I have used Dollar Car Rental twice now and have had absolutely no problems whatsoever.
The first time was back in 2000. We were heading to the States to do a road trip and I was looking for a three week rental that wasn’t going to charge the earth. On all my searches, Dollar came up consistently cheaper than the other nationwide companies. Sure there were heaps of cheaper options but I wanted to steer clear of the mum and pop type deals so only concentrated on nationwide companies.
I booked an economy car, unlimited miles over the net using the Dollar website and while there, noted a coupon promising me an upgrade. I printed it off and tucked it in with all my travel papers.
We arrived at LAX very early morning after a tedious long haul from New Zealand and found our way to the free-phone to the Dollar depot.
They said to wait out front and the shuttle bus would be along soon to pick us up. We seemed to wait for quite awhile but eventually we spied the Dollar shuttle and signaled to the driver. We jumped on board and off we went to the depot.
We were the only customers at that early hour so we were dealt with promptly and courteously. I remembered my upgrade coupon and pulled out the page I had printed off, this was accepted without a word and we were upgraded to a compact car.
We asked directions to our booked accommodation and the attendant printed off a map for us showing us exactly which route to take … such service!
We were pointed in the general direction of the garage and told where our car would be. We found it okay but had an initial moment when we discovered it was locked … after a while it dawned on us that we were trying the passenger door and the keys were in the ignition, ready and waiting on opposite side of the car!!!
The car was spotlessly clean and we jumped in, with map and hand and headed off for three weeks of fun and adventure.
Driving on the right took a little bit of getting used to, sorting out the indicator lights from the windsceen wipers took a bit of effort but it all clicked in the end.
One essential piece of advice we received was to remember this catchy saying to remind us which side of the road to stay on .... Loose Left, Tight Right. This helped immensely in the early daysd of our trip.
We drove over 4000 miles without a hitch, the car caused us no problems whatsoever and apart from giving us some electric shocks when we were in the hot desert regions, we had no complaints.
The feature I like the most about the car ( a Dodge Stratus) was the automatic locking system. A few minutes after getting into the car, all the doors would automatically snap locked if we hadn’t locked them ourselves, a great safety feature I thought, especially with the back doors in mind.
Returning the car was a breeze; we pulled up to the depot and followed the signs for the returning vehicles. We were directed to the place to stop by a worker who immediately looked over the car, we were given the all clear and the car was driven to where there was another group cleaning and grooming all the latest returned cars.
Easy!
We signed off the credit card payment in the office and then took the free shuttle bus to LAX for our flight home.
The bill for the 3 weeks came to $1800 (NZ) which was pretty reasonable considering the appalling exchange rate at the time. $1 (NZ) was only worth about .40c (US) so it wasn’t a bad rate. This included all the insurance coverage which we took as well, we made sure to take the works as we didn’t fancy being sued if something went wrong.
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The second Dollar experience was just as satisfactory. We were in Waikiki, Hawaii on a five night holiday and decided we wanted to rent a car for a few days to get around the island a bit. We came across the Dollar Car Rental yard and headed on in straight off the street. There were a few cars on the lot ranging from small cars to 4x4 jeeps . We booked an economy and were given yet another dodge. I can’t quite remember the model we got this time round but it was about the same size as the Stratus. A small 4 doorsedan, automatic and a cinch to drive.
Once again, the attendant didn’t bother going over the car at all, just pointed us to the car and off we went.
Returning the car was again simple, we were directed to the washing area, a guy gave the car the once over and we went to the office booth to sign off on the credit card.
The bill was $216.60 (US) for the three days, once again with the full complement of insurance. You never can be too sure when in the States I guess. This came to $386.43 (NZ), the exchange rate was slightly kinder to us this time around as our dollar was worth about .66c (US)
*** Overall ***
I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Dollar Car Rental to anyone and would use them again without question.
No problems with either of the cars we had, they were both spotlessly clean and ran well. The service was good both times. The front desk folk were friendly and efficient at doing their job.
We missed the opportunity to get a discount in Waikiki via a coupon in one of the many tourist giveaway brochures and booklets. I hadn’t bothered looking through them till we got home … silly I know but there you go … I will know better next time.
NH Hotels, the hotel chain leader in Europe, with more than 300 hotels in 20 countries in Europe, Latin America and Africa. Enter into our web site and find the best available tariff at all times
Record Rent a Car is present in the main spanish airports and has a very wide fleet. We offer: exceptional discounts, free additional drivers,
unlimited mileage... subscribe to our Club Record and take advantage of special offers.
Advantages: Friendly staff, lots of locations, good selection of cars, accept younger drivers Disadvantages: pricey for younger drivers, no inspection of car prior to rental...not always a bad thing...
Dec 14th, 2004
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