Car Hire for Cairns (Airport), Gold Coast (Airport) & Sydney (City)

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  rinbond on 29/09/2013 - 00:43

  Try apex car rentals,we have used them and seem OK

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  JediJan on 29/09/2013 - 12:02

  Don't trust EUROPCAR ever.

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    kingofduck on 03/10/2013 - 01:36

    You can add Budget to the do-not-trust list. They just randomly added fine and charge without any explanation.

    But I have rented EUROcar numerous time, always happy with this company.

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  s0805 on 01/10/2013 - 07:29

  thanks guys..

  all of these companies has 'Damage Liability' to select….higher the liability lesser the rent….How does this work? does it cover me when I am at fault involving accident…i pay the liability and get out of it something…I think my personal car issuance is only limited to my car so should not apply here.

  should i take photos of car before i rent to make sure there are no dodgy business….Any tips on what to do before i rent will be helpful…never rented a car before….

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  JediJan on 01/10/2013 - 14:33

  I do not know anything about the damage liabilities of these companies. Perhaps ring your RAC for advice in this. Your personal car insurance cover will not cover you driving the hire vehicle so the extra cover is very essential. I took out Covermore travel insurance (cannot recall $ amount) but when I had to claim on it (long, long story about Europcar who charged for me on credit card a month later for a faulty clutch - vehicle broke down within 3KMS!). I had no hassles claiming through Covermore though (quick and professional) and it only cost me $50 for the excess. I think Covermore worked out cheaper than using the hire car company's own insurance. May be easier using hire car company's insurance but I just don't trust hire car companies any more. I like your idea of taking photographs of the vehicle before you rent; I will probably do the same next time I hire (if I ever get over the Europcar nightmare). Spend time and go over the hire vehicle thoroughly before hiring. Doesn't help if the car has a mechanical problem though they may want to claim on you (my personal experience).

  Check this thread:

  http://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/117984

  Good luck (and good on you for doing some research).

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  s0805 on 02/10/2013 - 19:55

  ok….just found out that if u have ANZ Platinum card and you pay at least $250 towards travelling costs (i've for accommodation) then travel insurance and rental excess cover of upto $5000 is provided….so now i don't have to buy insurance provided by rental company

  but then most rental companies has conditions like not buying insurance from rental company then no third party, no single vehicle accident, no public liability insurance provided also tyre & windscreen costs will be outside of rental insurance….will be paid by customer only…..

  damn they make this so confusing and hard that even travel insurance will not cover everything…so for third party you will have to buy their insurance

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  kingofduck on 03/10/2013 - 01:39

  vroomvroomvroom.com.au is also a good site. No CC detail requested in advance.

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  wicklow on 03/10/2013 - 22:00

  I'm not a fan of East Coast Car Rentals, bad experience. I tend to book big 5, but have also used Abel a bunch of times with no probs.

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    s0805 on 04/10/2013 - 11:34

    can you pls share your exp and which city office for East Coast rentals you had bad exp….So far I've found East cost rentals and http://www.airportrentacar.com.au/ to be good enough….

    I don't mind paying higher access as ANZ platinum covers that for me….both if above cases they seems familiar with these type of customers…

    thanks

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  nerd1 on 03/10/2013 - 22:42

  I asked for advice on a car rental place last year for gold coast here and have used Gold Coast Family Car rental (URL seem to have changed) last year, I'm probably going to use them again next month. If you don't mind older cars, then they are fine.

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  s0805 on 04/10/2013 - 11:34

  thanks nerd1, I've already looked at that post and got plenty of references out of it…u know Gold Coast Family Car Rental was my first choice….but when i called them…guy on the phone said he would only allow me hire a car if I but their insurance…..I declined and mentioned that my CC provided me this automatically upto $5000 which is more than enough for me to pay their access….and they don't have to deal with ANZ…. he was adamant….no worries lost the customer….

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  nerd1 on 04/10/2013 - 12:08

  Not quite sure I understand the insurance bit. It seems that insurance is included in all the advertised price where you would have to pay a silly excess in the thousands. Are you saying some rental places will take this out?

  I've got a platinum card as well and I've not bothered with anything specific to do with insurance. eg. pay extra to lower the excess

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    s0805 on 04/10/2013 - 13:58

    hi, sorry I should've word it better. With ANZ platinum credit card they provide you rental excess cover of upto $5000 for renting a car in Aus.

    Family car rentals tells me that automatically any car hire would have insurance with it. that's good. But customers has option of selecting access atleast as per their website booking process….higher the access lower rents…lower access higher rents…I decided to pay higher access as for me it is covered by ANZ Platinum benefits (upto $5000 per claim)…..

    Family car rentals says i can't select the highest access…basically they want to sell their insurance with car hire as well…so why having this option on website…

    hope that clarifies….