One way car rentals in the US

[munitalP]

Has anyone ever done a one way car hire in the US, from say LA to NY or similar? What conditions were imposed and importantly, what was the cost?

If one wanted to say hire a car in Duluth MI and drop it off at LAX or SFO after say 3 weeks, would you be better off just buying a $3-4K vehicle (a Jeep Cherokee V8 98/99 for example) then either sell it or store it at the destination?

An interesting question I hope can be answered with experience

munitalP

 

[Mrmaxwell]

A 3 week one way rental might be costly and with second cars so cheap in the US buying a car for such a trip is feasible.

I once did a 4 week one way rental (pick up in Texas return to Washington DC) with Enterprise which charged a $690 'one way rental' fee in addition to the normal rental fees which was half the price of what the other rental companies were charging.

Remember that with a rental you will have 24hr roadside assistance and/or the ability to swap vehicles, but if you purchase you will be stuck with it should anything go wrong.

The best thing to do is get rental quotes from several companies and do the math. There can be so many variables from company to company that you may get lucky with a cheap one way rental and have no need to purchase.

 

[cove]

Wow a 13 year old Jeep still running in the US. I'd like to see that!
Wasn't that the period when Jeep could only build lemons?
The biggest problem is getting a comprehensive insurance policy plus a super reliable vehicle to make the journey.
My current problem with this is I went 111 km/hr in 100 zone and lost 4 points on a double demerit weekend. AAA then wanted more than double to insure the car/driver comprehensively.
I have driven a Toyota 12,200 miles in 28 days as a grand road trip of America but I returned that car to the hire location.
The drop charge may be negotiable and maybe FT members could advise where to start and finish for a great result.
Divided roads make the journey a snap to go 400 to 500 miles a day and have all afternoon to investigate your point of interest so you can get to every dot on your route.
When I drove to Las Vegas recently the hire car in LA had Nevada plates so maybe drop charges vary substantially based on the rental car company needs.
Have you thought about doing a big circle to avoid tipping off the rental car company of your master plan. I remember the shocked look on the face of the hire car company worker when I handed back that rental.
Finally watch out for American winter as I had to buy chains to get thru Denver and the mountains.
I absolutely recommend you try a big drive there as the scenery is amazing but I would be thinking Ford,Chevy or Toyota for reliability.

 

[cove]

Now after posting that about Jeep I wondered how many satisfied owners there were out there happily driving 1998/99 model Cherokee.
The proposed trip will give you a lifetime of memories and you will meet lovely folks in middle America. We have met up with a worm farmer and a bail bondsman in our US travels.
Roadside assistance is a big part of why we hire rather than buy but I can see why you would consider buying.

 

[AV8]

Consider hiring from more than 1 supplier and location along your route. Recently I hired from Alamo in Seattle and after 1 week swapped vehicle with Thrifty in Portland to complete my trip. Thrifty had a one way special of $1/day to return vehicle to SFO Airport amongst many other locations. I find that hiring/returning to Airport locations have more specials available and it is easy to swap vehicles as they are usually located near each other.

 

[BensAdventures]

I did I one-way rental from Key West to Orlando a few weeks ago, and I did a similar trip 12 months earlier, and both times Hertz for the best of the majors. Budget and Avis charged significant 'one-way' penalties.

 

[serfty]

Some of the pre-paid car hire sites such as [noparse]www.arguscarhire.com[/noparse] generally include the one-way fees in the rates.

e.g. You can get for example a three week LAX-JFK rental of a "Ford Escape or similar" for AUD1500 (Includes no GPS but seemingly all other extras including a full tank of fuel.)

 

[tuapekastar]

Going back many years, friends of mine 'delivered' a car from NYC to Florida for someone who needed their (private) car relocated, so effectively a 'free' rental. I think they had to pay for petrol but that was it. Not sure how long they had to deliver it.

I'm pretty sure that was organised (we're talking pre-internet days here) by some company that 'does' this. Not sure whether it still happens or whether it would happen for your timings/routings but may be worth some googling.

 

[NM]

I have done a copule of one-way rentals. One was LAX to LAS, so not too far. I rented directly from Avis for that one and paid a small surcharge for the one-way (around US$50 I think).

The other, during the same trip, was from MCO to BWI. For that one, al the major rental companies wanted several hundred dollars surcharge. I found a deal through Expedia that used Avis as the provider. The restriction was that it had to be pick-up and drop-off at airports. We were wanting to get to New York so it was convenient to drop-off at BWI following a few days on the DC area, since BWI is co-located with a Amtrac station making it easy to get to within one block of our NY accommodation via Penn Station.

Avis would not even offer a one-way from MCO to anywhere near NY. Any option I tried came up with no availability. So using Expedia as the agent for booking an Avis car with a one-way that suited out travel proved to be a good option.

 

[cove]

Serfty that argus site is great for our car hire in Los Angeles with insurance included.We took a Ford Taurus and the full tank of fuel and returned it very close to empty seeing that was the agreement.

 

[munitalP]

great replies so far - thanks

I had not considered insurance. This is hypothetical as I as still planning China/Tibet as our next holiday, but Mrs munitalP and I have been watching an ABC series Stephen Fry in America, and last night she decided that Mt Rushmore has floated to the top of her bucket list...

Our scenario would be Duluth or similar area to LAX via Houston this time 12 months from now for 3 weeks - weather aside, is this achievable driving or am I better off buying internal flights from point A to B and forget the drive? Do any of the airlines offer a "circle USA" type arrangement with flights?

I looked at Auto Trader.com and chose a Jeep 4x4 (V8) that looked reasonable as my basis. Toyota's and Nissans were much of a muchness price wise - but talking 1500 for a 1 way rental is a lot more cost effective..!

 

[dot]

I've had two one way rentals in the US:

• SAN-LAS - the long way via the Salton Sea and Mecca
• LAS-LAX - all the AA flights that afternoon were full.

Neither presented any problems. the LAS-LAX as a same day hire, while the SAN-LAS was a two week hire - a week around SAN and a week around LAS. Both were through Hertz and not really any different to dropping off at the same point except the depot was different (other than the charge of course).

 

[trooper]

JMO.. but if three weeks is all you have I'd recommend flying from point to point and driving a "loop" from there (or doing a shorter one way drive) to the next point of interest.

It's a BIG country and (YMMV!) I can't see the attraction of driving most of the time....

Some one ways are free..... the mob I rent from has no drop off fee between AZ and CA fr'instance...

 

[cove]

Look at the 80 and the 40 interstate roads.
AAA did up our road plan and they were very helpful.
Yes you can go quickly on their interstates. Watch how the Griswalds handle their trip to Wally World (Magic Mountain near Los Angeles).
After you reach Elvis Presley's house what is next?

 

[odysseus]

The drop charge may be negotiable and maybe FT members could advise where to start and finish for a great result.

Florida will have non-surcharged one way rentals to or from there, depending on time of year (e.g. their Spring, going out).

If looking at driving on behalf of someone else, here's one place to start trying: Autodriveaway Vehicle Transportation Offices Different places have different conditions, such as on age or experience (references), and may have issues with non-citizens, so check eligibility and suitability first. Often there's not so much lead time, and you need to be flexible, and will likely have time constraints so can't do a leisurely drive all over the country.

 

[cove]

This trip could be split in two to avoid getting worn out.
Definite Bucket list item for some of our members who don't mind driving in USA.
We loved it and will do a different version of it in the next couple of years.