Prius or Rental

Hi all,

In a week, a few friends and I will travel from the bay area to the Death Valley, Las Vegas, the Grand Canyon, LA, and then back to the bay area. We plan to take about 14 days for this. We will have five people in half of the trip and four or three in the other half.

I have a 1.5-year Toyota Prius with 13000 miles on it. I'm wondering if it's better to drive my Prius (for fuel efficiency and familiarity with the car) or to rent an SUV (for being able drive on some of the rough roads [are there any in this route?] and reliability).

Three of us might drive in turn. Would renting make this simpler (in terms of insurance and liability)? We are US-licensed drivers with insurance on our regular vehicle. Do we need to purchase additional insurance (either renting or driving my own)?

Thanks!

--Hong

You have too many people to be anywhere close to comfortable in a Prius for 2 weeks. I'd rent a minivan or SUV. Gas prices are down now so this isn't going to hurt your wallet that bad. A loaded down Prius isn't going to get you that great gas mileage out on the highway anyway, the engine will be running most of the time.

I wouldn't be concerned about rough roads. The only time I'd be concerned is if you want to take it off road or on unpaved roads, and most rental SUV's aren't allowed off road anyway.

The primary renter should be the person who has the best insurance coverage on his/her own vehicle, and confirmed that it will cover a rental. All drivers should be 25+ to avoid high surcharges.

Hello and welcome to the R.T.A forums.

As glc pointed out a rental SUV will not be allowed to go "off road" and the roads you travel will not normally require one. I say "normally" as it could be handy if there are any winter storms but they are not invincible like some people tend to think. This can lead them to perhaps tackling a journey that they shouldn't attempt in the first place.

However 5 people in a Prius with 2 weeks worth of luggage each [maybe not all 5 for 2 weeks, but.....]it is going to be packed like Sardines in a tin, so a mini van or seven seater rental would be a more comfortable option.
Other than the space, your car would be fine for the trip.

Thanks a lot for the advice.

--Hong