convertable rental car Vancouver to SanFran - where to look?

[gmacrae]

Hey guys, me and a buddy are heading up to your end of the planet! kicking off with some mountain biking around Vancouver and hiring a car for a week to drive to Vegas, then LA and San Fran to fly home to NZ.... would kinda like to have the stereotypical mustang convertible for the roadtrip! :D or some kinda camaro or charger or something...

Can anyone recommend a good car hire firm for this? could pick car up from seattle if need be... the internet seems to come up blank when I ask for a "sports" car - if i want a ****house little compact - no worries!

Cheers!

Gene

[AlaskaStreamin]

Two things come to mind. What are you going to do with the bikes? Are they rented?
Might want to find out how much a one way rental will be. Sounds like you will start in Vancouver (Vancouver B.C.? or Vancouver Wa.?) and ending in Sanfrancisco?

[njj502]

Some agencies won't let their cars out of the country, keep that in mind. I use National for all my business rentals.

[Ron V]

You might want to check Dollar if a Charger is on your list. They are big on Mopars. Usually they have high miles on them for rentals (they run them to about 50,000 miles at least) but their rates are good. I've used them several times.

[Li'l Toy]

I think most of the major companies have some type of sports car available. Just check their websites. Be aware that you may reserve what you think is a Mustang, but find out that the particular location you arrive at only has Camaros or maybe something you don't think is a sports car. Once you think you have what you want, I would call the specific location where you would pick up the car to be certain that they have those cars at that location for one-way rental before making the reservation.

I strongly suspect you can avoid a lot of complications, and probably expense, by picking up the car in the US.

I just took a quick shot with National Car Rental, which lists one car class as "convertible," and says this is a "Mustang or similar." When I put in pick up at Seattle, drop off at San Francisco, I did not get "convertible" as one of the available classes. May be that they don't have convertibles at a place as far North as Seattle, or maybe all convertibles are already rented for the time period I picked (Aug 25 to Sept 5).

Anyway, just try the websites. As far as the major companies, more likely to have convertibles and one way cars, since they may not all be in your end of he world, off the top of my head:

Hertz, Avis, Alamo-National-Enterprise (3 companies but all sisters), Budget, Thrifty, Dollar--also try sites like Expedia and Travelocity

[gmacrae]

Two things come to mind. What are you going to do with the bikes? Are they rented?
Might want to find out how much a one way rental will be. Sounds like you will start in Vancouver (Vancouver B.C.? or Vancouver Wa.?) and ending in Sanfrancisco?

yea I'm just renting a bike while in Vancouver, my mate will have his bike with him but will be disassembled by the time we get the car. Yep, startin in Van BC and just gotta make our way to San Fran CA.

Some wont let cars cross the boarder huh? Was wondering about that, might have to pick up the car in seattle perhaps?

Dollar rentals for a charger or challenger you say? Thanks, will look for them!

[gmacrae]

I think most of the major companies have some type of sports car available. Just check their websites. Be aware that you may reserve what you think is a Mustang, but find out that the particular location you arrive at only has Camaros or maybe something you don't think is a sports car. Once you think you have what you want, I would call the specific location where you would pick up the car to be certain that they have those cars at that location for one-way rental before making the reservation.

I strongly suspect you can avoid a lot of complications, and probably expense, by picking up the car in the US.

I just took a quick shot with National Car Rental, which lists one car class as "convertible," and says this is a "Mustang or similar." When I put in pick up at Seattle, drop off at San Francisco, I did not get "convertible" as one of the available classes. May be that they don't have convertibles at a place as far North as Seattle, or maybe all convertibles are already rented for the time period I picked (Aug 25 to Sept 5).

Anyway, just try the websites. As far as the major companies, more likely to have convertibles and one way cars, since they may not all be in your end of he world, off the top of my head:

Hertz, Avis, Alamo-National-Enterprise (3 companies but all sisters), Budget, Thrifty, Dollar--also try sites like Expedia and Travelocity

Yea when I was looking they didnt list "convertables" or "sports cars" available for those dates either, I only tried a couple of those companies though. Good advice cheers :)

[Markus]

Don't do it.

We rented a Mustang convertible a few years back and drove from southern California to northern California and back.

First of all, the Mustang drove like a tractor. That was the 1992 version, though. The current model may well be better.

Second, driving a convertible on 6-lane California freeways next to lifted pickup trucks with rumbling V8s, 18 wheelers blowing black smoke and farm trucks full of onions plain sucks.

Finally, air conditioning is not very effective in a convertible, so it gets pretty hot.

That said, the best place to rent is probably carhire3000.co.uk. Their prices include all the insurance someone who does not own a car in the US needs when renting. They will most likely send you to Dollar. And Dollar could set you up with a Dodge Charger, which is a decent car. Just make sure not to get the convertible.