Car Rental pick up in Negril?

[rastagal]

I know I've read a lot about scooter rentals but has anyone rented a car that they picked up in Negril? The only one that comes to mind is Island so I wasn't sure if there were any others. And I'm not looking for the Island Cruiser one just a regular sedan. Thanks!

[Rob]

We just added a new Car Rental sponsor in Negril - Vernon's Car Rental!

Check it out at the link below!


http://negril.com/nt/nt062612.htm

[Ohio_Buckeye_1]

rastagal - I have used Island Rental a few times now and taken advantage of their service of delivering it to me in Negril. I think it was $20 first trip, I think $30 last time, but not positive.
If you're wondering why I didn't just get the car at MoBay airport and avoid the delivery fee - I just use route taxis for 1st week unwinding and don't need the rental car. 2nd week is when we take day trips and need the rental. I use the rental car to get back to airport at end of trip, avoiding that delivery/pickup fee - plus I save the taxi fare to airport.

When I did it, Island's weekly rate, even adding in the delivery fee, was cheaper than anything I found locally in Negril. Plus I liked that they have 24hr road service anywhere on the island. But that was about 9 months ago - in low season.
NOTE: I have one of the few Credit Cards that DOES cover the Insurance in JA - most do not. Search these threads for more on that topic if need it. That could change cost comparisons if you do not.

[Rumrunner]

We rented from Vernon's last March. We paid $60 per day including insurance for a nice Nissan. A/C worked great, radio did not but that was OK.

[Ohio_Buckeye_1]

For comparison, Island Rental was $157/week (+ $30 delivery) low season last Sept - w/out needing insurance. That was for a pretty new Toyota Yaris - perfect for 2 people and cooler/luggage.

If your CC doesn't cover insurance in JA (most don't), it would about double the cost - but I wouldn't go without it.

[Nick]

Try Elvis and watch out for any huge deposit that some places charge....one scratch and thats gone

[Rambo]

If we rented from someone new, we snapped photos of visible damage...did that a few times never needed it, until we checked back in with a different person once, who claimed that a "scratch and dent" was my problem
........was gonna cost 350.00 US!......or he was calling the cops.
..we said "fine!..... call them"
..........He Did........"One picture, worth 1000 words" or in this case..($350.00US)
we were dismissed from the scene...
they continued the meeting with him longer...
next year he gone!

[Ohio_Buckeye_1]

I too use my camera to take a quick video of my rental car when I get it - I just film while the rental guy is doing his walk-around and marking the rental form with pre-existing scratches/dents and showing me the spare and tools. Then I film the interior showing radio, floor mats, etc. That way there is no doubt the video was taken at rental time.

Then I take a video at return, time, too. Just a quick one if someone does inspection while I am there - a more extensive one if not. Some of them try to come after you, financially, days later claiming there was damage.

I learned this from a Consumer Warrior radio advice talk-show years ago.
And it has saved me a couple times...in the USA! So noone should think this is something that happens just in JA.

[rastagal]

Thanks for all the responses. I ended up going with Island. Even though they had the delivery fee for bringing the car from Mobay it ended up cheaper than doing Vernon's. And their deposit was only $250. In the states I use my credit cards instead of the buying the CDW and even though I had a World Master Card that would have covered the minimum in JA, I went with the $30/day for the complete coverage. I was only renting for 2 days so it wasn't much extra and it came in handy, because it covers tires/rims which the basic did not, and I hit a pretty decent size pot hole in Mandeville that put a few dents in the hubcap. Oops!