Israel Car Rental
 

I've posted this in the wrong forum before. I'm going to Israel with my family between June and July. I’m just wondering if anybody has been there before and could you recommend a good car rental company. I saw this ad while browsing the net- http://www.avis.co.il/avis/site/loca...aelRentals.jsp . Is this a good rate and does anyone experienced renting with them before?

www.carrentals.com

Best deals for me out of Ben Gurion

BUDGET from $8/da $56/wk

Avis ok not great 50% more usually

so might shop around a bit...

Rates posted in any of these ads are only half the story.
-make sure you look at car details such as manual vs automatic (big difference in price) and whether the mileage is unlimited.
-See if these rates are valid when YOU want to go (sometimes holidays or other busy periods are excluded)
-Compare several companies, and then add in (for all companies) pick up OR drop off OR BOTH at Ben Gurion airport = $27
Insurance: IF your credit card covers insurance in Israel (Many US based cards don't) you still need to buy the mandatory insurance which comes put to about $13 USD per day (about $18 per day if your credit card doesn't pick up the LDW/CDW)
I have used Avis before,service was OK sometimes their rates were the best I found, sometimes they were higher.

I went through your link, checked category B which starts at $12 per day, and for the dates I entered, I got a quote of a "discounted internet rate" of $37 per day plus the other expenses! I got a lower price quote for the same dates using Expedia and other sites

Hi

We've been to Israel 3x and have rented autoeurope. They are a wholesaler and have always been dependable for us as we have used them for many years. The first time autoeurope used Shlomo and Avis the other two times. Both were good. Auto europe has a website that you can see the size rental and how many persons and suitcases each car can hold. We have always rented the smallest with automatic. It's good for 2, possibly 3 people, at most.

LAst summer I got one from Hertz and another from Eldan. Eldan is much better. They are a local company but the cars and service are very good. The price was unbeatable. The two things I didn't like (and this applies to all car rental companies) is that: A) Rental cars are easy to identify since the companies cover them with stickers -really big ones- in the doors, the rear and so on. You're a moving billboard and everyone can see that you're a tourist (and maybe a target for thiefs). We had no problems whatsoever but I hated the stickers; B) Israeli's don't understand the concept of lines or queues.. so I got really aggravated on the offices when doing the pickup of the car (I picked them in central Jerusalem).Also, if you need a GPS be prepared to alot of confusion due to transliterations from Hebrew. Are you going to HaZofit, HaTsufit, HaTzofit, HaTzofith or HaTsoufit street?

Hi
We've picked up our car rentals at Ben Gurion airport. No hassles. There is a counter for each rental co. Our biggest complaint is the security code each car has in order to start the car. We had it changed on us after we left and were stuck in a restaurant service area just before Yom Kipper 2yrs. ago. Luckily two Isrealis were there and called Avis in Hebrew and our problem was resolved. Other than that we've had no issues. As I said in my earlier post we use autoeurope and have found good rates and no problems.

I have been renting for the past 15 years or so 2-4 rentals a year with Eldan. I find their service good, the cars decent and have had no problems.

A few comments on earlier posts
a. American credit cards don't cover the extra insurance--you need to buy complete insurance through the company
b. Yes, many Israelis have trouble with lines, but if you speak up most know they are wrong and will retreat!
c. Good point re: GPS--that is why I use paper maps and Google Maps ( which may sometimes have same spelling problems as GPS but at least I am not in the car dealing with it!
d. How can a security code be changed after you leave? It is NOT connected to GPS or something?
e. It is not true that only tourists rent. A large number of Israelis are also renting!

Elkaz, some American credit cards still do cover insurance. I have used it recently and even needed to make a claim once and it was paid. But it's much less common than it used to be and hard to get the credit card company to verify this in writing which is now asked for by several companies.

I think that all the car companies that are mentioned here are reasonably reliable, The trick is to check all of them since different companies have better deals at different times, sometimes varying by almost 80%!

Do any of you know if you can park your rental car at the Jordanian border while you go to Petra? Is it safe to do?

The fact that your rental car is "covered with stickers" does not flag you as a tourist. Many Israelis get leased cars from their employer - these cars will have the same stickers as rental cars, so that is not a sure fire way to know if the car is being driven by a tourist or not.

There have been reports by tourists who have left their rental car overnight at the Arava border crossing on their way to Petra, with no problems.

Elkaz, when we left the rental lot we were given the code by the employee and we started ther car. She said she would enter the code into the computor. After we had stopped and attempted to re4start the car, it would not start. When the people who assisted us called Avis a diiferent code was given to us to start the car. a different code had been entered into the comptor than the one we initially used to leave the lot.

Alan--thanks for the explanation. Interesting. I rent from Eldan and I do not think they can change codes! ( but I could be wrong)

Daneryland--I just compared the rates on the site you are pushing with Eldan directly. Eldan is cheaper--and so might be others.

I've used Sixt car rental (http://www.shlomo.co.il/en) and ended up paying about 27 USD / day.

Used the car (new toyota) for about a week, picked up & drop off were at the international airport