Driving the Pacific Coast Highway - renting a nice car?

[londonbabe]

My girlfriend and I are planning to drive down from Seattle to LA along the Pacific Coast Highway in summer next year. We'll be spending 5 days in San Francisco and we thought it would be great if we could rent something really properly American, like a Charger or Mustang with a big V8 and terrible fuel consumption, to do the trip between Seattle and SF. Then we'd either keep that car or get a nice convertible for the cruise down to LA.

My initial enquiries brought ludicrous quotes in the thousands. It would be cheaper to buy something. I'm sure there must be a 'proper' way to do this - has anyone got experience of this trip and how you get a decent muscle car in Seattle and dump it at LAX without bankrupting yourself.

[chr15b]

given the speed limits, other traffic - and more importantly, the amazing views. I didn't feel i'd missed out at all by doing the trip in a v6 convertible mustang.

[p1stonhead]

The road is spectacular no matter what you are in. I was in an automatic Focus and loved it.

Not worth spending thousands just for the car - its quite busy

[londonbabe]

Where did you get the mustang? We are having trouble finding anything even a year in advance?

[theboyfold]

chr15b said:

given the speed limits, other traffic - and more importantly, the amazing views. I didn't feel i'd missed out at all by doing the trip in a v6 convertible mustang.

This.

Also, you can't do a one way hire on something like a Corvette, so you need to get a V6 Mustang from Hertz, which is fine.

If you want some fun, drop off the Mustang at LAX, pick up a Corvette for a day and abuse Angeles Crest for 24 hours

[The Leaper]

Wife and I did the SF to the San Diego trip several years ago in a regular car. The point is we did this in February and the PCH was almost deserted of traffic...wonderful. I can just imagine how awful it could be in the busiest periods.

R

[boyse7en]

I tried to do it a few years back and gave up in the end.

I wanted a Mustang to do SF to LV, via PCH and LA.

None of the 'regular' hire companies could do it. Specialists were more to hire the car per day than I was paying for a normal mid-size saloon (Ford Taunus, or something like that) for a week.

[Wolff]

londonbabe said:

Where did you get the mustang? We are having trouble finding anything even a year in advance?

We used Dollar in San Francisco (picked up from the Sheraton at Fishermans Wharf) - were told that was the only place that didn't have a "or similar" for the Mustang v6 convertible, and sure enough, all they had were Mustangs. Not as new as you would get from Enterprise etc, but perfectly acceptable.

[RichwiththeS2000]

I did it in a V6 Camero - great fun. - The Camero V6 is the highest BHP out of the mustang+challenger, and comes with an LSD ;-)

V8s are not on offer from the mainstream car rental places. (Check out an app/site called Kayak - good for finding deals. I used Fox Rentals in the end, all good + ask for a GPS)

Head off the PCH at some stage - do a google for some great driving roads. You can't really go wrong. There's amazing redwood forests and mountains/canyons to carve around. I got as far as Laguna Seca in one day then came back up the twisty roads back home.

Edited by RichwiththeS2000 on Tuesday 1st September 12:58

[creampuff]

londonbabe said:

Where did you get the mustang? We are having trouble finding anything even a year in advance?

You can rent them off Hertz. Pick it up at a major airport as you will reserve "Mustang or similar" so you want to go somewhere with a lot of cars to increase the chance you will actually get a Mustang. They are all V6, I'd guess you actually have to buy one if you want a V8.

[Saleen836]

Unless you intend to venture outside of SF during your 5 day stay you wont need a car, it will just be something you are paying for that stays parked in a parking space you will also be paying for.

[davepoth]

londonbabe said:

My girlfriend and I are planning to drive down from Seattle to LA along the Pacific Coast Highway in summer next year. We'll be spending 5 days in San Francisco and we thought it would be great if we could rent something really properly American, like a Charger or Mustang with a big V8 and terrible fuel consumption, to do the trip between Seattle and SF. Then we'd either keep that car or get a nice convertible for the cruise down to LA.

My initial enquiries brought ludicrous quotes in the thousands. It would be cheaper to buy something. I'm sure there must be a 'proper' way to do this - has anyone got experience of this trip and how you get a decent muscle car in Seattle and dump it at LAX without bankrupting yourself.

One-way return rates get super expensive if you want to return across state lines, for the most part, especially if it's across multiple states and for premium cars. However, the regular stuff is normally a lot cheaper for interstate returns as they can often find a customer to reposition it, rather than putting it on a truck.

What I'd suggest is to see what sort of rate you can get for a rental from Yreka, CA (the most northerly rental spot in the state, all the big rental companies are there) or Crescent City, CA (A bit further south, but on the 101, but only Hertz) to LAX, and then see what it would cost to get a "regular" car from Seattle down to there. I think it should be a fair bit cheaper.

If you do want to buy something, it is possible but a bit tricky. Washington state seems to allow non residents to register a car:

http://www.roadtripamerica.com/forum/archive/index...

Although you might need to get some kind of mailing address sorted out in advance (it might be worth checking with them whether your hotel address would be OK)

This company will insure you, even as a tourist on the Visa Waiver Program (I never asked them how much it would cost though!)

http://www.sunriseworldwide.com/

[Chucklehead]

Over the peak July / August period there are often HUGE fees for taking a car from San Francisco to anywhere - even the same state like LA. The reason is because that's what everyone wants to do.

If you can figure a way of ending your trip in San Francisco it'll almost certainly be cheaper.

Dollar Thrifty removed their 2016 peak one way charge for cars originating in SFO today, but I'd expect that to be added again before the end of the year. Alamo have a huge fleet of Mustangs and Camaros in regular rental spec although I don't honestly know how many are V8s.

[imck]

We have done that trip twice. Once ending in Las Vegas in a Mitsubishi Galant 2.4 from budget. Comfortable enough but nothing at all exciting.
Second time to LA. Got Buick Lacrosse 3.5 Saloon from Hertz. Very comfortable and wafty. Made a lovely sound when kicked down.
Both times I picked Full Size Car.

PCH is a great trip regardless of the car.

I drive a Ceed 1.6D daily so am probably easily pleased!

Currently on a Road Trip from Florida to New Orleans. Dodge Journey SUV 3.6. Very comfortable.
3/4 tank has just cost me $25.

[chr15b]

londonbabe said:

Where did you get the mustang? We are having trouble finding anything even a year in advance?

We got it from Dollar in Las Vegas (dropped it off at LAX, driving via SF)

knowing the 'or similar' that most places advertise meant possibly a Chrysler Sebring - i didnt want to take the risk, so i walked in to Dollar and inquired how much for the blue Mustang in the corner.

[Ste1987]

Nearly 2 years since I was in Vegas, and I'm still amazed how cheap fuei is, only time we filled up was in the middle of the desert between Vegas and LA, where it was about $4 per gallon, which, I believe is about 50p per litre!