When to hire a car

Sue S · Post by **Sue S** » Mon Jul 21, 2003 1:52 pm

We've booked two weeks in Tobago in October, starting at the Polo Club, moving on to the Eden Valley Sunset Estate and ending at the Blue Haven Hotel. We want to hire a car, and Charlie at the Polo Club has suggested we hire it when we arrive. Is this a good idea - or am I better to hire before we leave England? Also, can anyone suggest a good company and what we should be exprecting pay fo a small 4x4?

Post by **Steve Wooler** » Mon Jul 21, 2003 2:05 pm

Hi Sue

This is a very thorny question. You get what you pay for with car rental. You can save money and put up with banger that’s been banged around the island for five years or more with only the occasional service by an untrained mechanic, or pay top dollar to one of the ‘biggies’ and have a guaranteed newish well-maintained car.

Typically, a Suzuki jeep is going to cost you around US$40-$50 (£25-£31) per day, although I would advise budgeting for an extra US$10 (£6) per day for good CDW (collision damage waiver) insurance. Weekly rates are obviously cheaper.

Without any question of doubt, I would book your vehicle in advance and use Yes Tourism ( http://www.yes-tourism.com ). They offer a brokerage service, so they don’t rent the cars themselves, they act as your agents and book it on your behalf. They only use the most reliable car rental agencies on the island and their website gives full details and prices, so you can pick and choose from the biggest firms like Thrifty or Auto Rentals with the newest cars, down to the smaller operators like Sheppy’s and KCNN who offer older cars but high standards of personal service and lower cost). If anything goes wrong, you have the full weight of Yes Tourism behind you, so to speak. It costs no more than going direct, so you have everything to gain and nothing to lose.

Yes, you could leave it until you got on the island and then shop around and barter a deal. Depends upon how much time you want to give up of your holiday, visiting rental agencies, viewing cars just to save a dollar or two. Car rental is the subject that we hear the most horror stories about, so the best advice I can give you is to stick to the known, reputable firms.

Sue Mills · Post by **Sue Mills** » Mon Jul 21, 2003 4:56 pm

.. October is just about the quietest time of year so there should be plenty of availability - would recommend the vitara (we tried the jimmy for a day...) and a newish car to get you to some of the more out of the way places...