2 month - US road trip

[mircea_elenin]

Hello everyone,
I'd like to start by congratulating the support team for the great work you're doing!
I'm from Romania, and currently planning a 2-month summer tour in the U.S. (NY-Charleston-Savannah-Miami-New Orleans- canyons in Utah, Nevada - Las Vegas - Mt. Whitney- Yosemite - San Francisco - Seattle - Yellowstone - Salt Lake City- Denver - Saint Louis - Chicago - Niagara - NY). "In figures", approximately 11000+ miles. To be able to move freely, I intend to rent a car throughout the entire period. I’d like to ask whether anyone has already done anything similar. Also, I’m interested in finding out how they resolved the issue of ensuring the regular maintenance to the rented car.
I really appreciate any advice I could get on this!
Mircea

[Southwest Dave]

Hello and welcome to the RTA forums !

That sounds like quite an adventure ! As for the car rental, it would be best to talk to them to find out what their policies are. You will be responsible for checking fluid levels etc, but for a service you might be able to [or have to] swap the vehicle at another office, or take it to a service centre of their choice to be done.

As you will more than likely be visiting 4 or more major National parks, it would make financial sense to buy the Annual pass at the first one you visit. It's $80 and you can use it as much as you want while you are travelling. 3 parks can add up to $75 so once beyond that you are saving money. You don't say what you will do for sleeping, but places like Yosemite, Grand canyon and Yellowstone get booked up quickly, so if you know when you will be arriving it might be wise to book lodgings if possible.

[DonnaR57]

Welcome to RTA!

My husband and I are veterans of a number of 6-8 week trips: San Diego to Alaska and back, around the Continental US two or three times. All were trips of 7000+ miles. They were in our own vehicles, however, rather than in rentals.

2014: our 46 day trip, San Diego to Houston to Missouri, to Gettysburg PA, to Illinois, northern Wisconsin, northern Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, over to Yellowstone and Grand Teton, and back home. Almost 9000 miles.

2012: a 7-week trip from our home in San Diego, across the south to Orlando FL, up the east coast to New Jersey, continuing the east coast to Acadia NP in Maine, back through NY, to MO, then home via Arches NP in Utah. Almost 9000 miles.

Our Alaska trip is not documented here, only in a journal that I kept. It was well over 10,000 miles, if memory serves.

Still, we have to service our vehicles mid-way, usually with an oil change. I would imagine that the rental companies would ask that you have them serviced, but as SWDave suggested, this is something you should ask the rental company.


Donna

[mircea_elenin]

Thank you Donna and Dave for your helpful suggestions. Indeed, such details should be clarified by the rental agencies. However, I was unable to find anything regarding the issue of regular maintenance during the rental period in their terms and conditions. And this is why I was hoping to talk to someone who has been in a similar situation...

[DonnaR57]

I was able to get in touch with a relative that is a local store manager for one of the major rental car companies. He says that his company is probably similar to other companies. They require that the rental car must "check in" to the nearest local office every 30 days. They also require that the oil change and regular maintenance be done by an affiliated company -- in their case, it would be Sears.


Hope this helps!

Donna

[mircea_elenin]

This helps enormously, Donna! Thank you so much.