We are going to Cabo San Lucas in 3 weeks and want a rental car. I would appreciate any tips on how to not get hosed. We are a family of four and will be sharing with another family for a week. I’m inclined to go with a small 4 door that will seat 5. Thanks for your insight.
it is Mexico. there are no safe guards. we are heading to Cozumel in October. I’ve had the same thought.
We rented a car out of Cancun and they require that you purchase their insurance with the threat that if you get pulled over by the police you will get a huge fine and the car will get impounded. The insurance is really expensive. I can dig up the rental agreement if you want to know for sure how much it was. The rental car agents took forever because they were trying to make sure they could hit everyone up for a time share deal. But it was great to have a car, a little stressful though. You should probably get a bigger car than a small 4 door because a small car in Mexico is like a Geo Metro. Pay a little more, it will be worth it in the end. Have fun!
take a taxi everywhere. i highly discourage driving in mexico.
we (family of 4) rented a car from an international chain out of Cancun - and took it south towards Belize by Tulum where we stayed in a seaside village. One of our best vacations ever. I turned down a free stay at a resort up by Cancun - one of my best decisions.
The rental co did hit us with some additional fees that were not accessed when we registered online before we got there, but I don’t recall the fees being high.
I obeyed all speeding and traffic laws, even tho the speed was crazy down there. And they have a crazy notion of passing lanes on major highways. As I recall, the passee pulls over to the right and the passer zips around . . almost like the passer was an emergency vehicle. They even have a half-lane on right for this purpose. One thing I like about international driving is the air of ‘lawlessness’ that prevails - - makes one realize how conformist and lazy we American drivers are. We Americans have to have everything spelled out for us so we don’t have to pay attention to driving.
You didn’t mention where in Mexico you are going, but the major tourista regions have these taxi/vans all over the place and you can get around quickly with these as well. That’s how the locals get to work at all the resorts. Just go stand out on the road and comes by . . .
You do pass in the middle–it’s crazy! Just don’t pass anyone and you won’t have to worry about it. We were dieing with laughter every time we got in the car because we don’t speak Spanish and I would try to look up the definition of traffic signs in a panic (most of them meant don’t litter). The day before we flew in there was a prison break and they were still trying to round up the criminals. We would see people running down the highway and wonder if they were prisoners or not. Did you see people running down the road behind slow moving trucks? We couldn’t figure out what that was about. Another added ambiance to highway driving is they left horrible wrecks on the side of the road as a reminder to drive safe. At first we thought there were just wrecks everywere (holy crap) but after a few days we realized the wrecks were always there.
On the plus side: my husband left the headlights on overnight and we had to figure out how to jump the battery at our remote hotel. Sounds like a disaster huh? It worked out though, we were able to drive right in to a remote dive location and down to Tulum on our own time frame while others were standing around waiting for a ride which was didn’t seem fun in the heat and rain that came down in torrents on occasion.