Don't rent a car from Avis or Hertz on the island.....

[Alan P]

Perhaps but verify. You know the taxi/airport shuttle unions.

Personally I walk out to the road and take a taxi.

I just did that on the 23rd and had no problem. It was 100 pesos to centro.

 

[DandyDon]

NO! The car rental place at the Hotel Barracuda is NOT "payless". It's "Less Pay". There is a Pay Less rental on the island, but that's not it.

I do get those names confused. Which one was reported here to not have insurance paid for...?

 

[judydivescoz]

I do get those names confused. Which one was reported here to not have insurance paid for...?

That would be Less Pay.

 

[DandyDon]

That would be Less Pay.

Thanks. And that one is at the Barracuda hotel.

There is a Payless international car rental company but they do not have an agency on Cozumel, so I guess they are just using the name there. Probably best to avoid both...

 

[JenLoves2Dive]

Dandy Don says: "

Yep. There is one Coz agency I won't use, the one that defrauded a member with fake insurance - but their name is so similar to another, I'm not repeating it here."​

​

Hey Dandy - that sounds VERY familiar!
Seriously, there is only one rental car company I will rent from and that's Rentadora Isis. Margarita has always treated me fairly and after my nightmare with "another" car rental place (LP) she even provided me with a copy of their insurance. She communicates well, is easy to reach by email, and she's also a lovely person.

 

[mstevens]

​

Hey Dandy - that sounds VERY familiar!
Seriously, there is only one rental car company I will rent from and that's Rentadora Isis. Margarita has always treated me fairly and after my nightmare with "another" car rental place (LP) she even provided me with a copy of their insurance. She communicates well, is easy to reach by email, and she's also a lovely person.

My wife just bought a vehicle on the island, which is the only reason she's returning her Mexican Ferrari to Rentadora Isis today. We'll continue to rent cars from her when we have too many people at the house to fit in the new vehicle.

At this point, if Margarita doesn't have a car for us, we'll walk, bicycle, or take a taxi.

 

[5615mike]

Diving or driving? On Cozumel the two have relatively little to do with each other.

OMG Gordon what is wrong with you? You mean to tell me that the driving/car rental of the area is not at the top of the list when considering a diving destination? You need to change your priority list my man. If you do your trips will certainly have far better outcomes in the future. It is obvious that us Coz freaks should have been avoiding that place all these years.

 

[Scoober]

Huh. I just used Avis last week. Prepaid through Expedia. They inspected the car, checked the gas, took a little too long to deal with their computer, and told me I was pre-paid and good to go. No prob.

 

[Brules]

I wish Isis rented jeeps..........

 

[Christi]

The problem is it took 4+ weeks of fighting them sending certified letters and I work for a large Plaintiff law firm. I would rather avoid the hassle and frustration. It shouldn't be too much to ask for an honest car rental place. I have rented a ton of cars in the US and this has never happened
to me here.

I would prefer to avoid the car rentals in Mexico. However, I'm not going to jeopardize my 2 year old son's safety.. he needs a car seat. I know there has to be at least one honest car rental place on the island. This kind of shady behavior hurts the credibility of the whole island, especially to people like my in-laws who were visiting for the first time.

---------- Post added April 28th, 2012 at 08:43 AM ----------



I forgot to mention that part. We rented a large 4 door car and got something as small as a 4 door fiesta. I speak pretty decent Spanish and I told the guy we had reserved a bigger car and he told me that was all they had. Just shady stuff if you ask me.

I am very late to this thread - and honestly haven't read the whole thing - but as far as the car type, the cars the rental agencies have here ARE small - the only larger vehicles they typically have for rent are the vans or SUV's from the places that offer them - and they are limited in quantity.

The charges Can be different based on your banks exchange rate - because your credit card issuer is the one converting the pesos to dollars, not the rental agency. However, there sholdn't be THAT large of a difference, and I would simply dispute the amount with your credit card company - I assume you kept all of your receipts?

You shouldn't allow a car rental agency to "ruin the credibility of the entire island" - I KNOW you've had good honest and enjoyable experiences here

I will also HIGHLY recommend ISIS - Margarita (owner) is the sweetest, nicest, most honest lady you'll ever find - and she will assist if there are any issues at all. They do only have VW's, a few jeeps and a few air conditioned VW Sedans - no large cars - and I would reserve in advance to get one of the sedans!