Car Rentals

myburningdesire · Post by **myburningdesire** » Mon Dec 06, 2010 1:22 pm

I will coming out from Salt Lake and honestly my car is not BM worthy. So I want thinking of getting a rental car and driving it out there. Has anyone rented a car to drive there and faced the same issues as the RV renters?

lucky420 · Post by **lucky420** » Mon Dec 06, 2010 3:25 pm

tell the car rental place you are going to the Rib Cook-Off in Sparks, NV. Car rental places don't usually like to rent to people going to Burning Man and the Rib Cook-Off is close enough. Be sure to clean it really well before you return it...

Elliot · Post by **Elliot** » Mon Dec 06, 2010 5:06 pm

I take it you mean that you don't trust your car to make such a long a trip, and climbing steep grades, without breaking down or overheating? How about repairing or replacing it? You have eight months. Renting a car wouldn't be free either.

Post by **mdmf007** » Mon Dec 06, 2010 6:05 pm

I rented last year as I had to catch up to my stuff. Theres no problem, simply keep the interior as damage free as you can, and the damage waiver is worth it. I normally skip it as I am covered otherwse, but that is a hell of a hassle.

the 90 bucks I spent over the week for rental made it worth it when an asshat ran his bike into the side of it.

I handed the keys to the valet, said a dude on a bike ran into it, got my receipt and flew home - easy peasy.

(got a mini van too) slept inside it and it kicked ass.

myburningdesire · Post by **myburningdesire** » Mon Dec 06, 2010 11:02 pm

I have a 94 4x4 Jeep. It loves gasoline. It also has a exhaust manifold stud broken off in the head. Which I plan on fixing as soon as it warms up. Other issue is that it runs hot, from what I have been reading it's a design issue. I plan on buying a 3 core radiator to replace the stock radiator. It seems to fix the issue. I have swapped out all fluids, changed the thermostat and it still gets hotter than makes me comfortable.

But yeah, I think a rental sounds a bit more reliable. :)

Playa Foot · Post by **Playa Foot** » Tue Dec 07, 2010 12:36 am

Most anything is more reliable than a '94 Jeep.

Post by **AntiM** » Tue Dec 07, 2010 6:15 am

While there are many burners in Utah, the rental places haven't caught on yet. And yes, they are used to folks going off road; we have Moab and all those wonderful dusty places. Sure, red dust and not as fine, but not too unusual here. You should see undercarriages of vehicles which venture out onto the Bonneville Salt Flats!

Just cover everything with towels or blankets/sheets and keep it closed as much as possible. Put down a mat on the driver's side floor, or keep clean "go home" shoes there. Makes clean up a bit easier. Or don't bother.

Elliot · Post by **Elliot** » Tue Dec 07, 2010 10:59 am

This reminds me of a little something about rental cars: Make sure the registration is current. Those cars move around so much, it can take months before the new registrations card and license plate sticker catches up with the car.

Also, you should expect that a rental car has a GPS unit, so they always know where you go.

myburningdesire · Post by **myburningdesire** » Tue Dec 07, 2010 11:13 am

Don't dis the jeep playa foot. I have to love my heap <3

GPS? Lame. I do not need the GPS. I wish they didn't either.

Downforce · Post by **Downforce** » Tue Dec 07, 2010 12:19 pm

MDM....may I ask where you rented from/flew in to?

I have purchased my BM ticket, but will need to fly in, rent a car, and drive....would love to grab a mini van as you did....

Also, did you ship supplies or did you purchase everything before hitting the Playa?

Thanks for any suggestions....I will be a "Birgin"

junglesmacks · Post by **junglesmacks** » Tue Dec 07, 2010 12:21 pm

Downforce wrote:MDM....may I ask where you rented from/flew in to?

I have purchased my BM ticket, but will need to fly in, rent a car, and drive....would love to grab a mini van as you did....

Also, did you ship supplies or did you purchase everything before hitting the Playa?

Thanks for any suggestions....I will be a "Birgin"

Check out this thread:

http://eplaya.burningman.org/viewtopic.php?t=37536

Downforce · Post by **Downforce** » Tue Dec 07, 2010 1:20 pm

:D excellent info Junglesmack....thanks!

Elliot · Post by **Elliot** » Tue Dec 07, 2010 2:41 pm

About the GPS in rental cars. I'm talking about a hidden GPS that the rental company uses to keep track of their property -- in case a customer abandons it, or drives it outside of the allowable area, or to a prohibited area.

Practically every 18-wheeler in the country has one now, and I have read that car rental agencies have started using them.

Post by **mdmf007** » Tue Dec 07, 2010 6:24 pm

Mostly enterprise. They make the least hassle of renting a car. I have to rent 20-30 times a year on job sites and its quick.the cars are clean, and they could care less where your going. Bring it back as clean as reasonable and your set.

Like I said the extra insurance throught htem may be redundant but it is worth it to me to simply drop the keys in their hand and walk away. Never had a single question.

ellorbito · Post by **ellorbito** » Wed Jan 12, 2011 5:04 pm

We rented a spiffy car...Chevy or whatever from the Reno airport. We came back to to Reno after Burn and showered, cleaned the car (I thought really well), took it back to the place feeling confident. We were wearing nice-ish clothes and dude asked us how was the man.....I told him (because i was stoked) and he popped the hood. Dirty!!!! 300.00 bucks for the detail fee. Clean under the hood at the u- wash place on Mira Loma near the airport.....dang, me and my big mouth.

Rice · Post by **Rice** » Wed Jan 12, 2011 5:34 pm

I rented a car at the SF airport last burn. During the drive to BRC I somehow managed to burn the driver's seat. Once I was at the burn I left the driver's window open for most of a day. Due to extreme time mis-management I did not get the car washed, nor did I have time to vacuum the interior.

When I returned the car it had obviously been at the burn.

I did not get the extra insurance. So I was sweating bricks about the seat damage.

Extra cost to me: $0.00

No, I have no idea why... I didn't have to pay anything extra.

Rice

lucky.bastard · Post by **lucky.bastard** » Fri Jan 14, 2011 3:37 pm

Q. the difference between a jeep and a rental car?

A. a jeep can go anywhere, a rental car WILL go anywhere

VeganChoirGirl · Post by **VeganChoirGirl** » Fri Jan 14, 2011 4:44 pm

mdmf007 wrote:Mostly enterprise. They make the least hassle of renting a car. I have to rent 20-30 times a year on job sites and its quick.the cars are clean, and they could care less where your going. Bring it back as clean as reasonable and your set.

Like I said the extra insurance throught htem may be redundant but it is worth it to me to simply drop the keys in their hand and walk away. Never had a single question.

I 100% agree. I used to work for enterprise and the Damage Waiver (nothing else, and it's the cheapest part of the insurance package) is really worth it. Even with your own insurance and if someone else is at fault, and rental company can come after you personally for the damage. It's a pain in the ass. Get the damage waiver and have the car professionally cleaned before returning it. Should work out perfectly.