Car rental company recommendations

[pollwood]

Could anyone recommend a car rental company in Aruba? I'd like to do a one week rental.

 

Rebecca

[eskiesmom]

I would check to see who is located at the airport. We were there last year and I don't remember who we rented from but the airport is so small that you just go our the front door, cross the street and there they are. We might have used Budget as that's who I try to use. They are funny there though. The cars aren't as nice as here in the US and they go over the car with you to look for dings and dents so that you won't be charged for them when you return the car.

[Arubalisa]

Just as an FYI, U.S "brand name" agencies are all franchises and have no backing of Corporate. If you have a problem you are "on your own". Been there, done that in Aruba and Curacao. Google "avis aruba" and you will see references to a recent "incident" which affected a lot of people.

 

There is a listing of onsite airport agencies below. You will pay a surcharge for renting from an "airport on site" vendor. http://www.airportaruba.com/en/to&from/rentals/

 

Our last "good" rental experience was with Amigo. They delivered our car to our resort and then dh rode with them back to their office to do the paperwork and vice versa. Amigo's website http://www.amigocar.com/ states you will pay a 10% surcharge for a rental from their airport office.

 

http://www.tropiccarrent-aruba.com/ Tropic has an excellent reputation but rents only Yaris'.

[NewPennCruiser]

We used Thrifty and they offered a good rate and the experience was fine. They had a desk in the Renaissance and we rented there so we didn't get hit with all the airport fees. The car was adequate but not as nice as what you would generally rent here in the states. It was dinged up badly so make sure you walk around and look at the car with the rep to make sure everything is noted before you drive off. We had no issues and it was nice to have a car for a few days to explore the island and hit the grocery store midweek. We didn't rent it for the entire week because we didn't feel the need to have a car at our disposal all the time.

 

There are a few rental places around town to pick from and some looked like they had newer cars. In general we were happy with Thrifty and the car was fine. I also think most of the major resorts have rental desks so there are a lot of options out there.

 

Dave

[phoenix1181]

I've been using Econo (not Economy) for the past 15 years with no problems. Good vehicles, reasonable pricing, and they're at the airport.

[traveling4two]

Stay away for the Thrifty Car Rentals..... Their Wrangle Jeep's are junk.

We rented from the Renaissance Hotel close for Cruise travelers BUT the vehicles are JUNK

We had to request a second Jeep as the first had ripped out plastic window so that you could not secure anything within the vehicle.

2nd vehicle even worse..... No working Air-conditioning, Engine light stayed on 10 minutes after leaving hotel for the duration of our drive, wipers so worn and ripped at ends they would not clean window during rain.

Holes in the roof, dripping rain on legs and head. Plastic windows so yellow and scratched you could not see out of them for side mirrors.

 

When I returned the vehicle after 2.5 hours of a 24 hour rental and spoke to Irene Sunday (Thrifty employee) she stated she knew of the vehicle problems and just shrugged her shoulders. She would not reduce my rental charge.

 

When we returned home, we noticed she did not discount our rental by 10% due to using of American Express Card as book on the web site.( Charged 97.99 instead of 86.21)

See could see other rentals from Budget and other firms, much better condition with glass windows and overall appearance.

[sammymaggy]

We rented a jeep from American Car Rental. It took 5 five minutes to start and would not go into 4 wheel drive on the dessert side of the island. We had to drive back and trade in the jeep to American and the second jeep was also junk. Evey time you would put the clutch in the engine stalled and you lost the steering. When we turned in the jeep the next day American made us wait 1 hour and 15 minutes and said we would not be getting ant discount for spending the day returning jeeps. Once I got back to the US I read all negative reviews for American I hope to prevent this happening to another traveler. For those of you who have not visited Aruba you need an operational 4 wheel drive or you will end up the stranded on dessert side of the island this can ruin an entire vacation.