We are renting a car in SF in July and dropping it off in Phoenix 12 days later. Hertz and Avis rental charges were in the $850 - $1200 range for one step above a compact car. My husband searched the web and found Fox Car Rental (we are in NJ, never heard of it),which seems to be an established company. The Fox estimate was $300 -- too good to be true?

Lots of good reviews on them on Trip Advisor. 1 thing to watch out for is extra fees for the one way rental. Avis charges $0.25 / mile for a 1 way rental, whereas Alamo charges you a set rate. The one I have for my Chicago - Minneapolis from Alamo is $45, but I am not sure if its based on distance.

I am surprised how low that estimate is. Makes me wonder if there are a lot of TBD fees that will be tacked on.

I just did a check of cars at LAX and compared them to Hotwire's rate.

Fox came out about 100.00 MORE than Hotwire. This was for about a week.

I've said it before, but who knows how any of these companies come up with their rates......

To follow up on my previous post, the estimate you quoted was the per week quote. I picked random dates for a full size car in July for 12 days and here is the quote that I got. The Drop Charge is the one way fee. Still not a bad price for that length of time

Qty Rate Subtotal
2 weeks $ 229.30 $ 458.60
Rental Rate Charges $ 458.60
Miles Included unlimited mi
Airport Transfer Fee $ 15.00
Drop Charge $ 100.00
$ .00
Tourism $ 11.47
Concession $ 62.00
State Tax $ 51.20
Estimated Total $ 698.27

tchoiniere, thanks for doing the research! Do you think we should check out any other particular company, too? This is the first time we're renting a car for this length of time and with different pickup and dropoff locations.

Most rental car companies will be similar in price. I stick with Avis because of work (contract with them gets discounts), but found that Alamo made more sense for my road trip because the 1 way charge. I would just use the discount web sites (travelocity, etc) to see which ones have the cheapest rates then go to the individual pages to book. I try to stick to ones that have on airport facilities but that doesn't necessarily work.

1 way to get a cheaper rental is to rent at off-airport locations. I wouldn't have a car while staying in SF (assuming you are staying there) so picking up the car downtown may save you some money. If you need a car while in SF for day trips, plan to do all of your sites in the city first then pick up the car.

I have used Fox for rentals at the Orange County, CA airport. They were completely satisfactory and very reasonable. Don't be concerned if you've never heard of them. A lot of people haven't. They keep their rates low by not advertising a lot and by having off-airport locations..

Dear MV:

We used Fox in Phoenix. It was off site so the rate was cheaper. They were fine and we had no problems.

We also visited the Grand Canyon and stayed at the Bright Angel Cabins(only place we could get). We visited El Tovar and passed one of the rooms. My daughter(age11) said the next time she came to the GC, she wanted to stay there! Well worth the splurge for one night.

We did the sunset bus tour. The views & handiness were great, but our guide was so-so. Another couple had done the desert view earlier and said there guide was fantastic.

Good luck and have a fun time.

MY

We used Fox in Phoenix and they were perfectly fine. I was a bit worried due to bad reviews I had read, but everything was fine and the price was lower than everyone else.

I once used Fox in San Francisco when my car was in the shop, and it was absolutely fine. I would check the "bottom line" to make sure about extra fees, just in case (that would go for any car rental company - make sure there are no mileage charges, and no charges for a one-way dropoff, or what that charge is).

We used Fox in Phoenix & they were great! Gave us a brand new HHR to drive. It was quite a long line at the Fox Rental area; I guess they are popular b/c of their low rental rates (not one person was at the rental car place next to it which was for the high end cars - would be nice! LOL).

In 2006, I read that Sky Harbour Airport had one of the highest rental car taxes and concession rates in US. Chose Fox at off-site location, good car, great price.