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I’ve rented from just about everyone and never had a stitch of trouble. I can tell you that every time I need a car or an SUV in CR, I check the prices out with all of the companies because they always seem to be quite different from place to place and time to time. Just make sure you read the paperwork and make sure they have included any damages the vehicle may have (ie. items missing such as lighters)before you leave the agency so that they don’t pin that on you. Most will also take the car to you, whether that is somewhere in SJ or all the way out in Guanacaste or Limon which can be very useful. Best of luck!
Although I have rented from many different rental companies, and many times from Budget out of SJ and Jaco, I have crossed them off my list. On my last trip, I had arranged a rental for 5/6 days for $88 +/- online. Upon arriving at the office DOWN from the airport, first the manager tried to charge me a $200+ airport tax, long and short, after 15 minutes arguing, no airport tax. Next, she tried to charge me more than 3 times the price that I had arranged online-fortunately I had a printout of the online reservation, so after another 15 minutes I got close to my online reservation fee. Then after coming to terms on the car rental, she told me there are only 2 insurances available, and altho I don’t know the finer points, I know that there are 3 different types. You got it, another 10 minutes, and I have all 3 insurances–better safe than sorry. Now is when it gets really good. I inspect the car, noting all the imperfections and take off from the office down Paseo Colon. I don’t even get to the turn going downtown and 1 car with 2 ladrones pulls up and yells out that my tire is going flat. RED FLAGS!! I just keep going on the flat looking for a safe, nuetral place to turn off into, when another car with 2 more ladrones pull up yelling my tire is flat. Finally, I make it into the ESSO on Paseo Colon, and guess what, both cars of good samaritans follow me into the station, all of this happening in broad daylight
I get of the car, knowing that I have to bluff and discourage these thieves from reaping another victim. Fortunately the station owner sees the commotion and comes out with 4 employees and the ladrones take off. Very close this time. The owner then shows me where an ice pick had been stuck in my rear tire, surprising since no one had been next to the tire since I left Budget. Upon calling Budget, they said I would have to pay for the tire. I replied that when I got it fixed that I was going to bring the tire and the car back and stick it up her *****. The story goes on, but the point is to avoid Budget at all costs—-THEY ARE THIEVESI’m really sorry you had such a horrible experience with these people, but you say that you’ve rented before and hadn’t had any trouble at all which could mean this had more to do with a specific group of people you encountered this time or even that this pick was inserted in your tire while you were waiting at a traffic light or in the parking lot (it’s been done before in CR) and not by a car rental company employee… What is infuriating is that after such a scary situation, you would have been treated so poorly. I hope you called/wrote the Budget airport agency managers, district managers and Budget headquarters to make sure that they were informed of this situation to make sure it doesn’t happen to anyone else.
My worst car rental story was not in CR, it was in South Carolina with an airport rental and I was lucky I didn’t get stranded out on a highway in the middle of the night with my elderly aunt because they gave me a car which I later found out had been recently stolen and was clearly defective, but I made sure they fixed the situation and the rest of my trip proceeded as planned.
I can tell you that I had never rented from the airport and maybe it was just our bad luck, but I’ve never had any trouble when renting from San Jose. Most hotels offer service from the airport to the hotel or you can take an airport taxi to your destination and then have the hotel arrange for the rental or you can call each company and get the best rate (I always feel that the airport rates are a bit higher anyway) before you make your decision…I truly hope your next car rental experience is less hellish…
I have used Dollar rent a car just outside of the airport a number of times and have found them to be very competetive and have never had a problem. All car rental agencies are in business to make money so if you do your homework prior to booking, and then you deal with a reputable agency, you should be fine.
On recommendation from people here, I ‘ve used Dollar and found them to be okay.
I once tried one of those rent-a- 4 by 4 in Costa Rica companies and it was the worst car rental experience I’ve ever had, anywhere. I (feel I was suckered into) payed in advance through PayPal, I imagine, so that it would be harder to ask for a credit card charge-back, and a refund is impossible when they showed up with a junker.
Some of the issues: I asked for, and booked, an automatic and got a standard, air conditioner not working, cd player not working, rear view mirror flopping around, window’s not working properly, when it rained car leaked around door seal and there were puddles of water on the floor, car smelled of vomit in the back, locks didn’t work on back hatch, battery died and wouldn’t stay recharged, after a few days a noise started coming from transmission, car leaked water. I was on the Coast near Limon and there was no answer on their emergency line so I ended up taking it to a mechanic a couple of times. We had to push start it most days, and often needed a jump start rescue.
Owner offered me a few free days “next time” when I complained. Not likely I’d ever fall for that one. Probably get the same 4 by 4 again, don’t you think?
The owner, who is not a Costa Rican, even had the balls to ask me not to mention this in the forums! I guess this has happened before.
Stick to the well known larger companies.
I think you get a better price at dollar and there customer service has been great. Last time there(December) the rep. marked that I was going to pay for collision, but I had told him I was denying it and using the coverage of my card. I discovered this when returning the car, just a quick word with the manager and he removed the charge and gave me an additional 15% reduction.
There is only one government insurance company in Costa Rica, they do not offer collision. However when you pay the extra charge when renting your car they are saying they will cover the damages/loss cost in the event of theft, you back into a pole, roll the car into a ditch etc..Lately I have been just taking the mandatory insurance and charging with a card that covers me in the event I do something not covered by the INS policy. The last 5 times I have had no problems, well once in Alujela they did the puncture tire thing but I was aware of what was happening and kept going until I found a safe spot to pull over. We are usually in CR for at least 3 weeks so it saves a lot of cash declining collision. When we were doing a lot of long distance treks on one trip I paid up for everything, as we were traveling over rivers, beach and traversed the infamous Congo trail on a 6 week jaunt. If money is not an issue pay up and enjoy 100% worry free. If you don’t have the “full coverage” they will charge your card for any uncovered damages and you then must send the appropriate paperwork to the card issuer to be reimbursed, check with them for a list of what you will need. Remember also if involved in an accident do not move your car until the police get there, even if you are blocking traffic. Also last time I was at dollar there was a guy there with a smashed windshield, some rocks fell from a mountain or something. Really he was very lucky not to have been hurt. I over heard the dollar manager speaking with him, and although he was going to have to ante up, they were working with him on the cost. They got an estimate fairly quickly to replace the windshield and were offering some free rental days to soften the blow…Minor correction, Lotus. INS does, in fact, offer collision insurance. We carry it on our privately-owned car.
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