car rental in Southern California
 

We are planning to rent a car from either Anaheim or LA. What car rental companies are good (reliable) and cheap. How much is the average car rental cost per day. More importantly, how difficult is it to drive in the US? I have this fear that we'll get lost and end up in seedy neighborhoods. We are thinking of traveling from Anaheim to LA, San Diego and Palm Springs or from LA to Palm Springs. Thanks.

Hi zizz,

My travel agent just told me that Dollar had the best rates for cars in California. We're picking one up at the Orange County airport in December for a drive up the coast.

When I first moved to LA, I was terrified to drive but it is really not that hard. You probably will get lost a few times but you may see some interesting things then too! There is a great driving map called The Thomas Guide that may be worth investing in. It is a huge help in finding things and navigating around LA and surrounding areas. There are bad neighborhoods -- and they are often quite close to good neighborhoods, but you'll be on the freeway most of the time, right? Just keep your doors locked and your pistol under the drivers seat and you'll be fine.

That last part was a joke! Have fun.

I just returned from Anaheim about a month ago. I rented from Budget and it was great. I reserved a Ford ranger pick up knowing full well there wouldn't be one available (too specific). So, when I got to the airport I was upgraded to a Ford Escape SUV for the price of the pick up which was less than 20.00/day!!

There are a set of major rental companies which are widespread - Hertz, Avis, National, Budget, Dollar, Alamo. You can check out their web sites for more info. All of them have various special promotions at times, but those rates may only be available to US residents. All of them charge a lot for insurance - it can double the cost of your rental - so it pays to understand what you need.

The freeways can be a bit intimidating, but it really helps if you have one person drive, and one to navigate. Follow the routes by highway number, rather than destination city.

The rental companies already listed would be your best bets-- you might even work with their offices in the UK to deal with insurance issues. Pick up the car at whatever airport you arrive at. Anaheim is a short hop to downtown LA, a slightly longer drive to the Westside of LA or desirable points on the coast. I'm not a fan of staying in Anaheim, as you may have seen from other postings. Other than the theme parks, it's just ugly.

As far as driving in southern CA, it's actually exponentially easier than driving in older cities like, say, Boston or Pittsburgh (complete and utter nightmares of "star" intersections, unmarked roads and what-not). In California, almost all cities have roads laid out in grids (a notable exception being Beverly Hills, with huge star intersections in residential areas), with logical numbering of buildings and traffic lights at major intersections. The highways can be a challenge (they're clearly marked with plenty of signs, but multiple exits for the same landmark can make it confusing), but as curmudgeon correctly notes, it is a great idea to leave a day's driving to one person while the other navigates.

In my experience driving around here, Mapquest is an excellent resource for mapping out routes to specific places. Check out mapquest.com.

IMPORTANT: When asking people for directions, get them from ONE person, write them down and DON'T ask anyone else unless that first person seemed fuzzy on details. My reason is: Everyone will give you a different answer based on their driving experience. Maddeningly, everyone will be right (though some routes will be shorter than others). Why confuse yourself?

Oops-- forgot that you're NOT coming in from Europe. You will need to check into insurance and what-not regarding driving in the US-- and a travel agent should be able to direct you there (or local branches of the rental agencies already mentioned, if there are any).

Rates are lowest if you book for a full week...or for weekend days (pickup after noon on Thursday and return by Monday night).

Weekday rentals can be very expensive, like $60 per day without insurance, for Mon Tue Wed & Thurs.

Watch out for Budget!

There was a story - a couple of months ago? - where Budget tracked some renters via GPS, found that they took the car OUT OF STATE to Arizona, and charged them over $1000 just for the out of state portion. Believe that, on Budget cars, they are now required to post a sticker on the windshield saying that the car is tracked by GPS.

I would try some other rental company. Who wants to be tracked via GPS everywhere one goes? Bit paranoic, if you ask me! But nobody's asking... :)