Help with Cheap Car Rental from Brisbane Downtown

Misplaced on 28/09/2024 - 21:44
Last edited 29/09/2024 - 09:00 by 1 other user

Hi all, I am planning multiple trips to Brisbane getting off at Roma Street Station. I want to pick up a small Hire Car each time for up to 4 days - i30 or Yaris maybe. Whatever's cheap. I won't be racking up a lot of miles on it.

Budget Car Rental wanted $427 for the 4 days. I've seen ads offering rental for $29 a day, $70 a day, etc. so there's no way I'm gonna pay that much with "Budget".

I just opened about 50 tabs and I'm confused as hell. I thought some OzBargainers who are experienced with this might be able to help.

Here's what I'm looking for:

  • Reasonably close walk to / from Roma Street Station to pick up the Vehicle
  • Cheapest Rental without any hidden "extra" costs or onerous conditions
  • Guaranteed booking, not a shonky discount website or hire place
Automotive Brisbane Car Rental Queensland

Comments

  • sumyungguy on 28/09/2024 - 22:01
    +1

    Please share a sample date range

    • Misplaced on 28/09/2024 - 22:05

      18/10 3:30 PM to 22/10 3:30 PM (4 Days)

      • sumyungguy on 28/09/2024 - 22:24
        +2

        Best I can find is Enterprise, 46 Charlotte Street, 1.3km walk (20 min) $280.88. Your could get a cheaper rental from BNE but the train fare is $21.90 return and you'd need to allocate the extra time.

        • Misplaced on 28/09/2024 - 22:29

          Yeah, Enterprise looks good. I'm looking for somewhere reliable that I can use in the future, not necessarily just a one-time deal.

        • LFO on 29/09/2024 - 11:21

          BNE but the train fare is $21.90

          Weren't 50 cents each way since October??

          • sumyungguy on 29/09/2024 - 11:21
            +1

            @LFO: Only 50% off for the airport line

            • LFO on 29/09/2024 - 11:32

              @sumyungguy: WOW!! thank you for the info!

              Travel to the airport for $11.45 from your local station, or $10.95 from city stations.

              I thought it was 50c from Gold Coast!!

  • ATangk on 28/09/2024 - 22:08

    No idea where you'd find $29 a day, more like $29 for 1 hour.

  • ATangk on 28/09/2024 - 22:12
    +1

    Cheapest I could find was Europcar compact for $75/day. Looked it up via uber rental

    • Misplaced on 28/09/2024 - 22:25

      Still way better than Budget. I am NOT paying more than $100 a day!

      • min2 on 29/09/2024 - 08:25
        +3

        Do NOT use Europcar in Fortitude Valley no matter how cheap or convenient they are. It is the dodgest car rental company in Australia in my experience.

  • altomic on 28/09/2024 - 22:58
    +1

    try qeeq.com

  • holdenmg on 29/09/2024 - 08:19

    Look at https://www.goget.com.au

    From $12.20hr or $104 a day.

  • doctordv8 on 29/09/2024 - 09:22

    I am still only seeing Brisbane "Downtown"….

    Never heard that here in Qld.

    • sumyungguy on 29/09/2024 - 09:25
      +1

      It's rental car terminology; pick-up from and return to an airport or downtown location

  • rinbond on 29/09/2024 - 09:44
    +1

    We have used RAD car hire,very good to deal with.

  • Meho2026 on 29/09/2024 - 10:06
    +2

    Have a look at turo, its like airbnb for cars
    https://turo.com/au/en

  • jakt70 on 29/09/2024 - 13:28
    +3

    Look into East Coast Car Rentals, I believe they have a Brisbane city office. I've always found their cars good and cheap compared to the big names. When researching recently, I found that a small car for about 4 days (Sunshine Coast) was $200ish. Electric vehicles were cheaper still. If they're still around, steer clear of Rent A Bomb. I used them once, and once only. The car wasn't roadworthy, wouldn't lock, had a broken hand brake (it worked but was hanging down under the dash), had only 4 working seatbelts for a 5 seater and the head lining was falling down. I guess they live up to their name alright.

    https://www.eastcoastcarrentals.com.au/bookings/?step=search…

    • sumyungguy on 29/09/2024 - 15:27
      +2

      That's a good option, just two stops away on the train to Fortitude Valley, similar rate to Enterprise.

  • Food on 29/09/2024 - 21:05
    +1

    Bargain car rental BNE Airport, use the promo code listed on OzB. Very cheap imo.

  • Syd Bargain Girl on 01/10/2024 - 12:30
    +2

    What about something like Turo or Drivemate? Since Ubercarshare are no longer?

    • Misplaced on 02/10/2024 - 23:54

      Yeah, was looking at Turo, but the locations are all over the place.

  • Misplaced on 02/10/2024 - 23:44

    Booking.com had some cheap options for older cars (eg. 6 year old Corolla, which is probably fine), however those were at Brisbane Airport.

  • Misplaced on 27/10/2024 - 20:37

    So, the upshot of all this was: I decided to try East Coast Car Rentals. I emailed them saying I will be making the trip down monthly for the next 6-8 Months and asked for the best deal.

    After some back and forth they agreed to a cheap deal on a compact car - $244, which sounded pretty reasonable. I said I don't need Premium Roadside Assist or any of that rubbish, and I was happy to chance it with the excess since I'd only be doing very minimal driving for 4 days.

    I arrived at their Office and was promptly told that they would put a $1,000 hold on my card, which they'd never mentioned before. Needless to say this was unacceptable. They ended up wrangling another $152 out of me to avoid the $1000 hold, making the total $396 for the 4 days.

    I don't know why I agreed to it. It was just the principal of the thing. An excess is fair enough, but putting a hold on people's funds is a pretty low act in my view.

    I don't want to pay that sort of money. I was disgusted with Budget for charging $100 a day and that's exactly what I wanted to avoid (I'd once rented a Hyundai i30 for 3 Months for $29 a day in Sydney. $100 a day for a casual rental is just sickening)

    The Kia Picanto was outstanding to drive and surprisingly roomy.

    I think next time I'll get a ride to the BNE Airport and rent one cheap from there. I don't care if it's a 6 year old Corolla or whatever. I might even buy a cheap car and house it somewhere down that way.

    I'm just sick of being ripped off with hidden charges and untrustworthy business practices.

    • sumyungguy on 27/10/2024 - 21:04

      Credit card pre-authorisations are pretty much standard practice for any transaction where the final value is not immediately known; e.g hotels & accommodation, car rental, self-service fuel (in some countries), restaurants, travel agencies, any other rental service. And if you going to chance it with the excess I hope you can cash flow a lazy $5K because you'll be up for that even if you're not at fault, then have to battle with the rental car company to recover it.

      • Misplaced on 27/10/2024 - 23:03

        It's a $1,000 excess. I'll chance it - on the off chance that I prang it in the 4 days of very minimal driving, AND it's my fault, I'll pony up the cash. I am NOT going to stand by while they extort money off me by putting a hold on my funds.

        • sumyungguy on 27/10/2024 - 23:18

          East Coast standard excess is $5,500 with options to reduce to $550 or zero. Don't know how you're getting $1K but that's a great deal.

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