BajaNomad

car rental in san diego recommendations

1Bajalover - 12-19-2013 at 01:54 AM

still at this - guess my friend got confused and we
do not have a reservation - has anyone rented a car
from an agency in san diego that can be driven to
Baja Sur for a few weeks ? it seems very expensive
and questionable but we seem stuck with this at this
point and plan on leaving in a few days - driving our
own car down to san diego from sonoma county -avis
and hertz seem to be the only companies besides
one associated with baja bound insurance -
thanks for all the information - what a great site !

BajaLuna - 12-19-2013 at 03:00 AM

We are renting through Budget at Lindberg Field Airport, keeping fingers crossed that there won't be any hang-ups when we get there to pick up the car. I talked directly to the Budget San Diego Airport Office (and the 1-800 number as well) and they assured me driving down to Baja Sur is not a problem. I had heard that some rental agency/ies cut you off at the border of Baja Norte and Baja Sur and they have GPS on the cars. But Budget doesn't do that. Arrangements to rent a car via Budget can be done online, and you can pay online too, however setting up the Mexico insurance and the actual write up for taking it down to Mexico all has to be done locally via the counter at the airport. The website just takes your reservation and your money but nowhere does it ask when you are making the reservation where you are taking it, nor does it say on your receipt that you are taking it to Mexico. So we have a reservation for a car and the rest has to be done in person.

CaBaja also rents to Baja Sur, we would have went with them except they don't have pick up or drop off at the airport and they are located in Spring Valley, and this just doesn't work for us as there are several of us on completely different flights and it would just add another layer of complication. But Kelli ( I think her name was) is good at getting back to you with a quote!

There may be other San Diego Budget offices that rent to Baja too, we were just interested in the airport location so that's the only one I talked to.

Hope this helps and doesn't confuse you even more!!! Good luck!

BajaLuna - 12-19-2013 at 03:08 AM

Forgot to add, they only have so many cars in their fleet that they allow to go down to Baja Sur, so I would give them a call directly at the local office first and talk to them, they will probably send you to the website to make the reservation, but they might have an idea if they will have any cars available.

According to the guy I talked to the cars they allow to go down into Baja Sur are cars with lower miles on them.

woody with a view - 12-19-2013 at 05:09 AM

cabaja.com

many people have good reviews.

1Bajalover - 12-19-2013 at 10:12 AM

thank you so much for such a thorough report on Budget-
I will give them a call now and go online to check them out
Have a wonderful trip - I like your description of the ideal world that would work well at the end of your email.

bajaguy - 12-19-2013 at 10:17 AM

The MANDATORY insurance for Mexico will cost you about $25 a day......and you have to buy it from the rental agency
Quote:
Originally posted by 1Bajalover
thank you so much for such a thorough report on Budget-
I will give them a call now and go online to check them out
Have a wonderful trip - I like your description of the ideal world that would work well at the end of your email.

1Bajalover - 12-19-2013 at 10:24 AM

Hi Baja Luna

I could be wrong but I just went to the specific site for San Diego airport Budget car rental and when scrolling down to read the detailed regulations - it does say that their cars are NOT to be driven into Baja or Mexico - you might wish to double check that site - it sounds like you have spoken to someone there so there could be other options that are not mentioned in the blurb that I read but I wanted to mention this to you. In my own research I have seen Avis and Hearst and SunDiego - (Cabaja) I believe is the name listed as places that will let you take the car out of the country but it has been difficult to get to a site to check it out or find phone numbers. So back to the research and thank you for all your help and maybe check out the Budget site and the small print.

bajaguy - 12-19-2013 at 10:42 AM

We have rented (in 2006) from Avis and Dollar. I also think Enterprise also allows cars in Baja
Quote:
Originally posted by 1Bajalover
Hi Baja Luna

I could be wrong but I just went to the specific site for San Diego airport Budget car rental and when scrolling down to read the detailed regulations - it does say that their cars are NOT to be driven into Baja or Mexico - you might wish to double check that site - it sounds like you have spoken to someone there so there could be other options that are not mentioned in the blurb that I read but I wanted to mention this to you. In my own research I have seen Avis and Hearst and SunDiego - (Cabaja) I believe is the name listed as places that will let you take the car out of the country but it has been difficult to get to a site to check it out or find phone numbers. So back to the research and thank you for all your help and maybe check out the Budget site and the small print.

David K - 12-19-2013 at 10:45 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by 1Bajalover
Hi Baja Luna

I could be wrong but I just went to the specific site for San Diego airport Budget car rental and when scrolling down to read the detailed regulations - it does say that their cars are NOT to be driven into Baja or Mexico - you might wish to double check that site - it sounds like you have spoken to someone there so there could be other options that are not mentioned in the blurb that I read but I wanted to mention this to you. In my own research I have seen Avis and Hearst and SunDiego - (Cabaja) I believe is the name listed as places that will let you take the car out of the country but it has been difficult to get to a site to check it out or find phone numbers. So back to the research and thank you for all your help and maybe check out the Budget site and the small print.


?? Here it is:

http://cabaja.com

Phone: 1.619.470.RENT (7368)
Email: info@cabaja.com

1Bajalover - 12-19-2013 at 11:02 AM

oh I am in touch with cabaja - was just hoping there might be a better deal than them but they may be the one we go with at this point - thanks tho

David K - 12-19-2013 at 11:05 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by 1Bajalover
oh I am in touch with cabaja - was just hoping there might be a better deal than them but they may be the one we go with at this point - thanks tho


OK cool... the way I read your post it sounded like you couldn't get to their site and get a phone number...
Merry Christmas!

BajaLuna - 12-19-2013 at 11:20 AM

thanks for that info, 1BajaLover.

I talked directly to a human bean there, so I'm hoping he knew what he was talking about, LOL. We tried to rent a mini van but Budget doesn't allow them to go down into Baja, but would allow an SUV, go figure!

They quoted us 35.00 a day for Mex insurance, OUCH!

Hoping it all goes smoothly for you and us!

Now if only the snow forecast for tomorrow morning here in Seattle would just go away I'd be a happy camper!

1Bajalover - 12-20-2013 at 01:46 PM

we have now gone over to Enterprise and renting in Santa Barbara and insuring it when we get to Chula Vista (the $35.
a day deal) - it seems like it is finally all set and clear -
Good Luck on your trip - maybe we will see each other
driving down that long,beautiful but long, road.
Wanda
oh cabaja is hundreds of dollars more by the prices we have
been confirmed with - so not a great choice - maybe at a less
busy time they would be good.

latina - 12-21-2013 at 07:45 AM

National Car Rental at the San Diego Airport.