code. I decline all extras. I use the Amex card and enroll the card in Amex travel for the additional protection it provides. By doing this there is 0 deductible on damage to the car.
I always take pictures of the car before I leave the rental agency and always note on the rental agencies paperwork all scratches, dings and dents. I mark everything.
If you purchase the insurance from the rental company there is a deductible. Many of the complaints about car rental in Mexico involve the subjectivity of damage on a rental car by the rental cat agency.
Recently, I like having a phone to use and call the agency before I leave.
As far as driving in Mexico, especially in the Cabo area which includes all of southern Baja, its very easy and safe. The roads near the Pacific are 4 lane freeway from outside of Cabo to La Paz. The road from SJD to Cabo is a toll road then a 4 lane hwy. There is no left turn frontage lanes in Cabo anymore with the exception of off the highway to get to Costco.
I have never had a problem with Avis. I did bring a newish Avis car back with a golf ball sized ding and the manager did look at it and let us go on our way.
Bill
In Mexico, Fox, Alamo and maybe a few others requires you to purchase the liability insurance from them. Avis and Hertz include the liability insurance in their rate.
Avis is an American corp. Hertz in Mexico is a Mexican corp. I prefer Avis but have used Hertz and last year my only option in Loreto was Fox as I needed to drop the car off in Cabo.
What I like is Avis using the RCI car code. I decline all extras. I use the Amex card and enroll the card in Amex travel for the additional protection it provides. By doing this there is 0 deductible on damage to the car.
I always take pictures of the car before I leave the rental agency and always note on the rental agencies paperwork all scratches, dings and dents. I mark everything.
If you purchase the insurance from the rental company there is a deductible. Many of the complaints about car rental in Mexico involve the subjectivity of damage on a rental car by the rental cat agency.
Recently, I like having a phone to use and call the agency before I leave.
As far as driving in Mexico, especially in the Cabo area which includes all of southern Baja, its very easy and safe. The roads near the Pacific are 4 lane freeway from outside of Cabo to La Paz. The road from SJD to Cabo is a toll road then a 4 lane hwy. There is no left turn frontage lanes in Cabo anymore with the exception of off the highway to get to Costco.
I have never had a problem with Avis. I did bring a newish Avis car back with a golf ball sized ding and the manager did look at it and let us go on our way.
Bill
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Thanks!!
Thanks for all the excellent input!!
Thanks for all the excellent input!!
If you are looking for a reputable car rental company check out the Mexico forum on Tripadvisor. There are several that come highly recommended. We used Dominic's Car Rental in Cabo San Lucas and he was great!
We used Dominic's car rental when we needed to rent a car in Cabo. He is highly recommended on the Tripadvisor forums and he was great. You can contact him through e-mail at dominicloscabos.com and he will answer any questions you may have. Tell him that you saw that he was recommended on Tripadvisor. You can private message me if you want.
Rented three separate times with no problems from:
Antonio Miranda
Economy & Cactus Car rental
Aeropuerto Internacional de Los Cabos
Phone: 624-14-61839
Cell 624-15-80715
toll free from USA: 18662259220
toll free From Canada 18665790517
toll free MEX: 18008217977
www.cactuscar.com
Driving was easy in Cabo ! Take the trip to Todos Santos for fun
Antonio Miranda
Economy & Cactus Car rental
Aeropuerto Internacional de Los Cabos
Phone: 624-14-61839
Cell 624-15-80715
toll free from USA: 18662259220
toll free From Canada 18665790517
toll free MEX: 18008217977
www.cactuscar.com
Driving was easy in Cabo ! Take the trip to Todos Santos for fun
nazclk
TUG Member
Cabo Car Rental
Dominic was good, but Antonio at Cactus is as good and cheaper.
Dominic was good, but Antonio at Cactus is as good and cheaper.
Was wooed by a TS presentation-ok w/ going ( I'm a veteran w/ this) and do want to see property ( not Mayan-is a Wyndham ). They want me to pay THEM for rental, and they give a coupon to cover at the breakfast- new business wrinkle. Anyone do this? Makes me pause...
nazclk
TUG Member
car rental
I wouldn't do it. Sounds shady especially in Cabo.
I wouldn't do it. Sounds shady especially in Cabo.
Just returned from a 3 week visit to Cabo. Didn't want or need a rental car for most of the visit. However, one day had 2 guests arriving and the cost of the rental car was to be same as them taking a shuttle. Rented twice through Avis (reserved online/picked up at hotel) -- once at Alamo. The Alamo rental started off badly as the counter person said: "We have no cars available." I proceeded to inquire if that meant that my Confirmation was a 'worthless piece of paper' -- and thankfully the manager arrived and was able to work something out for us. We rented in Cabo, returning to airport the next day. Again, the rate was reasonable and comparable to 3 on a shuttle. However, the last shuttle was just after 1 pm and our flight was at 5 pm so we didn't want to go to the airport that early.
Thankfully I allowed a bit of extra time -- when we returned the car to Alamo at the airport there was a bit of conversation amongst the workers (in Spanish so I couldn't understand). Finally I was told there was a problem because "The spare tire is not the one that matches the others with the car." Picture me, a gray-haired woman with a handicapped husband. I inquired what it was they thought I had done with the 'original' tire. Again, thankfully, I had the name of the manager of the Cabo location and was able to ask them to call him to confirm all was well.
My final words to the Alamo person: "This is the type of thing that causes Americans to be cautious when renting a car in Mexico."
Thankfully I allowed a bit of extra time -- when we returned the car to Alamo at the airport there was a bit of conversation amongst the workers (in Spanish so I couldn't understand). Finally I was told there was a problem because "The spare tire is not the one that matches the others with the car." Picture me, a gray-haired woman with a handicapped husband. I inquired what it was they thought I had done with the 'original' tire. Again, thankfully, I had the name of the manager of the Cabo location and was able to ask them to call him to confirm all was well.
My final words to the Alamo person: "This is the type of thing that causes Americans to be cautious when renting a car in Mexico."
Surfer44
newbie
I go every summer to Cabo and I always rent a car for a week at www.cabosuvrentals.com.
They have very good rates and safe roomy cars, in my experience, cheeper than the rest of the mexican rentals. All insurance is included and they don't ask you for a credit card deposit.
I hope this will help you.
They have very good rates and safe roomy cars, in my experience, cheeper than the rest of the mexican rentals. All insurance is included and they don't ask you for a credit card deposit.
I hope this will help you.
tkrisnel
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Your post is several years old ... have you used cabosuvrentals lately. They seem to generally get good reviews across several channels, but some of the comments give me pause ... old cars/poor maintenance, cash only ....any info is appreciated. thanks.
FunnyFarm
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Beware if you get pulled over by police. They will want your drivers license and then hold it for a bribe in cash. They gave us a folded paper with junk written on it so it looked like they were giving us a ticket to anyone watching. It took us a while to figure out what the paper was all about. We gave a bribe and we were off again. He did threaten jail if we got a real ticket and didn't pay right there. I think there may be a thread about the proper bribe amount and whether to pay at all or not.
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I had the foot traffic police get in front of our rental car in downtown Cabo supposedly because I parked at the yellow curb to let our passengers out. I tried to give her $10 to get out of the way. She wouldn't take it but she also wasn't in front of the car so I drove away. Usually I keep an International Drivers License issued by AAA with a $20 in it and hand it over if I get pulled over which has only happened twice.
Bill