On Aug 6, 12:48 am, SMS wrote:
void wrote:
Later this month I'm going to need a car for 6 days to drive around the
SF bay area. The big name companies (e.g. Hertz, Budget, Dollar) are
charging between $300-$350 total for a small car for 6 days. I found a
car rental comparison site and they said a company called Pacific Car
Rental charges around $200. This seems dubious as the web site for
Pacific Car Rental only lets you pick 2004 and 2005 for rate checking.

So should I just go with one of the big names or is there a cheaper option?

That company sounds like a third-tier company, which should be avoided.

Use sidestep, and several of the second tier companies (Payless,
Dollar,, Thrifty) have lower rates. Sidestep is a good search engine as
it returns total cost, with taxes and airport fees added on, for all the
different companies.

I guess I'd still go with someone like Budget, for $208 or so, as I've
had bad experiences with Dollar and Thrifty.

Is a rental really needed in SF? When I have driven there I could
spend hours looking for a primo parking space, one that doesn't have a
meter or time constraints. Then I would leave the car there for my
entire stay. Drving in SF sucks. Parking is either not available or
expensive. The streets were not built for cars. SF has some of the
best public transportation in the world. Another place that a car can
be cumbersome is NYC. Both places a car is more problem than they are
worth.