Rental Car Surcharges and Taxes

[RoadTripper Brad]

Here in Phoenix, our public transit really takes the low points, and our taxi service will cost you an arm and a leg just to go a few miles. If I was only spending a day or two, or was in a city like New York where transit is abound, I wouldn't bother with a rental, but for most the the cities I've been to (Seattle, San Francisco, LA, Phoenix), to do much out away from your hotel without having to dole out the dinero or be inconvenienced by late bus service/no taxis, a rental car seems best. Yet, I'm too young to rent one... so I'm stuck with transit, taxies, and super-shuttle to get around if I go off without my own wheels.

-Brad

[AshleyDillo]

Does any one know of a rental company that will rent to users under 25? Hertz is the cheapest being $25 a day for a driver under 25. So my week long road trip will cost an extra $175. Thats a bunch of "nonsense" if you ask me.

Enterprise is only $10 extra a day I believe. If you don't use a credit card you WILL have to surrender a deposit or a hold against debit card funds, but I believe this is for all renters, not just someone under 21.

-- Ashley

[Midwest Michael]

Enterprise's 21-25 fee varies from location to location. I have seen it as low as $10 at some places, up around $25 or more at others, and some places Enterprise won't allow anyone under 25 at all.

[Mark Sedenquist]

I rented a 2007 Chrysler Torrent AWD (SUV) from National at Las Vegas from May 23rd to June 6th. Taxes (called a variety of things ranging from "customer facility charge, city car rental fee, license recovery surcharge, Tax recoup and Nevada government surcharge fee") added 29% of the rental fee to the total cost. ($113.95)

Total cost for the 15 days (including my discounts) was $397.52 for a brand new car with unlimited mileage and was a nice ride!

Mark

[The Taco Monster]

I've been to Florida fairly frequently, from the Wash DC area, and have noticed the taxes there boosted the bill around 50%. I investigated further and found some (not all) of the taxes are levied on travellers and not the local population. The true difference comes in how long you've been in Florida before you pick up your car rental. At the time I asked, the magic time span was 72 hours. After that you are treated like a resident. Now, I've relatives in Florida, so immediate transportation has not been critical.

Another option if you in the N.E. is to send your own car down by Amtrack's AutoTrain, leaving just South of Washington DC. I've found if you are in Florida two weeks or more, Amtrack's ticket for the car, will be less than renting a car for the same time period. For just a week, the cost is about the same. BTW - You have to travel on the same train as the car. Very roomy seats are standard, more private accomodations are also available. An overnight trip. The cheaper private accomodations can be cramped if you have more than two people, regardless of what you might see on the train's website.

Here's another saver for California that worked well for me. This is from a trip I took late May, early June (yes over memorial day). Flew into Sacramento. Two months before I left I checked rental car prices for a 10 day period,
and found them $200 - $300 more than what I expected, i.e. over $500 for an intermediate 5-passenger car. I got the price I wanted by (a) staying overnight in Sacramento at a motel, then (b) getting Amtrack part-way to Yosemite (my first "real destination), and picked up a rental car at a small town part way there. Presto, no high fees.

Point is, if you have the flexibility, and can do without the car for a few days, there are ways to make that drive more affordable. BTW, in the past year, I've twice rented at one location, dropped of at another without a surcharge -- perhaps because I'm a AAA member, perhaps it was just the locations. :-?

Hope that helps.

[Mark Sedenquist]

Here's another saver for California that worked well for me. ...I got the price I wanted by (a) staying overnight in Sacramento at a motel, then (b) getting Amtrack part-way to Yosemite (my first "real destination), and picked up a rental car at a small town part way there. Presto, no high fees.

VERY interesting -- thanks for sharing these tips!

Mark

[PNW Judy]

Another option if you in the N.E. is to send your own car down by Amtrack's AutoTrain, leaving just South of Washington DC.

I had no idea these types of trains existed in the US. I knew they were in Europe but didn't know they were here. Very cool.

[RoadTripper Brad]

I too have heard that, although avalibility may be less ample and the selection of vehicles limited, you can shave quite a few bucks off the Metro Rental prices by getting as far from the Metro Area as possible.

As soon as I reach the age where I can rent a car without being asked to pay an unthinkable surcharge, this idea will lay well into my origional plans of flying into Sea-Tac from Phoenix then taking the Super Shuttle to Amtrak/King St. Station, and off to Wenatchee.

[Mark Sedenquist]

I too have heard that, although avalibility may be less ample and the selection of vehicles limited, you can shave quite a few bucks off the Metro Rental prices by getting as far from the Metro Area as possible.

In my limited experience, I have found that the best place to find the lowest prices are at the high-volume sites -- like airports and metro locations. I have paid large premiums for cars when renting in locations with small number of cars in the local fleet.

Mark

[The Taco Monster]

I have found that the best place to find the lowest prices are at the high-volume sites -- like airports and metro locations.
Mark

That was especially true many years ago when I compared prices in San Diego to a small airport to the West by 20 miles. Back then, I think the taxes were fairly low, regardless of where you got the car - the price was just say 5% higher than the quoted rate, regardless of location. Long time ago.

Las Vegas would make an interesting case for today. If I recall the taxes and other fees almost double the price when renting from the airport. I wonder if that's the case when renting from a neighborhood location.