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I'll be touring California this December. How much should I expect to pay normally for a minivan for 11 days? What should I consider a good deal? Is any company recommended best, or would you say it's the same with all (aside from the price, of course)? Is there a chance that, trying to find the best deal, I end up with a car older than 1999?
Thanks in advance for your help!

Search on Hotwire. They will give you the price with all local taxes included. Then bid on Priceline. Start soon enough so you can re-bid if your bids are not accepted. The cars will all be as new as any other. We got an upgrade to a mini-van one time in Denver.

I paid $199 for the first 7 days and $39 each extra day with Budget.com about a year ago. I considered it a great price at the time.

Will you be dropping it back at the same location or are you driving the state and dropping it off at the end of your trip?

I'll pick it up at LA and drop it there on my way back home. Why?

We're also renting a mini-van in Cali in Dec. Check around the rates and found that Dollars is offering a 7 seater 2003 Ford Winstar for $24 a day excluding insurance. You may want to check that out.

Travelocity car rental search gives you a nice chart with choices by car size, company, and price. Whenever I have rented a car from a recognizable name company I end up with a car 1-2 years old. Sometimes it is a manufacturer I would not prefer to BUY a car from, but you are just driving it for a matter of days, not worrying if the transmission will fall out in year 5 of ownership.

Word of advice about minivans. (You may already know this if you drive one). I do not know how many people you are traveling with, but when a minivan says 7 passengers, the 7th person is squished and not real comfortable. Also, cargo space is rather limited - not usually enough to hold luggage for 6-7 people.

ck orbitz.com---sometimes the price changes daily...lock in a price and cancel the most expensive one later

I've done this probably a dozen times in CA in the last 10 years - I usually figure @$250/wk for a mini-van is good. If you are traveling from LAX, I usually use Dollar, Budget or Alamo. I check out Orbitz to see where the rates are but usually end up booking direct from the rental car websites.
Once you get a fairly good rate - keep checking and re-checking - you might do even better as time gets closer to your trip.
You will get a newer vehicle - sometimes with only a few miles on them.

JoeG