mjkimp

hey all, i'm will be in costa rica in a few weeks. i'm thinking of going with tricolor car rental, but i want the car to be 4wd automatic and they are quoting me only the nissan xtrail. do they have other 4wd with automatic? and r there other reputable car rental agencies who have more of a selection of automatic 4wds.

also, my visa platinum can cover my cdw insurance. however, they only cover damage to the vehicle, and not to anybody else or medical expenses...do most folks get supplementary insurance? (its kind of pricey at 21 bucks a day). do i really need it?

thanks your time and advice in advance.

shillmac

We never realized insurance was an option? I can't imagine driving around in CR without full coverage!

As for 4wd vehicles, automatics are rare. For one thing, they don't function as well as a standard on the road surfaces, up and downs, curve, stops, starts, etc. They are very expensive to get worked on, and not that many places where they CAN be worked on. This was the explanation we got last year when we asked the same question (about why there were mostly standards).

Floridafran

mjkimp,

We're going to Costa Rica in 2 weeks (yea!) and are renting through Tricolor (after hearing so many good things about them here). There are 6 of us and we needed two 4X4s and I think we received quotes on every one of them before we decided which two we wanted.

Their X-Trail is the smallest automatic Tricolor has. All their smaller SUVs are stick.

If they turn out to be as helpful and nice to work with once we get there, as they have been on-line and over the phone, we'll be adding to the chorus singing their praises.

I'm with shillmac, I want all the insurance I can get. Also, check with you credit card company to verify what they cover. Some exclude certain countries and vehicles.

Have a great trip.

Fran

shillmac

This post brings up an interesting point. I was visiting with a fellow (friend of a friend of my husband's) who called me to talk about his upcoming plan to visit Costa Rica for the first time (with plans to buy property and move there). I won't go on and on about how foolish I think THAT is--most of you will know why that plan is goofy; I mean, how in the world could you know you wanted to live in a foreign country until you had spent enough time there to know for sure you could live there? For many people, LIVING there wouldn't be that easy, certainly not the same as being on vacation.

Oh my, I guess I've been wanting to vent about that phone conversation for awhile, and now you guys are "hearing about it"!

Anyway, he's flying in and out of Liberia (already booked it without even looking at a guide book or having any clue what is where). He had "pieces" of a map he'd printed from the computer. Unfortunately, the areas he's wanting to look at are. . .get this: San Jose and the east coast. Wanted to know how long it would take him to drive over to Puerto Viejo. Good grief. This guy is a principal of a high school and I'm thinking. . .well, never mind.

Then he tells me what a great deal he got with his car rental. 10 days for $187 dollars total--some company in Liberia, can't remember the name of it. Okay.. . .

You can bet he's gonna be surprised when he sees the bill for his rental. I can guarantee you the price he was quoted doesn't include squat. He knew for sure he was NOT going to take out insurance. Seriously, I really have never heard of that being an option--I mean, you just DO.

When I mentioned some of the nice areas he might want to visit, he just laughed at the thought of anything to do with nature. Said he saw enough "monkeys" at school everyday and where were the good bars in San Jose? Oh my gosh, I didn't know the guy from Adam, but my blood pressure was through the roof by the time I got off the phone! When I think about THAT attitude making its home in a place as unique and gorgeous as Costa Rica, I get physically ill. I would LOVE to live there part of the year and love and admire the country and its people, yet it just isn't feasible for me to do. This guy could care less about any of that. And he's buying property. Jiminy Christmas.

fitzpowell

We have used Alamo with good results. Dollar's truck broke down.

We had an automatic RAV4 then an auto Pathfinder, the one that left us stranded.

Get the insurance and do check with the cc company about coverage in CR.
One ins. is mandatory by law. That I think covers damages to either the car or others' property damage. What you need is liability for injury to others.

I found a good explanation way back in here. Though my memory is hazy now, I had reserched it, understood it and bought all the ins. Also most rental contracts are void if you drive off paved roads, or through water. That's about everywhere!

Earthtraveler

Toyota also offers a Rav4 automatic.
It's a nice vehicle if you need it.

cmerrell

Shillmac,

That man sounds absolutely horrendous! Hopefully he'll hate CR and find some place else to "bless" with his presence!

Mjkimp,

We rented from Europcar last year and had no issues. I usually opt for the full insurance coverage wherever I travel because I just would rather be safe than sorry. The Ticos do tend to be rather crazy drivers, and there are lots of potholes, steep, deep ditches, and narrow, winding roads to contend with. We had a ball driving, but I'm glad we had the full insurance coverage just in case.

Your trip is just a few weeks away? Have a terrific time!

mjkimp

thanks shillmac, floridafran, cmerrell, etc. your advice is very helpful.

i do understand diff insuracenses. CLI which is automatic, CDW which can be supplied by them or by your insurance company.

have any of you bought the supplemental insurance (0 deductible). it seems expensive at an extra $20/day. that would make my rental go from 400/week to 560/week. it sounds like most of you just prob did the standard CDW+LDI and did NOT get the supplemental coverage. I also havent heard of anybody taking out vandalism insurance ($5/day extra). never thought renting a car would be so involved.

now for the "easy" part of picking itinerary and booking lodging and exursions. thats why i start planning these trips rather later, so that i dont go crazy planning every little detail for months and months.

shillmac

mjkimp,
Renting doesn't have to be difficult. That's the purpose of this forum, to help cut to the chase!
Takes me about 5 minutes total. I use Tricolor, which has, over time, proven to be the best choice for us and many others. I e-mail:

www.tricolorcarrental.com

Give them the dates, request the vehicle I want, and print out the confirmation e-mail. Their price quote is going to include taxes and insurance costs. Nothing extra to show up later. It helps that we don't really care automatic or standard.

Good luck in the rest of your planning. And I hope you have a great trip!

cmerrell, I just cringed all through the conversation! He's probably not a bad fellow, just not gonna be one to appreciate. For the life of me, I can't figure out why he thinks he'd want to live there. In his case, what would be the attraction?

cmerrell

I know we definitely didn't add an extra vandalism insurance to our rental. We had a level of insurance that meant even if we totalled the vehicle, we wouldn't owe any money for damages. I believe we had coverage for injury and medical expenses as well, and 20$ extra a day sounds about like what we paid over and above the original quoted price that included mandatory coverage (although on any given day, I can barely remember what I did that morning, let alone what insurance coverage I agreed to in CR 5 months ago, LOL!).

fitzpowell mentioned a thread on this forum that addressed the different types of rental insurance. I remember reading it too--seems like it appeared sometime in the latter half of last year, when I was actively researching my trip. Might be worth searching for to help you decide...

Hi shillmac,

Well, if nothing else, "Annoying Man" (now his official title ) makes for a good tale to share! I bet he will hate CR as soon as the howler monkeys wake him up early after a night of imbibing at one of the bars he wanted you to recommend to him, LOL!

shillmac

Now I've been worried, hoping that he doesn't turn to Fodor's and recognize himself! Oops! Everyone say a collective prayer, please!

cookie05500

Beware! I rented a car in Panama City on orbitz. The total amount due was quoted to me at 66.99. By the time I got the car from Thrifty, it was anything but. Total cost 250.00 by the time they added ins......and whatever. Orbitz never added those fees.

shillmac

Yes, that is what I was telling the gentleman who called for advice (after he'd already booked airfare and rented a car). The old adage, "If it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is!" comes to mind. . .

vt_girl07

Hi mjkimp,

We just came back from CR and rented a 4x4 automatic (Suzuki Grand Vitara) from Dollar. We used our Amex which offers total coverage for everything but the third party liability which was $12/day. I thought it was an ok deal. We never had any problems with our car.

Good luck and have fun!

shillmac

We used to use Dollar (2-3 times) and always had good luck with them. It's just that Tricolor has been so much less with equally good service--for the past 10 times or more. . .haven't found a single fault with them yet!