In late September we will be hiring a car in LAX for about 4 weeks.

There will be three adult sized travellers, about 4 decent sized pieces of luggage and a folding manual wheelchair.

Has anyone any suggestions about the size of vehicle to book?

Tony Bailey

I would think a full size or larger would be besr. I rented a Taurus station wagon once that was perfect size for me and my family. Just my guess.

Thanks Scott,

I am worried about the actual available boot (oops trunk) space in most "Full Sized" US sedans, they don'r seem to take a lot of luggage - and most of the majors don't seem to have Station Wagons.

May yet end up as a 4wd! (Which I don't like doing, but the options seem to be pointing that way.)

Do most hire vehicles of that size in the US have power steering?

Tony Bailey

US car rental agencies have a lot of mini-vans for rent. They will solve your problems in every way but one. It is hard to hide valuables in a mini-van.

US car rental agencies have a lot of mini-vans for rent. They will solve your problems in every way but one. It is hard to hide valuables in a mini-van.


Indeedy.

But trying not to carry anything too valuable. We will probably take our picnic bklanket (or buy a cheap one) to throw over most of the stuff.

Actually the SUV is slightly cheaper than the van.

I also noted the problems with most sedans of trying to get the third adult into the rear seat!

Thanks for the response.

Tony Bailey

Tony, might not be easy for your person who uses the wheel chair. Same with the SUV. It has to do with how high they are off the ground. Pick a couple of likely makes and models and have the FT experts tell you their opinions. Our old Toyota Previa carried 6 full sized adults easily but required a fairly big step up. As a result we kept a small step stool in the van.

We haven't answered your question about power steering. I can't remember the last time we rented a car without it, but perhaps other FT's have more data.

Oldpenny,

Thanks,

I'm the one that has to get in and know I can do it, so that's not a problem

I suspect that Power Assisted Steering is pretty standard in the US as it is here in OZ (the last car dealer I discussed the subject with said something like - "It's standard in this dealership - most of our clients couldn'r drive without it")

It mainly seems to be Europe where nothing comes as standard.

When the world was younger it always seemed that if you couldn't get there in the Holden Ute it wasn't worth going! Now some car hire firms won't let you go off the bitumen.

Tony Bailey

Our 'common' language broke down at that point. We do have a system here for disabled people to have special hang tags (or some other gizmo ) in/on their cars so they can park in the 'handicapped' parking spaces (and also free at meters in most states.) I have no idea how a visitor from overseas would qualify to get this tag, but I think it's worth trying for for a 4 weeks trip. Perhaps you can post under 'Los Angeles' topic to see if someone can give you the details. As in Australia distances in the US can be vast, especially in parking lots. It will still be summer in Southern California. You don't want to wear yourself out just getting from you car into your destination.

Our 'common' language broke down at that point. We do have a system here for disabled people to have special hang tags (or some other gizmo ) in/on their cars so they can park in the 'handicapped' parking spaces (and also free at meters in most states.).

The state of New South Wales has basically the same thing, except it lies on the dashboard rather than hanging from the rearview.

My mother-in-law has one and we've used it at a number of places here in the States. Never had a problem with it except once....at a parking meter in Laguna Beach. Apparently an overzealous (and not too bright) meter maid gave us a parking ticket despite the permit being in clear view on the dashboard. My guess is that she had never seen one quite like that, so she prolly figured that it wasn't legit....and wanted any excuse to write a ticket.

I called the police station and explained the situation, expressing a certain degree of unhappiness. :rolleyes: The made me fax them a xerox of the permit, along with a xerox of the first two pages of my mother-in-law's passport (to prove that it was actually her using the permit). However, despite the hassle, the ticket was non-suited.

Other than that incident, we had no problems using it here, including for free parking at Knott's Berry Farm. So, if you have a NSW handicapped permit, go ahead and use it here! Shouldn't be a problem!

NSW now has new plastic credit card sized permits that hang from the windscreen in a special holder - one side has a photo (which is NOT displayed) that identifies the holder, whilst the other side, which is displayed, has the conditions and an announcement that the photo should be shown to an authorised parking inspector or police officer upon request.


For those planning to visit Australia and looking for disabled parking information with overseas permits visit -

http://www.dircsa.org.au/docs/ppermits.htm

Note that there are some differences within states - eg most permit parking is free at meters, but NOT in Tasmania!

Tony Bailey

In late September we will be hiring a car in LAX for about 4 weeks.

Tony Bailey

Hope you have a lovely holiday in California!

Info on disabled parking permits in the U.S., from the U.S. Embasssy in London (http://www.usembassy.org.uk/rcdisable.html):

Requirements for disabled permits for visiting motorists vary from state to state. In some cases an out of state or international permit is sufficient; in others a local, temporary permit is required. Where applicable, it is worth checking with your car hire company or contacting a local tourist office representing your destination.

Many states' Departments of Motor Vehicles now provide information and/or application forms on their internet websites. Following are web links and addresses for the appropriate departments of some of the more popular holiday destinations:

California DMV Placard
P. O. Box 942869
Sacramento, California 94269-0001
tel: (916) 657-8135

[Note from me: There's a freephone (toll-free) number for the California DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles), too: (800) 777-0133, between the hours of 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. PST.]

You should definitely try to get a disabled parking permit, as the U.S. is, in general, very good about providing reserved parking spaces for disabled motorists. It's worth having the hangtag while visiting!

By the way, for disabled visitors to the U.K., be sure to check out the RADAR web site at http://www.radar.org.uk for lots of great information.

Bon voyage! :cool:

I suspect that Power Assisted Steering is pretty standard in the US as it is here in OZ (the last car dealer I discussed the subject with said something like - "It's standard in this dealership - most of our clients couldn't drive without it")

When the world was younger it always seemed that if you couldn't get there in the Holden Ute it wasn't worth going! Now some car hire firms won't let you go off the bitumen.

Tony Bailey

Tony, power steering is absolutely standard on every hire car in the U.S., as is an automatic transmission. You'd have to go far off the beaten track to find a car equipped otherwise -- it would be a specialist (or, in the U.S., 'specialty') vehicle!

Oldpenny: Holden Ute = a vehicle that is sort of part-car, part-pickup-truck, like the old (American) Chevrolet El Camino; bitumen = asphalt, i.e., paved roadway

Cheers,

Cyndi

Thanks Thistle

I've done the rounds of most of the Western US DMVs and overseas diasbled permits appear to be pretty universally accepted, as they are in western Canada.

On the subject of disabled parking spaces -

In NSW about 12% of vehicles have permits - guess what the ratio of permit spaces in new facilities is? About 5%!

Tony Bailey

In late September we will be hiring a car in LAX for about 4 weeks.

Tony Bailey

Tony -- By the way, do you know about the Entertainment Books? These are quite thick books of coupons (vouchers) for restaurants, car hire, hotels, and all sorts of entertainments, distributed all over the U.S. for different regions. There's one for the L.A. area that's normally $35.00 (USD) but at this time of year, all the 2004 books are $9.99. The vouchers expire 1st November, but if you're going in September you'll have time to use them. The discounts are usually quite good, normally about 50% off -- in restaurants, for example, they are often one free meal with one paid meal. So even use of one coupon can pay for the book, at only $9.99. I don't know if they will post a book to Oz, so you might have to have it sent to a friend in the States or to your hotel. See the list of books available at http://www.entertainment.com/index.cfm?module=books&fuseaction=showbooklist&showtabs=false&type=b&showall=1 . Ignore the prices shown for the 2004 books -- they are all $9.99 now.

Have a wonderful holiday!

Cheers,

Cyndi :)

Cyndi,

Thanks muchly.

I know that you are supposed to keep an eye out for the offers on the way to 'Lost Wages'.

We are going to do nearly 5 weeks, with a big loop around the Western NPs and into Canada and some days at the end for the 13 YO to make her second visit to that rodent infested place (and go mad at the shopping outlets - mainly because the summer stuff should be getting sold off in time for the Southern Hemisphere summer.)

Tony Bailey