BajaNomad

All this talk of car rentals, would you rent in TJ or San Diego

Bajagypsy - 12-18-2007 at 02:17 PM

What would you do and why?

Packoderm - 12-18-2007 at 02:23 PM

I think the 3rd voting choice should be, "I'm wanting to find out myself."

Bajagypsy - 12-18-2007 at 02:27 PM

It is never an issue for us, as we drive down!!! Just curious, when we are down, it might be nice for our parents to come on down, and we wanted to know what the best place would be.

oldjack - 12-18-2007 at 03:59 PM

You really don't have much of a choice... most if not all rental companies in San Diego will NOT let you take the vehicle into MX.. if you must rent TJ will be the choice....

805gregg - 12-18-2007 at 04:24 PM

Loreto

Pstreet1 - 12-19-2007 at 06:54 PM

Many car rental companies will not allow you to take the car across the border, so be sure to ask before confirming the rental.



Are you aware that if you choose an off-airport location, you will save quite a significant amount per day on the rental? When renting for a week, you will save many times the cab fare to pick up the car, and some of them have free customer pickup and return.



The following is a list from the San Diego phone book of companies advertising that they allow rental cars to go to Mexico:



Advantage: 1-800-574-6000



Avis: 1-800-831-2847 Airport office 619-688-5000



California Baja, Rent-a-Car (off airport): 619-445-2600 www.cabaja.com

email info@cabaja.com



Courtesy Auto Rental (off airport): 619-426-3433 or 619-424-8606 www.courtesyauto.com



Fuller Ford Rent-a-Car (off airport): 619-656-3370 www.thinkfuller.com



SouthWest Car Rental (off airport, but has free pickup & return): 619-429-9040

airport location number: 619-298-7544



Rental Image (off airport, but free customer pickup and return; however, it may be too far from the airport to be practical; I'm not sure of the location of this one): 1-800-725-5102



West Coast Rent A Car (off airport--free customer pickup): 619-544-0606



The insurance cost will be significant when renting a car to drive to Mexico. The company will require you to purchase Mexican 3rd party liability insurance, and that will add approximately $10.00 a day to the cost of renting. DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES FAIL TO INFORM THE RENTAL COMPANY THAT THE CAR WILL BE GOING TO MEXICO: if the car is not o.k’ed to go into Mexico and there is an accident, you will have violated the terms of the rental agreement, and you will be strictly on your own. The Mexican police do not care whether the vehicle is insured or not, but they care immensely whether you have 3rd party liability insurance or not. 3rd party liability covers damage you do to other people or their property. If you do not have 3rd party liability insurance, you will be taken to jail immediately and will remain there until the police are satisfied that you can pay for any damage you may have caused. When you call about the rental, verify that you can buy Mexican insurance for only the days you will actually be in Mexico. You don't want to pay Mexican insurance for the entire rental period.





A WAY TO CUT COSTS FOR RENTING IN MEXICO.

When renting IN Mexico, Avis Rental Company includes the cost of 3rd party liability in the rate they quote for the rental. They also accept your credit card insurance for coverage on the vehicle. Therefore, if you are willing to allow your credit card insurance to cover the vehicle, the rate Avis quotes is the total, except for tax and gas. A small economy car rented in Tijuana is $25.00-$30.00 a day. As far as I know, no other car rental company includes the mandatory 3rd party liability in the rate they quote. You can find verification on the Avis web site under rental policies for Mexico

fdt - 12-19-2007 at 07:03 PM

Renting in San Diego has always been the best alternative, lower weekly rates, better vehicles and yes, they have always let you take their cars into Mexico, they just add the mexico insurance, I always booked for my clients with two of the ones mentioned above, Courtesy ad Fuller.