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Avanti/U-Save/Thrifty in Costa Rica. They are the worst and not located at the airport - all 3 companies are out of the same little location and there are hidden charges. We tried to find a "deal" - it wasn't worth it. Pay a little more to get a car or service from the Airport, which is the most difficult airport to find, get out of or arrive at by car we have found in any of our travels throughout the world.
Depending on where you are staying in Costa Rica (We stayed on Pacific side) and should have taked our property manager's advice in renting from Juma Car Rental in Jaco. They would pick you up, take you to destination and get you back to this most difficult airport to find and it's worth a few extra bucks.
The roads in Costa Rica are very hard on a vehicle, if you plan on driving yourself to side-trips like good horseback riding, zip-lining, you do need a 4 x 4. We called the "Jimmy" the tourist car of Costa Rica; but don't rent a good, nice car - or you won't be able to get up some of the mountain sides to places that are most beautiful.
Rent your "Jimmy" from anyone BUT Avanti - you'll be sorry you did.
Car Rental - Do NOT use....
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In all my years packaging Costa Rica, the single greatest challenge has always been rental cars. Companies come and go. Less reputable companies run damage scams. Some overbook. Others do not have replacement vehicles if there is a problem, or offer proper support.
I am not familiar with this particular company, but my questions for any rental car company would have to be as follows.
How new are these vehicles? The roads can be tough on rental cars to begin with, and customers tend to drive them harder than they would a vehicle they actually own. Rental cars have a short shelf life.
Some companies put a small number of miles on their vehicles, and resell them at auction OFTEN TO OTHER RENTAL CAR COMPANIES. The result is that a vehicle that was deemed to old for one company, becomes the newest car on the lot somewhere else. So if you find that is the same make and year is substantially cheaper than one offered by a competitor, a red flag should go up. Most of these cars should be close in price. If something seems to good to be true, it probably is.
How many offices? If you break down in the boonies, is there support close by? What if you break down at night, will someone answer the phone?
Are you going to have a problem with false damage claims? Other than the company's own testimonials, what kind of references do they have? It is difficult to challenge a foreign credit card charge. What recourse do you have if there is a problem?
A good rental car is essential for a positive travel experience. Look at it this way; If a couple spends $1200.00 on airfare. Say you spend another $2500.00 on hotels and tours. This means you are paying well over $500.00 a day to be there. Paying a few more bucks per day for a dependable rental car from a reputable company is a relatively small expense. This isn't the place to skimp.
It is something to think about when your rental car is broken down in Northern Guanacaste. A large national company will get you a replacement from Liberia in an hour or two. I have seen one of the companies that I deal with bring a replacement car on a flatbed truck up the mountain to Monteverde, AFTER DARK. That's worth a few bucks. Anyone who has driven that road in the daylight will agree!
Hope this helps! Let me know if I can offer more advice.
Warm Regards,
Pat Hewitt
(Travel professional)
Similar experience with U-Save Avanti a few years ago they
engaged in CC fraud and identity theft with my Credit Card.
Ruined my card eventually had to close it after addresses
banks in Colombia ran up $150k thankfully chase has to pay
It was a credit card....
Why I never travel with debit card...
Good recent experience with
mapache.com
servicecarrental.com
both great locals...
Happy Travels!
You are also right my "Jimny" was dinged up and old several
years ago if you got that one it was blue it must have been
ancient.
That may be why they would not take our Chase once we arrived. They were happy to take it to pay for the car beforehand and it was the card we informed about our travels but refused to take the Chase when we tried to use it for the strong armed, threatened insurance that we were already covered on. We do have documentation and were assured many things until we got there. My husband speaks their native tongue so there's no misunderstanding over what they did to us. We took pictures, scanned the HANDWRITTEN threat and are not letting this one go.
BTW - it wasn't blue but it might as well have been
And they had great testimonials; which was a driving force in our choosing them; but now when I try to write one on their site, I am unable to. They did promise a replacement if we broke down as well or if we had a flat tire; they promised a lot of things, luckily we didn't have that happen to us, but at this point, I'm sure you are right Pat, that would have been an empty promise as well.
I have used Tri-Color out of the san jose airport, and they were great. This time I am flying into Liberia, and looking for a rental company. Service seem the best, but I am also looking at Mapache. We will pick up the car at Liberia and return to San Jose. Any suggestions ? thanks.
Judge - we used TriColor in Liberia. They picked us up at the airport, took us to the office, no extra charges on bill, exactly as quoted. We even lost part of the tailpipe on the infamous road to Monteverde and they didn't charge us for it.
Judge, have them take you to San Jose airport or just count on getting lost, it's a nightmare to find San Jose airport I promise....I'd still be there if it weren't for my husbands command of the Spanish language; there a few signs and traffic is horrific.
will have a GPS. It worked well on last trip,even getting to the SJ airport. I would recommend a GPS.You can purchase CR maps to upgrade Garmin units, but I've not done this before. Anyone done this ?
We also had a bad experience with U-Save. Lots of waiting at the airport, tons of extra charges and a lot of sketchy looking paperwork that made us seriously uncomfortable. It would have been worth the money to rent somewhere else .