Rental Cars & Chase vacation

[Mike Umscheid]

My chase partner and I are considering renting a vehicle for our chase trip beginning next week and I thought I'd pick the brains of other chasers in the group that rent for their chase vacation. Rent-a-wreck looks somewhat appealing and maybe less expensive than something like enterprise or hertz... I dunno, which is why I thought I'd see what others do... thanks in advance!!

Reason being is I have a busted Jeep sitting in Clayton, NM, which I won't be able to have back in time for a majority of my vacation

Mike U

 

[Darin Brunin]

Mike,

I have heard only good things about Rent-A-Wreck. A lot of people let the name fool them but the company from what I know is just as dependable as the regular rental companies and you do save lots of cash.

 

[David Wolfson]

We just finished renting a van from Dollar in Denver for two weeks. On special we could get a Caravan for less than $0.10 per mile. The main things are to make sure you can live with any restrictions on where and how far you can take it. In the case of Dollar it was unlimited mileage and you could drive anywhere in the continental US.

Also, we haven't had to use it, but we're signed up for American Express' full rental car coverage deal. For $25 per rental term up to a month it promises full primary coverages, including some coverage for contents stolen from the locked vehicle. This is a good thing to have if you get munched by a hail core and return the car looking like a windowless golfball.

 

[Tim Stoecklein]

We rented vans from Rent-a-Wreck for some of our Wilderness Skills class trips when I was in Hays. We had a great experience with the vehicles and the office there.

Tim

 

[Bill Hark]

Check carefully for restrictions/ Some have unlimited mileage but won't let you take the car out of the state. Get the collision damage waiver. Expensive but helps in you get munched. Many have contractual elements that you can't take the car on a dirt road. This is hard to avoid but you may want to make sure areas like near the gas cap and the airfilter are cleaned of dust when you return the vehicle. Some places have GPS, ask about it. In most cases, the GPS is only turned on if the car is missing or over due. If you do get into an accident, make sure the damage was on the nearest paved road as they may not cover an accident on a dirt road (see above.) Of course, don't wear shirts with Skywarn or tornadoes when you rent or return the car.

Bill Hark