Renting A Car in Mexico

[Oldbear]

Well the winter season (northern hemisphere) as about to grab us with both hands, I am seeing more divers discussing trips to Mexico. I myself am also in the planning stages for a similar trip in March. I just wanted to relate an experience I had a couple of years ago with renting a car in Mexico.

We had planned a week’s stay in Puerto Morelos (South of Cancun) and were diving with Brett Nielson (Welcome to Dive in Puerto Morelos). At the time only my daughter and I were divers so we had two others who were not divers so we rented a Durango from National Car Rental near the Cancun Airport. I have found that when I rent a car, I make sure that I get “all” of the optional insurances. While it is true in the US that your personal auto insurance will most likely cover and incidents in a rental (please confirm with your insurance dealer, mine does as that I have “Full” coverage) they might not cover you in a “foreign” country.

And on this particular trip we needed the “Optional” Car Rental insurance. While I am not 100% familiar with Mexican Traffic Laws, I can share what happened to us.

One morning we were driving south from Puerto Morelos to Tulum to do some sightseeing, about 40 miles, when it started to lightly rain. A vehicle in front of us hydroplaned and he lost control of his car. As he was hydroplaning sideways, then backwards after bouncing off of the medium, he struck our left rear quarter panel. We both pulled over to the sided of the road and waited for the police and “Insurance Companies” to arrive.

In the U.S. only the police will take statements and issue any citations if warranted. I later found out that in Mexico, you had best wait for “your” insurance company to arrive as they will act like “mini lawyers” and fight your rights. I did not know or understand this at the time.

The police took both drivers statements and I got the feeling that as I was the foreigner and the other guy was the national, I was automatically at fault. The policeman, really did not do much other than saying to wait for the insurance guy. The first insurance representative on site was the other driver’s rep; I thought he was also mine as he was very friendly. During the course of his visit it was decided that the best way forward was for both drivers to acknowledge that each driver as responsible for his own vehicle. I really did not think this as I did not lose control of my vehicle as he did and it was he who hit me. But being in a foreign country with limited language skills, I went ahead with the agreement. After I signed a statement, MY insurance guy arrived. He quickly assessed the situation and told me not to worry as it was clearly the other guys fault and that I could leave.
All is good … well not quite. When I went to turn in the vehicle of course they saw the damage and begun to “freak out”. I told them what had happen and that “our” insurance representative told me, how it was the other guy’s fault. After a few phone calls, the statement that I had signed stating it was both of ours fault was brought up and I was on the hook for my rental’s damage.

So I have a flight to catch and there is about $1500 damage to the vehicle and the rental company wants their money now. At this point I felt horrible that an otherwise great trip was ending so badly. When I asked about my “Optional” insurance, they said that out of the $1500 I would have to pay $50 for the deductible.

Fifty American dollars…WOW … that was worth it to get out of there and on to the airport. So for my ignorance of Mexican Traffic Laws I felt $50 was worth the lesson.

So here are my take-aways that I hope will help other ScubaBoarder’s who rent vehicles in Mexico:

• When renting a car in a foreign country always purchase any additional liability and collision insurance offered. While it might be true that in most cases it is money needlessly spent in your home country, in a foreign country I have found it quite useful in several occasions in Europe and Mexico.
• Ask what your deductible is if a mishap should occur so you know beforehand.
• Ask what you as a driver of a rental should do if a mishap should occur; I was ignorant that my insurance representative would show up on my behalf.
• Do not assume that your vehicle is in perfect shape when you pick it up. Do a thorough inspection of it yourself before you leave the lot and document any damage, regardless to how small it might me.
• Take a lot of pictures of your rental car before you leave the lot. I once rented a car in Italy that had a small fender bender when I picked it up and even though we had documented the damage before I left they tried to charge me for it when I turned it in claiming it was different damage…the pictures proved that I had not damaged that car.

Well I hope that others can learn from my misfortune and have a safe and happy trip.


~Oldbear~

 

[TSandM]

Good information! All of the companies we have used in MX do a walkaround with the renter at the time the car is picked up, and mark a form with all the damage (and there is always damage) that the car has when you get it.

I did not know about waiting for the insurance folks in the event of an accident, though. Thanks for that!

 

[Peter_C]

Thanks for your post I learned something as I had never heard of the insurance company sending someone to the accident scene.

To add something else use a credit card (Never a debit) for incidentals that you are not going to use for other purchases. In Playa Del Carmen, they took an old school carbon copy of our card, and guess which card was used at Walmart for $500?? We reported it to the rental car agency Hertz as it was the only place the card was used, but they didn't care.

Also drive the speed limit as the policia can easily spot a rental car (Donation giver) from their giant stickers.

 

[ccannon707]

Informative post. Glad you could get out of that for $50 vs $1500...yikes! I have read & heard so many horror stories about car rentals and accidents in Mexico, these days I mostly choose not to rent. Once I arrive I walk, I take taxis and ride buses and collectivos. I have rented in the distant past and probably will for a day or 2 in the future, but I like taking a vacation from the car as well.

 

[Oldbear]

I don't blame you...there are countries that I won't drive either if I can help it. But Mexico really isn't that bad where I rent cars; usually a single day on Cozumel or for my stay on the Yuccatan. It just helps going into the rental knowing as much as possible...and that trip was definately a learning experience.

 

[boulderjohn]

Being badly misinformed, my wife and I thought that our home insurance company and our credit card both provided insurance coverage when we were on trips in foreign lands. We never took out the optional insurance. One day in Curacao we wanted to rent a car, and we went to the rental agent with a coupon that we had gotten at our hotel. The rental agent said that she could give us the same price and include the optional insurance. We didn't think we needed that insurance, but why not?

And of course we had an accident. A guy hit me as we pulled into the rental car parking spot in the airport, just before our flight out.

I sat in the police van especially designed for accidents (if you see the way people drive in Curacao, you will understand why such vans are badly needed) listening to the guy who hit me and the police officer babbling away at each other in Papiamento, the local creole language. Every so often the officer would say something really brief to me. It turned into a "nobody's fault" kind of thing, like Oldbear's experience. I assumed I was in the process of getting royally hosed.

But no--we just paid the deductible and got on the flight home, with no repercussions whatsoever.

We later learned that neither our regular car insurance nor the credit car insurance had been covering us on any of our previous trips in any other country. This was the first time we had ever been insured, and this was the first time we had needed it.

 

[Mike]

Also it's good to know that in Mexico if you're in an accident and the other driver is a Mexican and he is hurt, you're almost assuredly going to the local police station and will be held in custody. You won't be getting out of jail until your lawyer and the hurt driver's lawyer work out a settlement that might include whatever possible medical bills they think he might have and especially lost wages based on how long he will be out of work, all of which will be payable before you get released and could take awhile to figure out. You'll most likely have to go before a Mexican judge before you pay the settlement, and if it happens on the weekend you're probably going to be sitting in jail until Monday.

As much as you might not want to be involved in a bribe or paying another driver off, there is something to think about if the other driver just wants a few bucks in an accident to go away.

 

[boulderjohn]

As much as you might not want to be involved in a bribe or paying another driver off, there is something to think about if the other driver just wants a few bucks in an accident to go away.

When my son was driving in Mexico, he was pulled over by a policeman who said he was going to take him to jail for some nonexistent reason. The officer's wording was such that the true meaning was clear: "I pulled you over because I want you to give me some money." My son gave him the bribe and went on his way.

 

[Mike]

Police taking money in Mexico? Never heard of such a thing.

That last nasty hurricane they had that wacked the Cancun area and destroyed the beaches, I met a couple of guys who told the story of they had rented a car from Merida and were doing a 3 week trip or something like that, they ended up in Cancun during the storm and people were scrambling to get out after the storm because the airlines were all backed up, people were waiting for days to get out, these guys had more money than time and they had managed to have someone back home arrange them a flight out of Merida, they just had to get there. They discovered their rental car was caput, wouldn't start, noway to get anybody to look at it because of the chaos of the hurricane. They didn't want to just abandon the car in a parking lot in Cancun.

Long story short they ended up talking to a couple of cops in Cancun who told them for the right 'tip', they could things for them. For something like $300 bucks, the cops drove them to Merida and towed their rental car behind their police car. They made their flight and left the car at the air port.

 

[DandyDon]

I knew about waiting for your own insurance agent to arrive before agreeing to anything, but only from reading horror stories here. Glad you brought it up, and your suggestions about questioning are good - but of limited value. What really matters is what's signed for on the form, printed in Spanish. Good luck there. Get word to your consulate if stuck. DAN also takes calls and arranges for legal help.

We later learned that neither our regular car insurance nor the credit car insurance had been covering us on any of our previous trips in any other country. This was the first time we had ever been insured, and this was the first time we had needed it.

I think your credit card would if you declined coverage, but then you have to pay any losses in cash before you can leave the country, and later file for reimbursements - whatever all that entails. I wouldn't want to try it.

I never take any rental car coverage in the states as my auto insurance covers me well, in fact - Texas auto liability covers all losses on rental cars, not collision coverage. Out of country, if I rent - take all over the coverage. Easyway has a great insurance package, but then I've never had to claim on it.