Car rental in Mexico - Puerto Valarta

I checked FOX rental at the airport and they had Mexican cars for $0.72 a day and American cars for $1.31 to $31.10 per day.

Yes, that is the "real" price, however, you MUST buy their insurance, and that makes it quite high. Must???? If you don't buy it, you can't have the vehicle. Period, no exceptions.
I took it up with Budget's corporate, and was told, basically, tough s--t.

Your credit card would probably not cover the insurance in Mexico.

Visa told me they cover collision in Mexico but they have to give me a letter to present to the rental company. The car must be covered for damage to others, if it is not included in the price, I must pay for it, otherwise I am not covered.

I will double check that with my Visa.

Mexico requires liability insurance, and it must be from a Mexican company. The Credit Card coverage doesn't look like it qualifies for that, but may be for collision. The minuscule daily rate may help a potential renter to grab the insurance offered, less chance for argument.

Expect that $5/day rate to rise to $45/day once they have you at the rental site. They tack on their "compulsory" insurance even though I checked with my Credit card company before leaving.

On my return, I talked with Hertz about this - they sounded "surprised" but did not do anything about it. Do a google search - well documented tourist scam

It should be illegal to advertize a price and end up having to pay a differente price. I will check things out and at the worst, I will just say no thanks.

For example below, $4 for the car, the liability coverage is included in the price and you can take a $15 insurance for colision. This would be $19 per day total.

https://www.travelocity.ca/carsearch?dagv=1&subm=1&fdrp=&styp=2&locn=Puerto%20Vallarta%20(et%20environs),%20Jalisco,%20Mexique&date1=14/10/2016&date2=17/10/2016&vend=&kind=1&time1=1030AM&time2=1030AM&ttyp=2&acop=2&rdus=10&rdct=1&dpln=180016&olat=20.608290&olon=-105.235250&langid=4105

>>>>It should be illegal to advertize a price and end up having to pay a differente price.

Maybe in the USA but in Mexico, it's free for all.....

BTW - watch out for the bill-switch scam at the gas station. (again well documented). This happened to me but I speak fluent Spanish, so I caught in the act. You will ask for 200Pesos gas, they fill up with 200P and you give them 200P, they will switch out a 200P not for a 20P note instantaneously (I was amazed how quickly the gas attendant did this - they may also have a 2nd person distracting you as they switch the notes).

I haven't rented a car in Mexico recently so can't speak to how things work today. Years ago you could rent by doing the formalities in the US with an international company and get all the charges and pay them before heading south - no extra charges - just pick up the car at the airport and go. Renting once in Mexico is a whole different story.

Last year some friends of our naively rented a car in Cancun thinking they were getting a good rate - then found a charge of almost $700 for insurance on their credit card. I have no idea why or how this could be but I would now seriously look into it before agreeing to the deal. We know for our own experience that Mexican liability insurance is not cheap but it certainly is not that expensive for a week.

On the other hand we have friends who rented last year in San Miguel de Allende and they never mentioned any excessive charges. I do not know what they paid.

This is an interesting discussion and we look forward to hearing more about what is learned on this topic.

I Googled “Car Rental in Mexico” and came up with a few articles with more information. It does seem that the rental companies can really nail you for liability insurance if you don’t research this carefully. Here are so websites where you might find more thoughts on the topic.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g150768-c115565/Mexico:Renting.A.Car.In.Mexico.html . . . . That smiley face comes from the combination of : and R for some reason

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/matt-gibson/the-hidden-cost-of-car-re_b_4633563.html

http://www.mexperience.com/lifestyle/transport/car-rental-in-mexico/

http://www.peanutsorpretzels.com/tips-renting-a-car-in-mexico-liability-insurance/

Many users of this forum use and like and recommend Lewis and Lewis for Mexican insurance. I wonder if they have a way of covering rental cars? Maybe it could be useful to contact them to ask about this.

http://www.mexicanautoinsurance.com/