www.CostaRicaTicas.com

Where is the best bet to rent one at the best price, and what are the headaches involved in driving all over CR

The first question will require you to do some research.

The second question can be answered easily.

Here's the list (in no particular order):

-crazy (dangerous) drivers, including taxis
-expensive insurance (mandatory SLI)
-high deductible for damage
-problems when returning car (charging for minor scratches)
-many accidents
-heavy traffic
-horrible roads (giant potholes, missing mancovers, 1 lane "highways")
-#1 cause of death (after old age) is automobile accident (it should be, if it isn't)
-taxis
-no need when only staying in San Jose

Oh yea one more, you may get buried in a landslide.

You are always on top of it. I've been reading your posts for a long time. So, if you aren't going to rent a car, should you hire a driver to take you touring for several days. I've done that in the past and paid like $10.00 per hour, + gas + food + lodging, and really that is OK. I was just wondering if I could go it alone with a couple of wingmen.

While Orange paints a rather gloomy picture of the problem with renting a car most of it is very accurate for a visitor. For residents, like myself, who own cars I think we find driving here far less challenging. It takes sometime to adjust to things here but once you do driving is not that bad.

There have been numerous threads on this and many guys rent cars and are very happy while others vow never in a million years would they do it. Personally I think you are better off hiring a driver. You are on vacation and you are here to relax why add the stress of driving?

_________________
Pura Vida
Only Irish coffee provides in a single glass all four
essential food groups:
alcohol, caffeine, sugar and fat.
Alex Levine

I rent a car every year and after you get out of town it is fine.
the hwy signs are sometimes hard to follow.
If you plan on exploring it's nice to be able to go to manual Antonio for the day and then spend the night drinking in Quepos and then head off to Jaco or Tamerindo in the morning.

Playa Flamingo is my Favorite for big waves and low humidity.

I enjoy driving the curvy roads through the mountains, when I'm not stuck behind a slow truck. The main headache I get is when I think I reserved a great deal on the internet and the full coverage insurance ends up costing 3 times as much, and I feel uneasy about signing a blank credit card slip for the deposit (but have never had a problem in the end). I do get a stomach ache from some of the remote roads leading to some beach towns that are either so bumpy or have too many potholes to dodge all of them. One side note, most Ticos would rather come head on into your lane then hit a pothole in their lane. They will also pass around a blind corner on a mountain road. I've read before that Costa Rica has one of the highest vehicle fatality rates in the World (machismo really comes out when they get behind the wheel), and roughly 4 times greater than in the States per capita so be careful. Try not to drive after dark, and pay close attention to the signs for yielding to a one-way bridge.

Also, the police can spot you coming so make sure to slow down to the speed limit when passing through small towns. I've been seeing some free downloads of Costa Rica maps for Garmin GPS units so I want to try one of those soon.

I D/L the map for Costa Rica, now I need to find out what garmin models I can load it to.

Where are you downloading maps for the garmin gps? I didn't see any available. What car rental agencies have you guys liked/disliked?

I have used Hertz and Budget before. Both were fine, service was great. Check with your credit card company, as some/many provide you with rental car insurance already.

Driving is eh...ok. I drove once to Flamingo. Hated it, never again, will fly next time. Took 5 hours each way. Got stuck behind semis going up and down the mountains. The only saving grace was road head from my favorita for stress relief.

The next time I drove to Arenal. That drive was MUCH better. I wanna say 2 1/2 to 3 hours maybe? I drove the speed limit and obeyed EVERY school zone. Lots of motocicleta policia along the way!

My advice...do the math on a driver and if it is close, get a driver. Like ID said, you are on vacation, why worry about driving, someone stealing your car or stuff out of it!

Driving in SJ is not that bad really. I rent cars from Advantage all the time. But I'm used to driving in NYC, so I have no problem in SJ. I was reporting what others have said over the years. It's a little different experience trying to drive in San Jose for some people.

Yes, major credit cards (MC, Visa, Amex) do cover collision damage waiver. So you should decline that if your card covers it (call them ahead of time and ask). But cards don't cover SLI (liability insurance in case of accident). If you get sued for personal injury or other driver's car damage, you will need this insurance. It's mandatory unless you can prove (written letter) that your home car insurance company will cover you in Costa Rica.

If you are just in SJ, you don't need a personal driver. Use taxis, they are cheap and everywhere. If you are planning on going away or touring some parts of the country, then yes, a driver would work. There are also cheap and comfortable shuttle services to take you from point A to point B if you just want to go to another town (Jaco, Tamarindo, Flamingo, etc.)

I agree with Foos. I rent a car frequently (but never in SJO), and once you get out of town, it's nice to drive around the country. But if you're impatient or in a hurry, it can be stressful. Just relax and enjoy the sights.

I also like that Playa Flamingo place !

MG

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You ALWAYS have an option ....... "NEXT" !!!

First of all. Don't believe the price they quote you on the web site. There will be a ton of incidental charges, including insurance. It will double or triple the cost. Second, they will want at least $2000 deposit on your credit card, so make sure you have that available. Third, Driving in town is a bitch. out of town is better, but it's still a drag if you get behind the semi's.

Streets are seldom marked, signs are often there, but in the ditch... etc..

Only rent a car if you really really have to be mobile.

There are probably as many opinions on this as there are people. Previous posters have done a pretty good job of describing all the potential negatives, but IMHO they're somewhat overstated.

I completely agree with the others that it makes absolutely no sense to rent a car while staying in San Jose. When you consider the added cost of renting, the added hassle of driving in the city due to heavier traffic and more confusing navigation, and the added stress of safety to your vehicle not only while your driving around but also while you're parked and compare that to the much greater simplicity of using the cheap and obiquitous cabs, and then renting a car while in SJ simply doesn't add up. However, your question and mention of lodging costs for drivers suggests you really had renting and driving OUTSIDE of SJ anyway.

So what about that? Here my opinion is more mixed than it seems to be for some of my CRT brothers.

Personally, I'm more like Skink and MG and actually ENJOY driving in CR (most of the time). Having experience driving in CR certainly helps as ID pointed out, but I differ with him in that I don't think that is really all that critical. Even if you're a 1st time visitor to CR, driving in CR is not anything you can't really get the hang of quickly enough, particularly if you've been exposed to similar conditions back home. I rented a car on my 1st trip to CR and other than getting lost one night returning to SJ from Cartago and a flat tire near Jaco that I gave a guy $5 to change for me while I went ziplining, I didn't have any troubles at all. Subsequent rentals have been even less eventful than that. However, having grown up driving among the pushy drivers and the cowpaths that they call roads of the Boston area, probably helped a lot. It also helps that, rather than get frustrated or impatient with the driving conditions, I always took driving in CR as part of the fun, like sort of a game. I either figure my way around any problems or if that is not possible I accept it and go with the flow. You'll get stuck behind slow trucks sometimes whether you're driving or some one else is. You'll always get there eventually and probably not any later than if you were just sitting in the passenger seat.

But there are certainly others, like Tstef527, who either because of lack of experience with those sorts of driving conditions, those sorts of drivers or simply the right sort of temperment, would rather not deal with it. One of the things you should ask yourself is which type of driver are you. If you get high-blood pressure from challenging driving conditions, then you should definitely take a pass on renting. As ID pointed out, you're on vacation to relax and life's too short. OTOH, if you don't think that aspect of renting and self-driving in CR will faze you, then you should continue to weigh the other aspects.

So what about those? Well, all the problems Orange listed do exist but even he seemed to backtrack on them in his later post. Guys mention high insurance and high deductibles, but what car rental insurance isn't. Your gold Mastercard will cover that if your regular car insurance doesn't and what it doesn't cover and is too expensive you probably don't need. You may have to sign a blank credit card slip to cover the deductible just as you would if renting in the US, but I've never heard of anyone having any trouble having that torn up at the end as long as there weren't any problems. I have heard the common warning to make sure they mark down every ding and scratch, but what I've found they're usually more thorough about doing that than even I am and on 1 or 2 occassions that I've later noticed a few scratched that we both had missed I did not have any trouble because of it when I later returned the car. I can't say the same thing about a bumper ding that I either missed when renting a car last spring here in the US or happened to my car while it was parked sometime over the 2 days I had it out. If you don't get into accidents over years of driving in the US, what are the chances of getting into one over a few days of driving in CR? Sure these risks exist and a day for day basis probably are much greater in CR, but they're still really not all that great. The only added piece of advice I might add, if you're still at all worried, is to stick with US based rental companies in order to hedge your bets. That way even if you have some problems in CR, you'll have more recourse after you return to the US.

The roads can be uncomfortable to drive, but I actually find them less uncomfortable when I'M the one doing the driving, perhaps because I can see the upcoming bumps that I can't steer around and can anticipate the swerves before they happen but also because I have greater control over the speed we drive. The roads in the mountains are very swervy. That can either be nauseating as a passenger or thrilling as driver. It can also mean getting caught behind slow moving trucks, but even if you can't get around those that is just a couple of hours of your trip. The roads along the coasts may have some potholes, narrow bridges and small towns that will slow you down in spots, but are also mostly long straight aways (ie easy to pass) and thus fairly quick. I try to obey the speed limits ESPECIALLY passing through towns, but I've also gone over it and have never been stopped by any police. In other words, all of these problems exist too, but IMHO are not quite as pervasive as others have made out.

The last and perhaps most important thing you have to consider is cost. Hiring a driver is very expensive. Renting a car is not cheap either but not nearly as expensive even if you add up all the costs. Only each person can decide for themselves whether the peace of mind and convenience of hiring someone else to drive offsets the greater cost. However, as Orange has pointed out those aren't your only options. The cost of renting or hiring a driver is per CAR. In contrast, the other travel options whether they be airplane, shuttle or bus are per PERSON. If you're traveling with a wingman or novia, the per person costs of renting a car or hiring a driver become comparatively more attractive (or less unattractive) relative to those other "per person" options. OTOH, if you're traveling solo paying for rental or driver all by yourself will probably be much more expensive than the shuttle and particularly the bus. Sure those modes are travel come with their own disadvantages too, but for one person putting up with those shortcomings may be worth it for what you'd save. Even going by plane may be worth the added expense for one person due to the time it saves where it wouldn't be if there was more than 1 person in your group.

In short, there is no one right answer for everybody as to how to get around CR. Some people love self-driving. Some hate it. Some people believe in hiring a private car and driver. Some people don't want to "waste" time on the roads (no matter how scenic they might be) and prefer to pay to fly. Some people like to use the tourist shuttles. And some people prefer the economy and experience of taking the public buses. I guess you can guess where my biases might be but I actually think different methods are appropriate for different situations.

Garmin maps for Costa rica can be found here:
http://www.gpsunderground.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2354&highlight=costa+rica

sorry O, but... how can i take a guy who doesn't know how to drive stick seriously with respect to driving difficulties???


But on a serious note... if you've never driven in NYC, Chicago, LA, Miami, or anywhere else in Latin America, then it could be challenging...

Otherwise... it's not so bad...

MY biggest issue is the traffic jams, and the lack of ways around them. Something I solve by not driving around downtown during the day unless I'm heading out...

Overall, I would always rent a car if I plan on doing anything other than monger...


On car rentals, I've found that 4x4 car rental is by far the cheapest and although their ability to deal with issues if you're not close to SJO is limited, they have always come through for me.

I used to rent from Economy rent-a-car, so much so that they stopped checking my DL, but with their price fluctuations, and the time it took to do the paperwork, and the deals I got with 4x4, I finally switched...

Also, I like the Terios, and they have plenty of them...