Important information shared previously by Valerie Farrington Teters:
Valerie Farrington Teters
January 22
Hi All- many of us have been going round and round about the insane cost of car rentals in Baja. Since we are on the East Cape frequently and have not
yet brought a car down to leave at our home, as you can imagine, we’ve really felt slammed by the rental car costs-easily $500 per week or more for
a compact 2 wheel SUV. I decided to invest some time this past week to really get to know the laws regarding liability and collision insurance
requirements in Baja since the upfront cost of renting a car always sounds like a steal (in a good way) when you go to reserve online.
Here’s what I now know after a little research and a couple of phone calls. Liability insurance -always comes with every rental car in Baja. The
laws mandate that the rental companies include $750,000 pesos of coverage with your rental. When they tell you you need liability insurance and tell
you it’s going to cost $400 a week, that is NOT TRUE-you are being up-sold additional insurance that you do not need. Ask them and the agents will
confirm that you have this coverage already included-or look right on the rental email-it’s on the front of it! Collision-almost all American credit
card companies do provide collision insurance for rental cars in foreign counties. I made sure ours covered a Mexican car rental for the full extent
of any damages. I called my CC, was transferred to an auto rental coverage specialist, had them review coverage for Baja with me, and they emailed the
policy details to me within minutes. I made two copies and presented one to the agent and kept a copy with the car rental papers. One caution, should
there be a claim, you would have to pay for repairs directly to the rental car agency and then your CC Co would reimburse you-and you leave a $2,500
US dollar deposit which is a CC transaction that never actually gets charged to your card. Lastly, yesterday I made a quick call to MEX, confirmed
that our 17 day rental would cost $57 US (Kia Sportage) and included $750,000 pesos liability insurance. I also told them that I was bringing a copy
of my collision coverage. I got the agent I spoke with’s name and wrote it on the proof of collision insurance copy.
Today when we arrived at MEX I was told the rental would be $1,400. I was very polite and very prepared. I presented her with a printed out copy of my
itinerary showing $58 including $750,000 peso liability coverage. The agent was furious with me and tried to add a second driver (without asking me
first)for $250, add collision and additional liability coverage....She was openly aggressive and angry. I remained calm and showed her my res #, proof
of collision insurance and the name of the agent I spoke with the day before to confirm my rental and cost. She finally gave up and tossed us the keys
and walked away. $58 US. Not $1,400 US for 17 days. BAM!
Hope this helps those of you in the same predicament. As someone else pointed out here-make sure you get pics of all dents and scratches with the
rental facility as your time stamp before you drive away! |
