Renting a car in Costa Rica
 

We are flying into Liberia airport; spending 2 days in Guanacaste and 2 days at Arenal Volcano before returning to Marriott resort in Liberia.

What recommendations do you have for car rental?

The auto insurance in Costa Rica is a government monopoly of the INS (Instituto Nacional de Seguros). Highly advise you to rent an SUV. Drove from Liberia Airport to Arenal and glad that we rented an SUV with all those bumpy roads.

The bus system in Costa Rica is also very excellent and cheap. You could travel by bus anywhere you could drive.

We rented a small SUV from TriColor at Liberia on our first trip, then again from TriColor in San Jose this summer. They will include the insurance in your quote, so no hidden fees. They were prompt to answer our e-mails and our price was exactly as agreed upon. I would definitely use them again.

hi I can recommend you http://4x4rentacar.com I you can take the car with them at Liberia and return at the marriot, they will arrange for you to pick up the car at no extra cost

good luck

Thank you. We are definitely considering a 4x4. Thinking about renting from one of the large international companies like Hertz.

Hola Suggest you don't rent a car. Bus travel is very cheap as are taxi's. Roads and drivers there are very bad and if you get into an accident, you wait for the police and the insurance company. A friend of ours had a small accident that went 'away' with a bribe to the police and the driver.
LOVE CR! Have a great time!

I can second colibri's advice. We rented from Tri-color in Liberia and had no surprise fees. They picked us up from the airport and took us back when we returned the car.

Renting a car is the best way to travel in CR; public bus service? is ok but not the same.
Stay with the big guys, Dollar, Payless, U-save, etc. Call straight to CR and ask for a quote that includes taxes and insurance.
I can give you my contacs name in CR.