Car rental experience (long)

[cobra269]

Well, I just arrived today and rented a car for the wk (vw hardtop). Didn't really matter to me since I'm traveling solo. Anyway it was between less pay and isis. The deal breaker was when I called lesspay to confirm, was told that the prices quoted was for cash only. (add another 7% for plastic) They never responded to my email about it. So went with Isis - I was on my way in less than 10 mins at $30 a day full coverage. There was a 10% deductable for collision. Plus as an added bonus she told me that she would give me a ride to the airport after dropping off the car. Tomorrow my first 2 dives. Of course my view could change by the end of the wk. I've only been here for 8 hrs.

 

[blue steal]

What is the 10% deductable for collision. 10% of what? For example at my insurance company it is a dollar amount like $250 or $500.

 

[ggunn]

Don't carry a whole lot of cash in your wallet -- keep your cash hidden elsewhere. If the cops stop you, the bribe that they will charge you will be equal to the amount of cash they see in your wallet. I actually had a cop take my wallet from me, take all of my money out of my wallet before returning it to me, and then order me to leave. Under threat of arrest.

That happened on Cozumel? If so, that really surprises me; I have been going there with family and friends since 1978 and nothing even close to that has ever happened to me or anyone I know. It wouldn't take much of that sort of thing to really poison the water with the tourist business.

 

[judydivescoz]

Never had any problems, except getting stopped by the police for a shakedown.
You should expect your credit card company to turn off your credit card if foreign charges suddenly start appearing on your account and you have not warned them that you were going to Mexico.
Don't carry a whole lot of cash in your wallet -- keep your cash hidden elsewhere. If the cops stop you, the bribe that they will charge you will be equal to the amount of cash they see in your wallet. I actually had a cop take my wallet from me, take all of my money out of my wallet before returning it to me, and then order me to leave. Under threat of arrest.
Given the choice to pay the traffic fine at the station or pay the cop, always go to the station.

WOW!! I am with Gordon on this one. I have never heard of the police taking a wallet and emptying it and then threatining arrest. I even went and checked with my friends who live on the island. They have never heard of that type of thing happening either.
FWIW and IMHO the only believable, good advice is to go to the police station to pay a fine if you are stopped by the police and they ask you to pay a fine.
We always rent a car in Cozumel, we have never had a bad experience with the police. My husband had an at fault accident. He hit a local on a motorcycle damaging the bike and injuring the local man. The man broke his collar bone and had to go to the hospital. My husband had to go to the police station where he was treated with respect. We rented the car from Margarita at Isis, she came to the station and was very helpful. Honestly, we credit her with making things go as somoothly as they did. In the end, my husband had to pay a traffic fine (think it was $40, don't remember). The local received compensation via the insurance we had with the car rental. No police bribe was payed or asked for. The whole issue took a few hours. We went on and enjoyed our vacation.
We still do not hesitate to rent a car and drive on the island. We follow the traffic rules are very carefully and do not drink and drive.

 

[sddiver]

"Don't carry a whole lot of cash in your wallet -- keep your cash hidden elsewhere. If the cops stop you, the bribe that they will charge you will be equal to the amount of cash they see in your wallet. I actually had a cop take my wallet from me, take all of my money out of my wallet before returning it to me, and then order me to leave. Under threat of arrest''.

Living near the border for thirty years I've spent a good bit of time in Mexico. Unfortunately due to the Drug Cartel stuff it's been 9 years since the last time I've crossed locally. The how much money do you have deal has been around for years. Having been pulled over many times in Baja, the first thing you do is pull out your wallet and stuff anything more than $10-$20 in your shoes / socks ect. The cops down there will ask you to empty your pockets and ask how much money you have and viola, your "fine" turns out to be about what you have available. I have not heard of this in Cozumel though. The poster may have had this happen elsewhere. Mexico is a big place.

Rich

 

[kmurray719]

What is the 10% deductable for collision. 10% of what? For example at my insurance company it is a dollar amount like $250 or $500.

The information I got from Margarita at Isis a couple of days ago said there was a $450 deductible. There was no mention of 10% of anything.

 

[kuma1720]

I have done some research and it appears that Thrifty has some of the best deals for rentals going, when you consider qualityof cars (A/C, newer models).

The hitch is always the insurance, but it appears that if you are an Amex holder you can obtain primary coverage which is good for a 45 day rental period for only $25. All you do is accept the Liability coverage which is mandatory at a daily rate of $11 and you can forego collision. This is an awesome savings.

 

[DandyDon]

The information I got from Margarita at Isis a couple of days ago said there was a $450 deductible. There was no mention of 10% of anything.

Maybe the $450 is 10% of the value of the vehicle?

I went back and forth thru several emails with her Playa del Carmen office.

Me: How much for a Nissan automatic trans for 30 hours, full insurance?

Him: $72

Me: Ok that'll work - we'll take it

Him: includes, Free Mileage, Colision Damage Waiver *, Personal Accident Insurance, Legal Assistance and Liability Insurance.

The *Colision Damage Waiver has a 10% deductible as your maximun responsibility.
We recomend cash payment since credit card payments causes you a 05% bank comision.

Me: now you have me confused. Easyway would furnish the same car for 2 days Nissan-Tsuru aut @ $20 = $36 after AAA 10% discount
taxes 5.40
ALI, CDW, TP, PAI & EPC: 18
total $59.40
I'm not sure if they have a $500 deductible (don't know where I got that?) on that but my credit card will cover that ok. I don't think they charge extra for using credit card.

Friends have told me that it's nice to rent from you instead so I was willing to pay a little more to rent from you, but the price seems to keep going up? So how much are you going to charge exactly?

Him: Sorry...the prices stays as follows: 28-30 hours = $72usd TOTAL.
Cash or credit card payment would be the same....and no aditional charge for one extra driver....​

I try to be nice about these things, allowing for possible language confusions, but I know that contract will be in Spanish, and if there is an unforeseen problem, I have to pay up before I'll be allowed to leave. I got him to waive his 5% credit card fee, I'll accept that my bank charges me a 3% conversion fee on this credit card use, and still pay $12 more on recommendations here - but it almost failed.

I have done some research and it appears that Thrifty has some of the best deals for rentals going, when you consider qualityof cars (A/C, newer models).

The hitch is always the insurance, but it appears that if you are an Amex holder you can obtain primary coverage which is good for a 45 day rental period for only $25. All you do is accept the Liability coverage which is mandatory at a daily rate of $11 and you can forego collision. This is an awesome savings.

Sounds interesting for those who have Amex. Not sure what you mean by forgo collision? You pay $25 for 45 days (bargain!), but what happens exactly if there is a claim?

On my little rental, I don't want to risk getting into a claim of $5,000 credit card charge with 5% fees on his end and 3% fees on my end, then trying to get all of the paperwork ready to file a claim on my credit card coverage with the language differences! :shocked2:

 

[ReefHound]

Don, I did not interpret his statement that "credit card payments causes you a 05% bank comision" as meaning he was going to tack on 5% but as advice that many credit cards will assess you an international transaction fee.

I have a hard time believing you would actually get that car for 2 days with full coverage for under $60, no matter what their website or email says. I think you should give it a shot and let us know.

 

[DandyDon]

Don, I did not interpret his statement that "credit card payments causes you a 05% bank comision" as meaning he was going to tack on 5% but as advice that many credit cards will assess you an international transaction fee.

I have a hard time believing you would actually get that car for 2 days with full coverage for under $60, no matter what their website or email says. I think you should give it a shot and let us know.

Well, confusion is inevitable since I'm not interested in learning Spanish and insist on communicating in English even tho I am signing a Spanish language contract, subject to Spanish language courts, etc. I wondered about that and asked...

me: wait did you say the bank charges me 5% more on my credit card, not you.

him: Hola, ( AGAIN), there is a 05% comision charge when payment is by credit card, but for you, we will make it for NO-CHARGE.....all you pay for the 28-30 hour rental is the $72usd.....
​

Yeah, it was a charge on his end, and I understand that their bank charges them. My bank will also charge a 3% conversion charge as they call it on any credit card charges in Mexico, even with him waiving.

Yeah, Easyway will honor the website rates, if they don't lose your reservation, happen to have a car handy, etc. - but I think most of them are subject to those possibilities. Last time, they forgot to meet my ferry, I forgot to take a copy of the res, and they couldn't find me in their computer reservations. They did find me a car, and gave me a rate with 10% AAA discount cheaper than I had reserved, but I try to focus that time into enjoying sites, not shopping and trouble shooting with car agencies.

Yeah the rate is real, if you could just count on them to be there with the car as promised. In 2009, my emails asked where their office was in case we missed each other at the ferry, but they assured me that they'd be there for me. When they weren't, I kinda remember where it was from 2008's hassles...

The 10% discount would apply to rental rates and taxes I guess?

Rates before discount...