Halifax car rental warning

Just wanted to give folks a heads up to think twice about renting from Enterprise. After waiting on line for over an hour, and clearly facing at least 45 minutes more of a wait we gave up. Very disappointing. There were people waiting on line with us for over an hour to return cars as well which made us nervous, thinking about returning a car and getting back on board before sail away. it seemed to take at least 20 minutes to process every person ( and I am not exaggerating). Maybe it was a fluke off day but beware.

Rest of the cruise was wonderful and we made the best of the remainder of our time in Halifax. We were on the Summit.

Certainly possible that things have changed since I was there about two years ago, but my rental from Enterprise was easy, and involved an upgraded car. I rented from the office in the train station, walkable from Pier 21, and I have previously rented from their Scotia Square office, which provided pickup from and dropoff to the dock.

I'm inclined to think that it is a fluke.

allentownahoy, did you reserve a car ahead of time?

Yes I reserved a car ahead of time. Did not matter. There was one line for everything and everyone. And yes, it was in the office in the train station.

We rented a car from them in 2014. Here's another heads-up warning: Check the gas tank before you leave with the car, especially if you're driving to Peggy's Cove, because there are NO gas stations once you get outside of Halifax. We got about 1/3 of the way to Peggy's Cove when the low-gas warning sound came on. Lucky for us, we got all the way to the turnoff for Peggy's Cove and stopped in at the Visitor Information Centre. They have five cans of gasoline available each day for such emergencies. We got the fifth!

We rented a car from them in 2014. Here's another heads-up warning: Check the gas tank before you leave with the car, especially if you're driving to Peggy's Cove, because there are NO gas stations once you get outside of Halifax. We got about 1/3 of the way to Peggy's Cove when the low-gas warning sound came on. Lucky for us, we got all the way to the turnoff for Peggy's Cove and stopped in at the Visitor Information Centre. They have five cans of gasoline available each day for such emergencies. We got the fifth!

Pretty shocking that the car did not have a full tank of gas when you left Enterprise. Not cool.

FYI, I called Enterprise on Friday to complain and they said an hour wait is the norm but that I should have been warned. Suggested I complain to the manager and gave me his e mail address. They have 3 people working. He also said they get many foreign guests who take longer and have more questions. Not sure I buy that. Foreign travelers are usually pretty sophisticated travelers.

We rented a car from them in 2014. Here's another heads-up warning: Check the gas tank before you leave with the car, especially if you're driving to Peggy's Cove, because there are NO gas stations once you get outside of Halifax. We got about 1/3 of the way to Peggy's Cove when the low-gas warning sound came on. Lucky for us, we got all the way to the turnoff for Peggy's Cove and stopped in at the Visitor Information Centre. They have five cans of gasoline available each day for such emergencies. We got the fifth!

Unfortunately you don't rent cars very often or you would have known. But it is ALWAYS wise to check the gas tank level before leaving a rental company's lot. Some companies don't fill it up so you return it with the same amount of fuel they give it to you with. Some companies say they fill it up, but I can't tell you how many times I have had to go back inside and ask them to top it off since it was not full.

Same with damage on the car - go around the car before leaving the lot and be sure that all damage is recorded on the rental contract form.

Unfortunately you don't rent cars very often or you would have known. But it is ALWAYS wise to check the gas tank level before leaving a rental company's lot. Some companies don't fill it up so you return it with the same amount of fuel they give it to you with. Some companies say they fill it up, but I can't tell you how many times I have had to go back inside and ask them to top it off since it was not full.

 

Same with damage on the car - go around the car before leaving the lot and be sure that all damage is recorded on the rental contract form.

Here is the route I recommend for getting to Peggy's Cove: https://goo.gl/maps/USc4XyBzepv

On the map you can see Beechville and Bayers Lake. There are gas stations there. There are also gas stations at the exit to route 333 at Upper Tantallon.

When we rent a car we take photos of any marks, scratches, etc. and make sure it is recorded. We have never had a problem.

As for the one hour wait that is a real problem. You can see how it would happen as everyone comes at once. They cannot have enough employees for that but they do need to find a way to streamline the process. Forms should all be prepared in advance.

Here is the route I recommend for getting to Peggy's Cove: https://goo.gl/maps/USc4XyBzepv

 

On the map you can see Beechville and Bayers Lake. There are gas stations there. There are also gas stations at the exit to route 333 at Upper Tantallon.

 

When we rent a car we take photos of any marks, scratches, etc. and make sure it is recorded. We have never had a problem.

 

As for the one hour wait that is a real problem. You can see how it would happen as everyone comes at once. They cannot have enough employees for that but they do need to find a way to streamline the process. Forms should all be prepared in advance.

For those looking to rent in the future, try Avis on Grafton St.! I rented ahead of time online, called as we're leaving the ship, and they picked us up at the ship within 5 minutes. A 3 minute drive to their location, and in less than 10 minutes we were on our way with maps, and marked locations of gas stations. We drove to Peggy's Cove, but when we arrived there were no fewer than 12 tour buses unloading so we continued to drive. Stopped at Peggy's Cove on our return and it was almost deserted. We were THRILLED with the customer service from Avis. Turned the car in and walked back to the ship; it took us less than 15 minutes, luckily all downhill!

Thank you, gail811. Avis sounds great, and it would be really nice not having busloads of people at Peggy's Cove.

Thanks for posting this information, gail811.

We rented from the train station at least three times (Alamo & Budget) and never had any crowd issues, of course it's wise to get off the ship as early as possible.

It's night and day when going to Peggy's Cove with a car, you 100% of the time beat the tour buses and it's a entirely different experience without 1000 of your best friends there with you :)

Srpilo

We recently rented a car from Hertz on Marginal Road. It was an easy walk from where we were docked (pier 23) to their small office on Marginal Road. I almost goofed as I walked along the road right next to the dock area, as Marginal Road was actually the next road over. However, I saw the Garrison Brewery, which I knew was right next to Hertz, and figured out that I needed to walk over to the next street. Sure enough, there was Hertz near the other side of the brewery. We had pre-booked, with an AAA rate. I forget if the tank was full or not, but if not, they told us the level before we left with the car and we replaced it to that level when we came back. We were the only people there when we rented, but we were on a smallish cruise ship, so perhaps others will have a different experience. You can return the car after-hours if you need to and just drop the key in the box.

We were very happy with our rental and our day in Halifax. We drove to Lunenburg and Blue Rocks, not Peggy's Cove.

OK, here's another Heads Up.

We rented from Thrifty, also 2 years ago. We had a time of 9:00AM as our pick up time. Unfortunately, we were delayed as the other people we were with are very slow walkers and we arrived at the Thrifty counter about 9:25. Guess what, all the cars were gone for the day. Then ended up sending us to AVIS, but because of this we didn't get out of Halifax until after 11AM.

My point being, if you reserve a car for a certain time and see you are running late, call them immediately to let them know you ARE on the way and not to give your car away. Even a few minutes late can mean the difference of getting your car or not. Lesson learned the hard way.

Cheers

Len

A good warning, Len. Thank you.