does anyone know of a good car rental place that allows unlimited km for driving out of the province but still within canada? we're looking for something inexpensive that seats 4 adults and a car seat. we also need rm for a stroller and probably 5 medium sized suitcases. any info would be greatly appreciated.

oh, and if anyone has coupon codes that they would like to share, that would be awesome.

Thanks!!!

Try costco.
No I'm not kidding...they have rental cars now.

Costco give you unlimited on car rentals.
Truee truee.
I like the budget in bby.

even if you drive out of town?

I've found National or Avis to be the cheapest. They both have unlimited kms.

really costco has rentals at all its locations????

^^^ the new one in bby by Brentwood for sure has it. Lolz I know it sounds weird but they have it. And its cheap lolz

before you rent a car, i have some tips that will save you a lot of time and money.

1) take PLENTY of pictures of the rental car before it leaves the lot.
take a look around your car and take as many pictures as possible. why? because there is almost always previous damage to the rental car and sometimes it's hard to notice at first. as soon as you leave the lot, you are responsible for any damage to the car that was not previously discovered. this happens more often than you think.

2) buy insurance, but not from the rental company.
you'll save money this way because rental companies usually charge more for insurance. also, they may not cover certain things like windshield damage. if you do decide to get insurance from the rental company, make sure you get the full details of what you're being covered for. also, ask how much the deductable is if something happens. it may be as high as $1000, which is ridiculous.

If you have a gold Visa card or equivalent, and make the reservation on that credit card, then you should have insurance through the card and won't need to buy it.

Also, if you can, return the car during business hours. If you do hte after hours drop off, they can claim any sort of damage they want and you will have some problems fighting it. We rented a U-Haul two years ago to move back from Victoria. We dropped it off to the North Van location around 3AM and filled it up with gas at the station across the street. When we called the next morning to check if everything was okay, they claimed the tank was not full on the car and that there was damage. They were going to charge us $100 extra! We ended up driving back over to North Van to get our money back.

yup.. forgot to mention about the Visa Gold Card.. thanks for mentioning that Caroline!
but for those that don't have a Gold card, definitely get insurance from a 3rd party company, not the rental company.

DO NOT RENT FROM THE BUDGET location in Burnaby on Gilmore.

Actually, they operate under the name Geordy Rentals Inc, which means they are franchised location (not owned by budget) and do not have the same level of customer service and quality assurance. Anyway, WORST EXPERIENCE EVER and i'm going to tell you my experience because i don't wany anyone to go through what i went through.


No Pre-Inspection For Vehicle Damage

I needed a vehicle with unlimited kms as well. went to mentioned location and was told there was a car for me right away, so i said "great i'll rent it". right away, the customer rep starts filling out the paper work. as she's doing that, i thought it was kinda strange that she didn't even go outside with me to do a walk around to note any damages. i thought that would be the first thing to do. anyway, it never happened, so i quickly mentioned "by the way, i just took a quick glance and noticed a big chip in the windsheild." she said, "yeah we know, it's been repaired" and simply proceeded with the paper work. Big mistake, because i did not notice there was actually a second chip, but really small and barely noticable.

Anyway, i take the car, a few days pass and everything's all good. on the last day, as i'm driving back, i notice a small crack (a straight line) stemming from that second chip that i failed to notice earlier. as i continue to drive, the line gets longer (about 3 inches in length).

Estimated Damage Much Higher Than Other Reputable Repair Places

so i'm now about to return the vehicle and mentioned the crack. (btw, i didn't mention that i declined the insurance). so anyway, the customer rep i dealt with earlier told me they would need 1 day to estimate the damage themselves. of course, at that point i was thinking they can say any amount of damage. so the next day, the in fact did, and said it would cost about $800!! luckily i did my own estimate from kirmac who quoted no more than $500, so they agreed to lower the repair cost. i now realize this is one way they make money from their customers!

Optional Insurance WOULD NOT Have Covered Damage

So now i'm speaking with the same customer rep that rented the car to me, and i tell her "well, i guess i should have purchased the optional insurance that you tried to sell to me before" (i declined insurance because i'm a careful driver and have a history of safe driving). Her reply really shocked me. she said "you would not have been covered anyway because windsheild damage is never covered. also, the deductible for the car is $1000." Unbelievable. This basically means any damage less than $1000 is NOT covered by their insurance.

Manager Shows No Interest In My Suggestions For Improvement

I wanted to talk to a manager or the owner of Geordy Rentals Inc which was another battle. i didn't get a call back until 2 days later and finally when i talked to a manager, she was uninterested in hearing my complaint about how sloppy they were with inspecting the vehicle with me and suggested that they spend more time with customers in the pre-inspections for vehicle damage. she wasn't interesting in hearing what i had to say and instead was only quick to point how this damage was my fault. i tried to contact the owner via email to suggest ways to improve their customer service, and i got no response.

Conclusion

Don't rent from Geordy Rentals Inc (Budget On Gilmore). Rent from Avis or Hertz instead.

More reviews on Budget Rentals here:

http://www.my3cents.com/search.cgi?c...get+Rent-A-Car

can i transfer the insurance from our car to the rental car? i was told i could, but i dont want our insurance to go up if we do get into an accident. thanks for the info

hey ryeguy,

did u drive it our of bc? if so, did you get unlimited kms?

yes and yes. other rental companies should offer unlimited kms as well.

oohh, thanks!!! and for anyone looking 4 the cheapest car rental, so far, from doing some research, it's avis but i'm not done yet, so i'll keep you guy posted

How old do you need to be to rent a car??
If theres a age limit, is it possible if you get an older person of age to rent it..and allow another person to drive it?? Would insurance still cover..in case of an accident?

you have to be 25 or older, and no, an older person would not be allowed to let a younger person to drive their rented car.. so in the case of an accident, insurance would not cover it.

hey ryeguy,

quick question....do you know if any of the car rental places will rent a minivan with unlimited mileage? also, isn't it safer (better coverage) to get the car rental place's insurance?