My husband and a couple of friends tried to rent a car to go between Salta and Cordoba last month, and the drop off fee was so high that they wound up taking the bus. Good luck.

It would seem that you should stick with the well-known names, such as Hertz or Avis.

I would also insist on paying with your credit card, which should help if you have any problems.

Try to be sure you understand the rental contract.

Have a great time in our country.

We had an excellent experience with a CAR RENTAL from Marina-Tourismo in Salta. All of the arrangements were totally smooth and convenient. I had written to El Lagar (our fine B&B) for a recommendation, and was put in touch with Federico Ochoa at Marina Turismo - he delivered the car as arranged - in excellent condition- and we dropped it to him at the Salta Airport several days later. He spoke English and gave us good directions. www.marina-semisa.com.ar

We have been told that renting from the States is less expensive than renting in place in Argentina/Uruguay - so that's what we did. There are probably less costly agencies; friends recently had a good experience with Hertz in the Salta region.

I would check with several agencies (well reputed) and get the car from the airport. We got it from our B&B in town, as we had a tour for the first few days with a guide. Wish we would have taken the car directly upon arrival in Salta.

Have a great trip.

We used Hertz in the centre of Salta and found them to have reasonable rates and excellent service. We had used them previously to rent a car in San Martin de los Andes which we dropped off In Bariloche. As Marnie says there are probably less expensive local operators but personally I am a little wary of these as I have had a bad experience with one trying to retain our deposit for minor damage which we did not cause (not in Argentina I would add)

Thanks so much for the replies. I really appreciate the help.