Motor vehicle rental in Costa Rica is an opportunity to discover the distant beaches and tranquil corners of the breathtakingly stunning state. Vacation without the constraints set by public transportation timetables and with independence about group tours. To the unprepared traveler; even so, car rental prices and solutions could be a rude shock in addition to a blow to that holiday spending plan.
Leasing a vehicle to your getaway will probably be the costliest component of your spending plan, so being familiar with the conditions and handling anticipations is essential. The information below will not be intended to become an exhaustive guide, but it really really should established you on the path in the direction of an knowledgeable selection for your vehicle rental needs in Costa Rica.
Why is auto rental so expensive?
Website visitors from outside of Costa Rica tend to be amazed by the expense of car rental. While hotel rooms, restaurant expenses and tours are decreased than the costs paid in the home, it may look Weird that car or truck rental must be additional high-priced.
There’s two easy reasons for this high cost:
All cars in Costa Rica are imported and a tax is imposed. As a consequence of this heavy taxation, the expense of purchasing a car is greater than It might be in other industrialized nations. There are many vehicle rental operators who rent more mature vehicles so as to reduce their fees.
The price of mandatory insurance policy (see below).
Aspects that Impact Car Rental Costs
• Necessary Insurance
3rd-celebration insurance policies, which may be called TPI, PDW (Partial Destruction Waiver), SLI (Supplementary Liability Coverage) and various acronyms, is a legal requirement. Auto rental operators ought to charge The client for this protection which may or may not be clear during the quotation received by the customer.
The insurance policy alone isn’t the concern. After all, many other nations have to have vehicle renters to pay a mandatory insurance; like: New Zealand, Italy and Mexico, in addition to a amount of the U.S. states, like California. The issue that triggers competition in Costa Rica is this Price is just not always shown Evidently on the vehicle rental operator’s Web page or inside of a quote. Prospects then find the additional Price of their rental on arrival.
The expense of mandatory insurance differs from organization to organization and can rely upon the car category that is certainly getting rented too. The cost for a little sedan may be as tiny as $twelve on a daily basis, Whilst a premium 4×4 auto might be around $25 for insurance policies on a daily basis. This really is Together with the rental Price tag.
Charge cards in North The usa usually give auto coverage as yet another perk to your credit card holder and so North People particularly, are unused to being forced to purchase insurance policies along with rental expenses. Having said that, no bank card will include this coverage necessity.
Do talk to If your given quote involves 3rd-party insurance and Verify the prices on the vehicle rental operator’s Web-site.
• Collision Injury Waiver
This isn’t insurance plan, but a waiver. The essential level will come with a deductible that varies, but could be up to $one,five hundred. For an increased everyday rate, a zero deductible CDW could be acquired To alleviate the renter of any fiscal accountability in case of harm to, or theft thereof, the car or truck.
Many renters will attain their CDW through their charge card. However, it’s well worth noting the responsibility for creating any insurance plan declare is on the customer and never Along with the automobile rental operator. Some renters could opt for to buy further in-home coverage to stay away from possessing this responsibility.
There’ll be vehicle rental agencies which tricky provide their very own protection plans by guaranteeing reassurance, but ultimately, This is actually the renter’s conclusion. It is well worth remembering that auto rental company workers, like in other elements of the entire world, will sometimes get paid Fee for insurance sales.
If the customer’s charge card does not supply CDW, The shopper might be required to get this in-household coverage.
Car rental operators need prepared proof that The client’s bank card offers CDW. Talk to the vehicle rental operator for the precise details of what they demand As well as in what form. Some may possibly acknowledge a forwarded e mail from the bank card organization, but Many others may perhaps ask for a printed duplicate being introduced at the time of rental.
• Deposit
The deposit amount demanded will rely upon no matter if The client chooses to utilize the vehicle rental operator’s in-home CDW or can take this protection through a bank card. Expect to pay a A great deal increased deposit Should the in-dwelling CDW is declined. The deposit can also depend on car or truck model rented. This amount, which will be held on the renter’s charge card till the tip with the rental period of time, might be from $750 up to up to $three,500. The deposit should get no more than five days being refunded on the charge card about the motor vehicle’s return. Some auto rental organizations will settle for debit cards for deposit maintain, even so the return time for this total can take weeks.
Do ensure that the deposit is calculated within the trip spending budget as an unexpected maintain of some thousand dollars on a credit card could in any other case seriously Reduce into holiday vacation paying out.
• Airport Taxes
Consumers that rent from a car rental operator’s counter within just an airport setting up are obliged to pay for the airport tax.
Those people car or truck rental operators which has a counter at San Jose’s Juan Santamaria Global Airport (SJO) are: Alamo/Nationwide, Price range, Greenback, Economic system and Hertz. These companies will incorporate an additional 12% tax towards the rental Charge.
Individuals automobile rental operators that has a counter at Daniel Oduber Quiros Intercontinental Airport (LIR) are: Avis, Spending plan and Economic climate. These organizations will insert yet another 3% tax towards the rental Price tag.
To stop this tax, take an airport shuttle While using the automobile rental operator to an office Positioned beyond the airport grounds.
• Surcharges and Other Taxes
There are a selection of other compulsory costs that vehicle rental operators may perhaps incorporate in the rental Value, Display screen on-display or display inside the quote, or leave undisclosed until The client’s arrival. These possibly hidden costs may possibly appear to be tiny when seen independently, but these are usually day by day charges, so they are going to include up quick!
These might include:
• License Plate Charge: A lot less than $two every day, but differs from business to corporation.
• Environmental Tax: Below $1 everyday.
• Revenue Tax: All product sales transactions in Costa Rica are subjected to some 12% federal government-imposed sales tax.
• Car or truck Washing Payment: Convey back an extremely filthy car as well as the cleansing price can be added onto the ultimate payment. A person automobile rental operator expenses $twenty for this extra services.
• Gasoline Expenses: In the event the gasoline tank is not crammed to precisely the same level as it absolutely was Firstly with the rental time period, then the car rental organization will cost (ordinarily to the closest eighth of the tank). This charge is dictated by the vehicle rental operator and It is far from issue towards the governmentally set gas rate that could be identified at any gas station.
The place Really should I Reserve the Motor vehicle?
A standard confusion for vacationers scheduling a rental vehicle could be the discrepancy involving Intercontinental Web sites for car or truck rental operators and the Costa Rican website for the same brand name. Regularly the Intercontinental Web sites are unaware of, or fall short to disclose, insurances, taxes and surcharges that can be billed within the counter. This may be due to the fact that a lot of acknowledged auto rental operator makes in Costa Rica usually are not a foreign branch of the branded vehicle rental operator, but as a substitute really are a franchise Procedure. This component can be well worth thinking of when it comes to expectations relating to customer service and other finer details. The Costa Rican franchise Place of work may have their own individual type of operating, in addition to precisely the same guidelines and rules that The client might have experienced in other aspects of the globe.
Understandably then, an internet based reservation is ideal manufactured from the area Site and not the Intercontinental website, where ever rent rolls royce dubai doable. A number of firms do not have an area Web page. In cases like this, do Check out the small print with a local personnel member by means of the telephone and ask for written confirmation on the quote. Expertise with Reside chat about the Intercontinental websites suggests that whereas personnel is educated on conditions and terms governing the key Office environment (normally U.S.A.); they fully grasp minimal of the guidelines that have to be adhered to in Costa Rica.
Motor vehicle Rental Comparisons
In May/June of 2013, I as opposed the pricing and companies of numerous auto rental operators in Costa Rica and revealed the conclusions. To my shock, the short article remains to be remaining plagiarized consistently across the world wide web which implies that it is nevertheless handy and so an update was expected. The costs for this comparison were acquired in December 2014 and January 2015.