Rental Cars, ARGGGHHHH!

[bemocked]

So... I do my typical quick websearch and find a nice low cost car rental option, and found an applicable airline frq flier discount code that can apply on top of the discount rental rate. See that subtotal there in the image below? US$67.22 for a week of rental car after a $20 airline discount (and a compact at that, not a itty bitty ecomomy car

Comments

[daimones]

I can insure you on my cute little car and then you'll have to visit! :)

But that is nuts. I feel bad for the insurance people. Must be so hard to extort a living. ;P

[bemocked]

how cute is your car?

[daimones]

http://pics.livejournal.com/daimones/pic/00085rb6

[rezendi]

Many credit cards offer free rental-car collision coverage.

[bemocked]

I mentioned this aspect in my first post on this topic earlier today...

"Yeah, yeah... i have a gold/platinum/precious-metal branded credit card or two that promotes itself as having rental car insurance coverage (like most everyone else does), but honestly... if you totaled a car (something I have NEVER done) and someone was injured - how comfortable would you be calling your credit card's benefits hotline and counting on your credit card to make it all okay for you? Relying on their legal representation if you get sued in a bodily injury case?

I consider the credit-card rental car coverage as a nice safety net, a backup. I have tried from both of my platinum cards, and you cannot extract a written record from them documenting the limits of your liability that they will cover. I have enough assets that getting sued would be a real fear for me.

[rezendi]

Really? Mine says very clearly that it will exactly duplicate the coverage offered by the rental-car company, up to some reasonable maximum value for the rental car ($70K, if memory serves.)

Such insurance expressly doesn't cover personal injury, mind you, but it would still wipe $114.50 from the bill cited above.

Also, I am suspicious of your insurance agent's claim. I bought Geico third-party car insurance in California less than three months ago, to cover personal injury; it cost something like $200 for six months, and definitely did cover rental cars.

[bemocked]

Hmm... I may have to call Gieco - thanks for the info

Historically my agent has gone out of their way to help me, and has shown themselves to be extremely policy-knowledgeable in the past in a difficult homeowner's insurance situation. So I am inclined to believe they know what they are talking about within the realm of their company's policies, but State Farm & Geico may have very different coverage options...

[likesgadgets]

Why do you need the CDW??

[bemocked]

this is my second post today on this...

I have NO other insurance coverage if I rent a car... (unless I want to rely 100% on my credit card's "benefits" to cover all of my potential liability if I were to be involved in a horrific accident where another individual got injured or worse).

In Australia car insurance you take out on the car you own does not apply at all to rental vehicle.

[likesgadgets]

Yes, sorry, I don't like to read things "newest first," but the World is Against Me and I end up doing it anyway. :-)

[bemocked]

it's okay... sorry for my hasty response, that wasn't necessary.

[anonymous]

Hmm, there *are* monthly car insurance policies available in the US. Generally they are aimed at low income folks who cant pay for a full year all at once. Perhaps it would be simpler and cheaper to get one of those?

Look for companies advertising with the words SR22. There do appear to be non-owner SR22s out there.

[bemocked]

These policies (that you can take out to insure a driver, a policy that is not tied to insuring a specific vehicle) no longer apply to rental cars, only privately owned vehicles, as I mentioned in this post?

[anonymous]

Oops, sorry, missed that.

[on_belay]

Most states require that vehicles be safety and possibly emissions inspected before you can register it, so it might be hard to register a non-running vehicle (let alone the cost of storing and transporting it).

Maybe you can get insurance for a tiny 50cc scooter? Might be exempt from safety and emissions inspections, would be cheap to insure, and easy to store somewhere.

[bemocked]

yeah... that was more said out of sarcastic frustration, than out of seriousness... it would have to be more trouble than it is worth to keep a vehicle in the US when I don't live there