Car Rental : a Review of Thrifty Car Rental
A review of this leading Tobago car hire agency
As part of an international franchise, and Tobago’s largest car rental agency, one might expect the Thrifty fleet to be modern, up-to-date and well maintained. It is hardly surprising that their charges reflect this. However, you do appear to get what you pay for. Thrifty claim that the average age of their 40 vehicles on Tobago is two years old and that all vehicles are replaced after four years.
Most rental agencies offer a delivery and collection service, but I wanted to inspect the agency's depot and facilities, so arranged to collect and return the vehicle myself.
The Thrifty Car Rental depot is located just a 30-second walk from the airport Arrivals door. Despite it being high season there were over a dozen vehicles in the compound, so they're not over-stretched and should be able to continue regular vehicle maintenance, rather than putting it off until the end of the busy holiday season, or simply waiting for the vehicle to break down, as with some agencies.
The vehicles in the Thrifty compound looked as good as new. The office and maintenance areas reinforced the impression and the office staff were friendly, efficient and professional.
Having provided all necessary information to Yes Tourism during the reservation procedure, Thrifty had completed most of the hire agreement before my arrival. It was largely just a matter of signing the agreement and presenting my driving licence and credit card. The system certainly worked, because I was only in the office for a shade over five minutes - considerably less than the twenty minutes I spent in an English car rental office just a few weeks before. Having completed the paperwork, the agency manager showed me to the car. He undertook a full exterior examination then offered an explanation of the controls. Many readers may consider this a normal part of a rental service, but this is not as common a practice as we might expect on Tobago.
The car was a Nissan Almera automatic. After a week touring the island I have to say that the Almera would be hard to beat. The car treated potholes as if they didn’t exist and the air-conditioner was one of the best I've ever come across. Even from completely cold (a relative term, of course) the system was pumping chilled air within seconds. You certainly did not dread returning to the car after it had been standing in the sun for an hour or two. Fire her up, put the A/C on boost and wait outside the car for two to three minutes. Oh, the blessed relief when you stepped into the car!
Handing back the car was as straightforward as collection. The manager took a discrete walk around the car to check for damage, and that was it.
The Almera cost US$55 (£35) per day. Basic insurance liability with Thrifty is unlimited, so one of the two CDW options is a MUST. Basic CDW limits your liability to an acceptable US$500 (£310) and costs US$10 per day. Full zero-liability protection is somewhat expensive at US$20 per day.
In realistic terms the Almera cost US$65 (£40) a day before weekly discount. This is far from cheap, but you do get what you pay for. The car was a pleasure to drive and will comfortably seat five adults. I could happily have made the journey to Charlotteville and back twice a day.
Thrifty Car Rentals might arguably be the most expensive car rental agency on Tobago, but you do seem to get what you pay for.
Further Information: www.thrifty.com
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