Hassle Free Car Rental : Possible?

william webster

Rest In Peace WW
Jan 16, 2009
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Does this mean that for $50/day someone would drive you around 24/7, if necessary?

No, it just means they meet you at the airport and drive you to your destination.
In my case, thats Cabrera - so not having to worry about directions, etc , my friends/guests step into the car and arrive.
They get get driven back at the end of their stay.

I am sure a daily driver could be arranged. There have been posts about that here before.
 

belmont

Bronze
Oct 9, 2009
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No, it just means they meet you at the airport and drive you to your destination.
In my case, thats Cabrera - so not having to worry about directions, etc , my friends/guests step into the car and arrive.
They get get driven back at the end of their stay.

I am sure a daily driver could be arranged. There have been posts about that here before.
Are you sure airport pickup/dropoff doesn't mean they will pick you up at airport upon arrival and take you to rental agency to get car, and do the reverse when you are dropping off the car?
 

william webster

Rest In Peace WW
Jan 16, 2009
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Are you sure airport pickup/dropoff doesn't mean they will pick you up at airport upon arrival and take you to rental agency to get car, and do the reverse when you are dropping off the car?

Positive it doesn't mean that.
My hombre is also my accountant and is from Cabrera.

We rent the car for our arriving ffriends- he meets them and brings them to us.
On occasion, I have driven his rental to pick up friends.
 

kimbjorkland

New member
Apr 6, 2011
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That's great WW, but doesn't really answer the question if there's a premier rental agency in this country that will not screw us if we buy full insurance and the car is returned with some scratches... i'm sure your accountant won't drive us to lag enrequillo lol
 

bigbird

Gold
May 1, 2005
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That's great WW, but doesn't really answer the question if there's a premier rental agency in this country that will not screw us if we buy full insurance and the car is returned with some scratches... i'm sure your accountant won't drive us to lag enrequillo lol

The answer is YES. Rent from Alamo/National, Avis, Hertz, Budget and take out FULL coverage. Return the vehicle and a Police Report in a zip lock bag and you just walk out the door with NO hassle.
 

william webster

Rest In Peace WW
Jan 16, 2009
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That's great WW, but doesn't really answer the question if there's a premier rental agency in this country that will not screw us if we buy full insurance and the car is returned with some scratches... i'm sure your accountant won't drive us to lag enrequillo lol

Read my earlier post on renting from the big agencies.

I ahve used ther major companies before my own car arrived and had no incidents other than credit card cloning.
And we never know where that is done - at what level or where.
 

kimbjorkland

New member
Apr 6, 2011
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Thanks for everyone's feedback. After doing the math, it looks like for a week to rent an SUV + full insurance costs close to $750!

So we're going to bight the bullet and just buy an old SUV for 3-4K, and take a trip once or twice a month to justify the costs.

Here's a question - if we're driving into Haiti, does the car need to be in our names? Or can it be in the name of someone else?
 
Dec 21, 2008
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When we used to rent an SUV before we had our own vehicle, we always rented from Universal Car Rental in Cabarete. Never had an issue with them, fantastic service and we have friends that now use them...they had problems with the last vehicle, it was exchanged for them with no questions asked. They paid $500 US for fourteen days.
 

kimbjorkland

New member
Apr 6, 2011
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Thanks for the referral. I just checked their website, and they don't offer insurance without a deductible. on most SUVs their deductible is $3000.
 

susan77

New member
Jan 19, 2008
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I just booked again with Budget: 15 days for $478-- I decline insurance as my credit card covers collision- Problem with Avis is (at SDQ) you must load bags into a van which takes you to the cars-- Used to like Thrifty until they tried to charge me $80US for "add'l cleaning" because there was sand in the trunk!!
 

Givadogahome

Silver
Sep 27, 2011
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The bottom line is each branch will vary on performance and rip off scale dependent on who is managing that particular branch. Some are on the take and will charge for sand in the trunk, scuffs on the rims, a Ltr of gas under the original reading etc etc, some more stand up managers will wave it off and understand the value of return customers.
You can't go with a company name unless you know the particular branch. All offer more or less the same, but like everything else, that means nothing if there is a corrupt mind at work.
Sometimes when my friends or family visit, they rent a car for next to nothing from a friend of mine who imports cars from the US to sell. They have independent insurance figured out, but they can go where ever they like, even Haiti and know they won't have any BS if anything happens. If you can insure yourself and have similar connections then this can save a fortune and a weight off your mind.