I just got back from my long weekend and thought I'd share what I had learned about renting a car on Coz. In my earlier thread last week I was asking for information about car rental insurance, and some said they were interested in hearing about how it all worked out. Most of you probably know all of this, but in case there are new folks, maybe they can learn from my experiences.
First - I ended up having to call and change my pick-up time from 11a.m. to 1p.m. and I had to go through Expedia to do this (in my original message I said I was booked with Orbitz,, but I forgot this trip I used Expedia). The agent told me that there were no cars available at 1pm (I have no idea why they could not just hold my other car from 11 till 1 ?! but whatever. So she said I would either have to upgrade to a more expensive car or cancel the reservation and re-book with another rental agency that had something available at 1pm. I said I would cancel and re-book. She then said I would have to pay a cancellation fee and I pitched a wee bit of a fit and she ended up waving it for me. So I got re-booked with Dollar/Thrifty who is located across the street from the airport. No big deal because they pick you up right outside and take you over. Lesson learned: Make sure your pick-up time is going to work when you book online. The default time seems to be 11am. This was my fault, and it wasn't as easy a fix as I'd hoped and could have cost me 35.00 to cancel.
Next, I arrived at the counter to pick up the car. I had in hand the collision insurance for $44.00 I purchased through Expedia when I re-booked. This was at the advise of the agent (she said it would be cheaper through them than down there)and since I didn't know better, I did it thinking that would be one less thing to worry about. That was a mistake. The guy at the rental counter said that while it was good insurance, should something happen, I would have to pay for any damages in full up to the entire value of the car on the spot before I could leave. Then I would have to file the claim with the insurance company in the US and hope I got my money back. (Somehow, I think that would be one big nightmare!) Had I waited and purchased it there in Mexico, I would have been covered and would not have had to worry about paying for damages before I left. Lesson learned: Wait until you get there to buy the insurance unless you can cough up the money on the spot to pay for any damages or potentially the entire car or unless you really enjoy playing the insurance claim game. I also don't think I saved any money (still had to buy liability for 13.00 per day anyway) and on top of it, had the worry of what if something were to happen which caused me not to drive nearly as much as I would have otherwise. As an additional aside - I knew they would more than likely put a hold on my debit card (which I use as a credit card) and I expected a couple hundred dollars. Today when I called my bank to tell them what foreign charges to expect, they mentioned they car rental place had put a 650.00 hold on the card that is not going to be released until tomorrow. Wow! :shocked2: That might be handy information for someone else to know. I had no idea it would be that much. Luckily I had plenty to cover it - but if someone wasn't expecting that much and had a tight budget, it could be bad.
Lastly, My experience driving there was not as bad as I thought it might be. I decided that it was a bit like the video game 'Frogger'. There are so many unexpected things to watch out for - so I felt like I had to drive very, very defensively. My experience was that the locals don't necessarily follow the traffic rules and many don't signal (I am guessing a lot of them don't even have working signals), they are apt to do sudden u-turns, and will pull right out in the street in front of you. Don't even get me started on the taxis and I knew that hitting one of them would be baaaaad news! The scooters and bikes all up in my personal space also took some getting used to, but I found that I could do fine as long as I really paid attention. Lesson learned: Take it slowly and pay attention at all times. Also, drunk bicycle riders are very unpredictable and wobbly! I am glad I had the experience so that when I go back in May for 3 weeks I will be more comfortable with the whole aspect of driving around.
I am happy to say that the car was returned without incident (other than a flat tire at Mezcalitas, which I changed quickly, and was on my way. I took the flat one to have it fixed which cost me 5 bucks. No big deal.)
Sorry this was so long, but hopefully it will be helpful info. to someone!
Happy diving,
Julie
First - I ended up having to call and change my pick-up time from 11a.m. to 1p.m. and I had to go through Expedia to do this (in my original message I said I was booked with Orbitz,, but I forgot this trip I used Expedia). The agent told me that there were no cars available at 1pm (I have no idea why they could not just hold my other car from 11 till 1 ?! but whatever. So she said I would either have to upgrade to a more expensive car or cancel the reservation and re-book with another rental agency that had something available at 1pm. I said I would cancel and re-book. She then said I would have to pay a cancellation fee and I pitched a wee bit of a fit and she ended up waving it for me. So I got re-booked with Dollar/Thrifty who is located across the street from the airport. No big deal because they pick you up right outside and take you over. Lesson learned: Make sure your pick-up time is going to work when you book online. The default time seems to be 11am. This was my fault, and it wasn't as easy a fix as I'd hoped and could have cost me 35.00 to cancel.
Next, I arrived at the counter to pick up the car. I had in hand the collision insurance for $44.00 I purchased through Expedia when I re-booked. This was at the advise of the agent (she said it would be cheaper through them than down there)and since I didn't know better, I did it thinking that would be one less thing to worry about. That was a mistake. The guy at the rental counter said that while it was good insurance, should something happen, I would have to pay for any damages in full up to the entire value of the car on the spot before I could leave. Then I would have to file the claim with the insurance company in the US and hope I got my money back. (Somehow, I think that would be one big nightmare!) Had I waited and purchased it there in Mexico, I would have been covered and would not have had to worry about paying for damages before I left. Lesson learned: Wait until you get there to buy the insurance unless you can cough up the money on the spot to pay for any damages or potentially the entire car or unless you really enjoy playing the insurance claim game. I also don't think I saved any money (still had to buy liability for 13.00 per day anyway) and on top of it, had the worry of what if something were to happen which caused me not to drive nearly as much as I would have otherwise. As an additional aside - I knew they would more than likely put a hold on my debit card (which I use as a credit card) and I expected a couple hundred dollars. Today when I called my bank to tell them what foreign charges to expect, they mentioned they car rental place had put a 650.00 hold on the card that is not going to be released until tomorrow. Wow! :shocked2: That might be handy information for someone else to know. I had no idea it would be that much. Luckily I had plenty to cover it - but if someone wasn't expecting that much and had a tight budget, it could be bad.
Lastly, My experience driving there was not as bad as I thought it might be. I decided that it was a bit like the video game 'Frogger'. There are so many unexpected things to watch out for - so I felt like I had to drive very, very defensively. My experience was that the locals don't necessarily follow the traffic rules and many don't signal (I am guessing a lot of them don't even have working signals), they are apt to do sudden u-turns, and will pull right out in the street in front of you. Don't even get me started on the taxis and I knew that hitting one of them would be baaaaad news! The scooters and bikes all up in my personal space also took some getting used to, but I found that I could do fine as long as I really paid attention. Lesson learned: Take it slowly and pay attention at all times. Also, drunk bicycle riders are very unpredictable and wobbly! I am glad I had the experience so that when I go back in May for 3 weeks I will be more comfortable with the whole aspect of driving around.
I am happy to say that the car was returned without incident (other than a flat tire at Mezcalitas, which I changed quickly, and was on my way. I took the flat one to have it fixed which cost me 5 bucks. No big deal.)
Sorry this was so long, but hopefully it will be helpful info. to someone!
Happy diving,
Julie