Interesting/cheap car hire east coast USA Florida/Carolinas

[wildoliver]

We are doing 3 weeks on the east coast of USA in August, aiming to start in Florida then travel up through the Carolinas before turning round at the top of North Carolina and heading back.

We are doing this ahead of a potential move to North/South Carolina next year with Sarah's work, looking at areas etc. And will of course do a bit of a holiday around Florida too.

We can get car hire down to around £500 for the 3 or so weeks, but it's for something horrible like a small auto hatch.

Are there any cheaper options, I know years back you could move hire cars around for the rental companies and get very cheap hire in a variety of cars, does that still exist? Or we don't really care about a new car, I'd rather drive a ten year old crown Vic than a new Daewoo matiz.

Any thoughts?

[cat with a hat]

Where are you picking it up?

If you are returning the vehicle to the same location at a popular airport you should easily be able to get a premium/full size car for £500 for 3 weeks. (Just verified myself using Miami airport as an example.)



e.g. Mercedes CLA or similar (Premium) for £518 from Sixt at Miami airport in June for 21 days.

Edited by cat with a hat on Sunday 31st March 12:49

[wildoliver]

Will be around the first of aug (we have a degree of flexibility to hunt cheap flights and deals) for around 3 weeks.

We are also flexible on airport, we hit Orlando as the first look, is Miami perhaps a better bet? Is it worth getting a taxi from the airport to a town based rental agency even?

[TimLam7]

wildoliver said:

Will be around the first of aug (we have a degree of flexibility to hunt cheap flights and deals) for around 3 weeks.

We are also flexible on airport, we hit Orlando as the first look, is Miami perhaps a better bet? Is it worth getting a taxi from the airport to a town based rental agency even?

I don't know much about this but one thing I heard is that Miami is best avoided. It's the main airport for all the cruises and everything is tourist-trap pricing. This is based on hearsay rather than experience so could be wrong.

People use Turo here, you rent people's cars so you can get some interesting stuff. I had a look and there's tons of Challengers and Mustangs available for a little under $50 a day. I'd be sure you understand exactly how the insurance and stuff works.

[cat with a hat]

wildoliver said:

Will be around the first of aug (we have a degree of flexibility to hunt cheap flights and deals) for around 3 weeks.

We are also flexible on airport, we hit Orlando as the first look, is Miami perhaps a better bet? Is it worth getting a taxi from the airport to a town based rental agency even?

It does seem that Orlando is £150-200 more expensive to rent from than Miami

[wildoliver]

How weird! Miami it is then!

[cat with a hat]

wildoliver said:

How weird! Miami it is then!

What's the price miami vs Orlando on flights though?

It's also an extra 3.5-4 hours driving.. Although fuel is cheap as anything out there!!

[TimLam7]

cat with a hat said:

wildoliver said:

How weird! Miami it is then!

What's the price miami vs Orlando on flights though?

It's also an extra 3.5-4 hours driving.. Although fuel is cheap as anything out there!!

That's a point, it'd be an extra 8 hours driving to go from Miami.

Petrol will be about $2.70 a gallon in Florida.

[wildoliver]

Driving distance isnt an issue, it's a driving holiday anyway and I wanted to see Miami so that's all good.

Plan is to book the first few nights accomodation then just wing it with motels etc. Any advice on this, first time to the us.

[cat with a hat]

wildoliver said:

Driving distance isnt an issue, it's a driving holiday anyway and I wanted to see Miami so that's all good.

Plan is to book the first few nights accomodation then just wing it with motels etc. Any advice on this, first time to the us.

Not much other than its a good plan 😁

Just make sure you look up the points of interest before you fly out and consider booking anything that might be in very high demand. E.g. A special factory tour

'Hotels tonight' can also be quite good in the US for last minute rooms, depending where you are..

[geeman237]

wildoliver said:

We are doing 3 weeks on the east coast of USA in August, aiming to start in Florida then travel up through the Carolinas before turning round at the top of North Carolina and heading back.

We are doing this ahead of a potential move to North/South Carolina next year with Sarah's work, looking at areas etc. And will of course do a bit of a holiday around Florida too.

We can get car hire down to around £500 for the 3 or so weeks, but it's for something horrible like a small auto hatch.

Are there any cheaper options, I know years back you could move hire cars around for the rental companies and get very cheap hire in a variety of cars, does that still exist? Or we don't really care about a new car, I'd rather drive a ten year old crown Vic than a new Daewoo matiz.

Any thoughts?

Hi, whatever you get make sure its got good working aircon and tyres/tires! August in this area is stinking hot and humid with potential for heavy afternoon thunderstorms that making driving hazardous. Driving standards aren't that great either.

Have you looked in the Holidays and Travel sub forum? I think there are a few threads in there about getting good deals on US hire cars. I have also posted in that section several times on things to do in South Carolina. I moved to Charleston from the UK in 2004.

If you are looking to move here, SC, then depending on your outlook on life there are only 3 worthwhile places to consider in SC. Charleston, Greenville and Columbia with maybe Myrtle Beach (The Redneck Riviera...think Blackpool??) trailing behind, and in that order. Feel free to PM me if you want any more information.

[wildoliver]

Thanks for all that! I may pm you.

Charleston is likely to be the area we end up in I think.

This is very much a fact finding trip, mainly to see what I can earn a living doing out there.

Anyway flights to Miami are booked. Just trying to find something unusual to hire, don't really want something we can hire in this country. The dream (if that's the right word) is a crown Vic, but nothings showing on turo. There are some Pontiac solstice which are fairly cool, but ideally I'd like something big squidgy and comfy albeit probably crap and slow.

[geeman237]

wildoliver said:

Thanks for all that! I may pm you.

Charleston is likely to be the area we end up in I think.

This is very much a fact finding trip, mainly to see what I can earn a living doing out there.

Anyway flights to Miami are booked. Just trying to find something unusual to hire, don't really want something we can hire in this country. The dream (if that's the right word) is a crown Vic, but nothings showing on turo. There are some Pontiac solstice which are fairly cool, but ideally I'd like something big squidgy and comfy albeit probably crap and slow.

Err I do take it you have all visa's or your status is good to work in the US? I have a pretty good handle on the work scene around here if you have any questions. Charleston is continuing to explode with people moving here. The infrastructure is soon going to really struggle to keep up. Its rapidly changing all round here. A very rough rule of thumb is that local pay isn't really keeping up with living/housing costs if you want the American dream type thing here.

The Crown Vic, as you may know, went out of production a few years ago, so you won't find any at the regular mainstream hire places. Pontiac Soltice.....forget it. It literally has no luggage space. I went to look at one once for the ex-wife, you might be able to pack a toothbrush and spare pair of pants...if you're lucky. Again, out of production a few years now, and not that great of a car by most accounts. I wouldn't get too hung up on the car thing. The roads around this area aren't that enjoyable until you get into the mountains anyway. Chevy Impala? Something American full size might do then. Otherwise you're looking at an SUV of some sort, GMC Envoy type maybe.

[wildoliver]

Yes we have a visa route.

Car wise it's just nice to have some variety from the stuff we have easy access to over here, ironically we have a corvette among other stuff here, but while there are plenty of nice cheap cars (lots of mercedes which would be a pleasant place to spend time for a few weeks) on turo it would be nice to get something like a full size body on frame vehicle.bno logical reason to it.