Renting / Leasing a 4 person vehicle for 5-6 weeks

[Chariotdriver]

We’re still firming up some plans to come to CR around the 1st of June and plan on staying about 506 weeks and wanted to find out the most affordable way to have a vehicle for that amount of time.
We were there last year and rented a car/cell phone for 1 week and it was not too bad of a deal but wanted to find a better deal for the longer term if possible.
Regards,
Phil

[DavidCMurray]

The last time I rented, it was from Avis who was offering a discount for rentals of more than three weeks. You’ll be here during the “off” season, so rates will be lower to begin with.

We’ve also had good luck with Tri-Color and Payless.

A word of caution: If you pick up a rental vehicle at the airport, there’s a 15% surcharge. The rental places are all nearby, so plan to pick up your rental vehicle at their office. The rental agencies will either pick you up at the airport or you can take a taxi for a lot less than 15%.

[Chariotdriver]

Thanks,
And that would be 15% of the entire rental price for over 5 weeks?
Wow if that is so,..
Phil

[lynnebevan]

We rented through Payless and reserved our vehicle over the internet. After we’d been here for a couple of weeks we went to renew our lease and we were told that if you do it in person, instead of over the internet, it’s less money. I guess the parent company sets the rates on internet and the places down here have to go by that rate, unless someone just walks in. Then they can give whatever discounts they want. With it being the off season, you should be able to find a vehicle easy enough. It might be worth just renting it once you get here, or renting one for a couple of days over the internet and re-renting once you’re here. Don’t try to talk anyone out of the insurance fee, however. It’s awful, but apparently they have to charge it.

[lynnebevan]

I should have thought about this before. We came down for four months, so we bought a Kia Sportage. Not new, but not bad, either. We’re leaving the end of May and storing the car, but we’d be happy to rent it to you for a great deal. E-mail me at lynnebevan@hotmail.com if you’re interested. We’re close to the airport in Liberia. It may not be worth the hassle to you, but if we can be of help we will.

[Chariotdriver]

Thanks Lynne,
I have emailed you directly with my contact information.
Phil

[rf2cr]

Lynn,

Thanks so much for the rental information, last time we were there for three weeks and what should have been a $400 rental (Yaris) with insurance etc. turned out to be $700+, next time we won’t do it online. Good information.

When we go down in June or July we plan to buy, are you pleased with the Sportage? Did you purchase it in Liberia? If so was it from a dealer or a private party, if from a dealer would you recommend them?

[lynnebevan]

We’ve been pleased with the Sportage. It’s not high end, but it works for us.
We’ve been to several dealers in Liberia and found most things very over priced. We bought our car from a private person. Cars here seem to be more expensive than in the U.S., but if you look around you can come up with decent deals. We searched Santa Cruz, also, because we were told it was a better place to buy cars, but we weren’t happy with the car lots there, either. We’d have to say private person sales are best.
You can pick up a free English newspaper at a lot of hotels and at the bank. One is called ‘Beach Times’ and the other is called ‘The Journal’. They have ads on the back page that might help you.
If you want to tell me what you’re after, I’ll keep an eye out for you.
If you want a NEW car it seems like the place to go is Grecia. I’ve NEVER seen so many car lots in my life.
Also, some of the things we learned the hard way. We were told we needed to have a corporation to buy a vehicle, so we did all the work and spent all the money only to find out we didn’t need to have it (at least according to the attorney we used on our vehicle). You’ll need to have an attorney to purchase the car and plan on at least two full days to work everything out between attorney/paperwork/bank etc. The good thing is, after about seven hours with the attorney we only had to pay her between 1/2 and 3/4 of a percent for tax/license/atty. fees. We bought liability insurance for $10 per month. Not bad, huh?
Hope this helps. Feel free to e-mail me with other questions.
lynnebevan@hotmail.com
Lynne
P.S. Just for the info, we take a reading book everywhere we go. You wait a LOT down here. We love it, anyway, though.

[DavidCMurray]

Between the Autopista and Grecia, there are thirty-five used car dealers, but I don’t think any of them is a new car dealer, Lynne. Most of the new car dealerships seem to be in the San Jose area.

Friends almost got tangled up in a scam buying from a private party, so be warned. It is legal to give someone a power of attorney to sell your car for you. Problem is, a power of attorney may be a forgery. So you pay the guy, take the car, and later find out he didn’t have the right to sell it. Our attorney says NEVER to buy a car unless you can identify and deal directly with the legitimate owner.

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