Car rental options for Toronto?

Hi all -

I'm looking to rent a car for a week in downtown Toronto (i.e. not
from an airport rental location) in October.

Looking at the web, Hertz has quoted me £160 (approx $300 CDN) for a
mid-size, 4-door car which is fine.

Phoning the proposed pickup location, however, I find that the extra
charges (full CDW = $32 / day zero deductable, personal items
covereage = $7 / day and extra driver = $11 / day) pretty much doubles
the cost of rental. Ouch!

Are these going rates for insurance?

Is there a more economical hire company available (or special offers
that might be advertised now locally in Toronto?)

We do definitely want to have this level of insurance and sadly our
credit card does not offer extra coverage.

Thanks,
Chris

"Chris" wrote in message
...
Hi all -

I'm looking to rent a car for a week in downtown Toronto (i.e. not
from an airport rental location) in October.

Looking at the web, Hertz has quoted me £160 (approx $300 CDN) for a
mid-size, 4-door car which is fine.

Phoning the proposed pickup location, however, I find that the extra
charges (full CDW = $32 / day zero deductable, personal items
covereage = $7 / day and extra driver = $11 / day) pretty much doubles
the cost of rental. Ouch!

Are these going rates for insurance?

Is there a more economical hire company available (or special offers
that might be advertised now locally in Toronto?)

We do definitely want to have this level of insurance and sadly our
credit card does not offer extra coverage.

Thanks,
Chris

Check with you personal auto insurance agent. In the US, my auto insurance
covers me when I rent a car at no extra charge.

On Sep 24, 4:11*pm, Chris wrote:
Hi all -

I'm looking to rent a car for a week in downtown Toronto (i.e. not
from an airport rental location) in October.

Looking at the web, Hertz has quoted me £160 (approx $300 CDN) for a
mid-size, 4-door car which is fine.

Phoning the proposed pickup location, however, I find that the extra
charges (full CDW = $32 / day zero deductable, personal items
covereage = $7 / day and extra driver = $11 / day) pretty much doubles
the cost of rental. *Ouch!

Are these going rates for insurance?

Is there a more economical hire company available (or special offers
that might be advertised now locally in Toronto?)

We do definitely want to have this level of insurance and sadly our
credit card does not offer extra coverage.

Thanks,
Chris


Chris: Unfortunately the insurance is pretty much the most expensive
item, next to the actual daily cost. I understand that the cheapest
way for European to rent a car in North America is to work thru your
travel agent. Have you tried that to see what the cost would be?

On Wed, 24 Sep 2008 16:11:59 -0700 (PDT), Chris
wrote:

Hi all -

I'm looking to rent a car for a week in downtown Toronto (i.e. not
from an airport rental location) in October.

Looking at the web, Hertz has quoted me £160 (approx $300 CDN) for a
mid-size, 4-door car which is fine.

Phoning the proposed pickup location, however, I find that the extra
charges (full CDW = $32 / day zero deductable, personal items
covereage = $7 / day and extra driver = $11 / day) pretty much doubles
the cost of rental. Ouch!

Are these going rates for insurance?

Is there a more economical hire company available (or special offers
that might be advertised now locally in Toronto?)

We do definitely want to have this level of insurance and sadly our
credit card does not offer extra coverage.

Thanks,
Chris

Your credit card may not, but check whether your travel
insurance may.

My travel insurance has different rules in each contry for
car insurance additional to the hire charge so you need to
be specific when you ask them. A couple of times I have
specifically taken travel insurance for short-term trips
here in Australia because it was cheaper than the rental car
company's insurance and gave the additional travel cover as
well.

Relevant to your question, that cover allowed me to rent an
Avis car via Expedia to go on a 12-day trip through New
England, Quebec and Ontario for US$18 per day without
additional insurance charges, starting and finishing in
Buffalo.

Cheers, Alan, Australia
--
http://loraltravel.blogspot.com
Latest: Two Indian Hotels: to Sleep, Perchance...

On Wed, 24 Sep 2008 16:11:59 -0700 (PDT), Chris
wrote:

Hi all -

I'm looking to rent a car for a week in downtown Toronto (i.e. not
from an airport rental location) in October.

Looking at the web, Hertz has quoted me £160 (approx $300 CDN) for a
mid-size, 4-door car which is fine.

Phoning the proposed pickup location, however, I find that the extra
charges (full CDW = $32 / day zero deductable, personal items
covereage = $7 / day and extra driver = $11 / day) pretty much doubles
the cost of rental. Ouch!

Are these going rates for insurance?

Is there a more economical hire company available (or special offers
that might be advertised now locally in Toronto?)

We do definitely want to have this level of insurance and sadly our
credit card does not offer extra coverage.

Thanks,
Chris

Are you sure you really need a car in downtown Toronto? Many people
there avoid driving and take the subway/tube and/or buses and
trams/street cars.

Traffic in Toronto is very heavy at almost all times, all week long.
Driving there is simply not at all fun. On the 401 (I think it's
12-20 lanes), it can average up to 130-140 km/h when traffic is
lighter, even though the posted limit is 100 km/h. Parking downtown
is also very difficult and expensive.

I've read somewhere that the 401 is North America's busiest highway,
with up to half a million drivers on some days. The 400, the Gardiner
Expressway and Don Valley Parkway also have very heavy traffic.

Taxis in the downtown area shouldn't cost you more than $15-20 to go
most places.

If you insist on renting a car, you can try looking up Thrifty, Argus,
Easycar, Enterprise, Advantage, Avis, etc.

Chris writes:
I'm looking to rent a car for a week in downtown Toronto (i.e. not
from an airport rental location) in October.

Looking at the web, Hertz has quoted me £160 (approx $300 CDN) for a
mid-size, 4-door car which is fine.

Phoning the proposed pickup location, however, I find that the extra
charges (full CDW = $32 / day zero deductable, personal items
covereage = $7 / day and extra driver = $11 / day) pretty much doubles
the cost of rental. Ouch!

Not only that, but if you return the car an hour late, you're liable
for another full day on all the extra charges.

The standard advice for visitors from Britain is to make all car
rental arrangements from Britain, where you are likely to be able
to get rates quoted inclusive of CDW. (I don't know about taxes.
Car rental rates here, like almost anything else you pay for in
North America, are quoted exclusive of sales taxes, which currently
total 13% in Ontario.) So are you sure the price you were quoted
in pounds did not include CDW?
--
Mark Brader, Toronto "... pure English is de rigueur"
-- Guardian Weekly

My text in this article is in the public domain.

try here, includes CDW, full tank of fuel etc etc have used them for the
last 5 years
http://www.carhire3000.com


"Chris" wrote in message
...
Hi all -

I'm looking to rent a car for a week in downtown Toronto (i.e. not
from an airport rental location) in October.

Looking at the web, Hertz has quoted me £160 (approx $300 CDN) for a
mid-size, 4-door car which is fine.

Phoning the proposed pickup location, however, I find that the extra
charges (full CDW = $32 / day zero deductable, personal items
covereage = $7 / day and extra driver = $11 / day) pretty much doubles
the cost of rental. Ouch!

Are these going rates for insurance?

Is there a more economical hire company available (or special offers
that might be advertised now locally in Toronto?)

We do definitely want to have this level of insurance and sadly our
credit card does not offer extra coverage.

Thanks,
Chris

Chris wrote:
Hi all -

I'm looking to rent a car for a week in downtown Toronto (i.e. not
from an airport rental location) in October.

Looking at the web, Hertz has quoted me £160 (approx $300 CDN) for a
mid-size, 4-door car which is fine.

Phoning the proposed pickup location, however, I find that the extra
charges (full CDW = $32 / day zero deductable, personal items
covereage = $7 / day and extra driver = $11 / day) pretty much doubles
the cost of rental. Ouch!

Are these going rates for insurance?

Is there a more economical hire company available (or special offers
that might be advertised now locally in Toronto?)

We do definitely want to have this level of insurance and sadly our
credit card does not offer extra coverage.


Do you really need a car in Toronto? If you are going to be staying
downtown there is excellent public transit. There is a subway that runs
down Yonge St. loops around and then up University Ave and an east-west
line along Bloor St. That will get you within a few blocks of anywhere
downtown. There are also buses and streetcars along the major streets.
It would be cheaper for one or two people to go by public transit than
it would cost to park for a day, never mind cost of the car rental. You
could take the occasional taxi and still come out ahead.

On 25 Sep, 15:30, Dave Smith wrote:
Chris wrote:
Hi all -

I'm looking to rent a car for a week in downtown Toronto (i.e. not
from an airport rental location) in October.

Looking at the web, Hertz has quoted me £160 (approx $300 CDN) for a
mid-size, 4-door car which is fine.

Phoning the proposed pickup location, however, I find that the extra
charges (full CDW = $32 / day zero deductable, personal items
covereage = $7 / day and extra driver = $11 / day) pretty much doubles
the cost of rental. *Ouch!

Are these going rates for insurance?

Is there a more economical hire company available (or special offers
that might be advertised now locally in Toronto?)

We do definitely want to have this level of insurance and sadly our
credit card does not offer extra coverage.

Do you really need a car in Toronto? If you are going to be staying
downtown there is excellent public transit. There is a subway that runs
down Yonge St. loops around and then up University Ave and an east-west
line along Bloor St. That will get you within a few blocks of anywhere
downtown. There are also buses and streetcars along the major streets.
It would be cheaper for one or two people to go by public transit than
it would cost to park for a day, never mind cost of the car rental. You
could take the occasional taxi and still come out ahead.

Hi all -

Many thanks for your helpful replies.

To answer Dave's question, yes, we will be needing a car owing to
having a 6 month old with us and various other bits and pieces that
we'll need to cart around with us.

However, looking into this further, we've signed up for Zipcar which
gives us access to the cars we need in Toronto and without the
pressure of having to decide a clean 7-day block of time in our 10 day
holiday, or without feeling the need to use the car every day to get
most value from it.

Does anyone on this board have any experience with Zipcar in Toronto
and / or baby seats. Hoping you might be able to help with the
following:

* we've used Zipcar's main competitor here, Streetcar, and it's been
excellent. Are Zipcars generally clean and available? Is customer
service ok?
* are taxes included in vehicle hire?
* I'm assuming Zipcar has a gas card to which you charge your tank
fill-ups (and car wash?). Can you credit your personal Esso or other
points card when you fill your tank?
* we'll have a rear-facing car seat with us. It's the sort that just
sits on the back seat and gets strapped in with a normal passenger
seat belt. Does Ontario require any other arrangement for car seats?

Many thanks,
Chris