Las Vegas to Los Angeles car hire.... Recommendations?
Las Vegas to Los Angeles car hire.... Recommendations?
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Discussion

Prof Prolapse

Original Poster:

16,163 posts

221 months

Sunday 15th January 2012
quotequote all
Alright chaps,

My better half and I are spending some time in Vegas then heading up the west cost. As per the header we'll be driving from Vegas to LA and we're after some suggestions (and experiences) of hire companies as I don't know any!

Not looking to hire anything particularly interesting... Not talked her round to a V8 just yet.

Any advice greatfully received.

Cheers!

jonstable

2,941 posts

244 months

Sunday 15th January 2012
quotequote all
V6 Mustangs are cheap as chips to rent out there and quite comfy for long drives. I had one for a few days last September and did me well on a 350 mile trip from Washington to North Carolina.
Don't travel the way I did from Vegas to LA; ie, the Greyhound bus. Character building would be a polite way of describing the trip!

edition

987 posts

221 months

Sunday 15th January 2012
quotequote all
Hertz are fine.... Treat yourself to a Vette, really good fun.

Blowfish

299 posts

178 months

Sunday 15th January 2012
quotequote all
I hired a convertible mustang from Hertz Wynn hotel in Vegas and drove it to LA last year. Only cost £130 for a few days,

Prof Prolapse

Original Poster:

16,163 posts

221 months

Sunday 15th January 2012
quotequote all
It's a 12 day rental so I have to be reasonably sensible.. Then again...

As for the V6 Mustang, interesting choice. My old man has a V8 one (so I suspect I'd feel let down by the V6) but very comfortable. Camero would be my choice...

I can't believe how cheap the rental is. It was coming up with £1500 and I crapped myself until I realised it was set at 72 days by mistake!


Stu R

21,677 posts

246 months

Sunday 15th January 2012
quotequote all
Hertz have always worked out for me smile

JC2012

517 posts

247 months

Sunday 15th January 2012
quotequote all
We hired a Lincoln Navigator what a machine that was ... did that exact same journey from Vegas to LA and it was one journey i'll never forget.

We asked our hotel Concierge to find us a local hire company with a vehicle we were then picked up by Enterprise and taken about 15minutes outside Vegas to their office where they had Escalades and all sorts of sports performance cars along with big SUVs. Got a cracking rate compared to what the same company within the airport wanted car was brand new barely even used with air conditioned and heated seats.

Used it for the journey and around LA as we stayed in the Hills came back dropped it to their offices and they were kind enough to drop us back to our hotel.



Heres the guys details:

Dan Thomsen
Assistant Manager - Exotic Car Division

5080 Paradise Rd
Las Vegas, NV 89119

Tel: 702-739-6299

lewisf182

2,242 posts

219 months

Sunday 15th January 2012
quotequote all
Car hire really is very cheap out there.
Chevy malibu's etc will set you back barely anything, like has been mentioned though I would go the route of v6 mustang. Then again some malibu's have 3.4 litre IIRC v6's which could be interesting.

try rent-a-wreck they seemed fairly cheap, not sure if they use second hand cars exclusively; there website is pretty poor and offeres little info as they operate a franchise system.

PaulG40

2,381 posts

256 months

Sunday 15th January 2012
quotequote all
We always use Hertz when we are out there, but you should be able to sort something easily and cheaply as there are loads of Hire companies next to both McCarren and LAX airports.

Sam.F

1,145 posts

231 months

Sunday 15th January 2012
quotequote all
Alamo allow you to rent a specific "grade" of car but then have free choice within that grade - so you can choose the colour/model that you want.

They also seem (at least in Orlando) to be very open to bargaining if you see something in the way of an upgrade that you want - we fancied a Volvo S60 T5 instead of the ubiquitous Chevy option and were quoted some outrageous price, to which I replied that I'd been thinking more like $100 for the week which they said was fine! Nice car compared to the usual US rubbish, certainly much quicker, comfy ride, good range. It averaged censoredmph between Miami and Orlando with ease.

Sam.F

1,145 posts

231 months

Sunday 15th January 2012
quotequote all
Hoddo said:
Palm Springs - Phoenix - Grand Canyon.
I recall the run from Palm Springs being a *very* fast bit of road smile

jonstable

2,941 posts

244 months

Sunday 15th January 2012
quotequote all
Sam.F said:
I recall the run from Palm Springs being a *very* fast bit of road smile
Good friend of mine got pulled doing over a ton there last year. He's done tours in Afghan and Iraq but described being stopped as the scariest moment of his life so far. Somehow a combination of his British passport and British Military ID managed to get him let off with a mere bking.

Motorrad

6,811 posts

218 months

Sunday 15th January 2012
quotequote all
Prof Prolapse said:
It's a 12 day rental so I have to be reasonably sensible.. Then again...

As for the V6 Mustang, interesting choice. My old man has a V8 one (so I suspect I'd feel let down by the V6) but very comfortable. Camero would be my choice...
The current V6 will do 0-60 in a little over 5.5 seconds. Unless your Father has a current 5.0 the V6 rental option is likely nearly as quick and has a lighter engine upfront, albeit hamstrung by an auto box.

Ozzie Osmond

21,189 posts

277 months

Sunday 15th January 2012
quotequote all
Chck out the "one way" drop-off charges before you decide which hire company to use. They can vary quite a bit.

jonstable

2,941 posts

244 months

Sunday 15th January 2012
quotequote all
Motorrad said:
The current V6 will do 0-60 in a little over 5.5 seconds. Unless your Father has a current 5.0 the V6 rental option is likely nearly as quick and has a lighter engine upfront, albeit hamstrung by an auto box.
Yep, the base model has 305bhp as standard. I was pleasantly surprised by the one I rented.

Bernie_78

291 posts

227 months

Sunday 15th January 2012
quotequote all
Another vote for Hertz, 5.0 Mustang was $650 for a week when I was there last year, much more vocal than the Camaro, nimbler than the Challenger and the Vette's they have are well past their best.

crystalmethod

1,326 posts

210 months

Sunday 15th January 2012
quotequote all
Did it the other way on Tuesday last week in a convertible Corvette.

Terrible car for the UK. Epic for that drive.

I uploaded a couple of crap pics which are now in the US forum here.

Have fun.

Harji

2,224 posts

192 months

Sunday 15th January 2012
quotequote all
I can recommend Rent - a - dollar,picked car up in Vegas without a reservation and eventually got round to dropping it off in San Fran.

Also if you get a Mustang make sure you take just enough luggage to fit the boot. Saw too many brits with their underpants, towels and what nots all over the back seat and some had a suitcase in the back. Not a way to cruise the USA if you ask me.

crystalmethod

1,326 posts

210 months

Sunday 15th January 2012
quotequote all
Bernie_78 said:
Another vote for Hertz, 5.0 Mustang was $650 for a week when I was there last year, much more vocal than the Camaro, nimbler than the Challenger and the Vette's they have are well past their best.
Definitely no issues with our Vette bar a desperately plastic interior. Was a very good car to drive the route.

Previous comments about packing light should be taken seriously though :-)

agxster

396 posts

212 months

Monday 16th January 2012
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We were there last June and rented a Dodge Challenger R/T (V8 Hemi!!) from Hertz LAX for the week. It was awesome, I chuckled to myself everytime we got into it. My wife thought I was crazy and hated the car, especially as I originally told her we were going to rent a small 4x4 Rav4 type of vehicle. The week before the trip I thought to myself f* it you only live once and stumped the extra for the Challenger. biggrin



My mate who lives there got us some special deal, I think we ended up only paying something like £350 for 7 days.