Argentina - car rentals in AR

does anybody have some good car rental websites for Argentina?

Thanks

As a local, Ive never rented a car here, but please note that car rentals are not inexpensive in Buenos Aires. Are you fluent in Spanish.... and, perhaps more importantly, do you have experience driving in "non organized" cities with traffic issues like Cairo, Mexico City, Guangzhou or Jakarta....?

Please note that driving in Buenos Aires is not for everybody. I dont mean to question your skills as a driver, but driving in Buenos Aires requires a somewhat special set of skills. Also, if you dont know your way around town, please note that GPS units are not widely available at rental companies so you may be advised to bring your own unit. If you still want to rent, Im sure the large rental agencies you know about will be able to make you an offer for a vehicle in EZE.

If you have time, please do come back and report what you decide and how it goes....

Cheers,
Alex / Gaucho100K

I've rented cars a few times in Buenos Aires and Chaco. Its not difficult, but it is expensive. I needed a major credit card like Visa or Mastercard, a valid drivers license (I used a couple different from US states), and a passport. I rented from Argentinian firms and they cost about double what similar cars with full insurance coverage in the US cost. There are several US firms with offices around Argentina including Avis and Alamo, and many local brands.

Hey Kurt, thanks for chiming in here... are the franchises of the large international firms priced any differently than the local companies...? Dont know if you have evey done some comparison shopping...

Hey Kurt, thanks for chiming in here... are the franchises of the large international firms priced any differently than the local companies...? Dont know if you have evey done some comparison shopping...

I haven't done extensive comparisons, but I was surprised to find that Avis was a bit cheaper, about 10% less, than the local brands.

In the last couple of years I have used www.bairesrentacar.com.ar, they always have the best price around. If you pay with cash you will get a 5% discount but you need a CC for the deposit ($800~900 hold). All the cars that I got had less than 25,000 kms.

I always rent from Avis when I´m down there. I found out that prices in avis.com.ar are usually cheaper than at avis.com.
I always got almost-new cars, except once, the car was OK, but it had a lot of scratches, bumps and bruises, and the agent had to spend like 20 minutes marking them all down on the paper.

we used Sixt via the German Website with 5% LG-SEN discount and got a 85k km Chevi Agila without power brakes, without power steering and w/o power windows:mad:

and we paid 3 times the price in Chile (similar insurances w/o excess)

At least Sixt was the only company with free km!!!

our Ar-Friends said that it isnot common to rent cars for holidays in AR, that's why the prices are high - if you are rich enough to have own car, you drive 1000-1500km for holidays (eg. to Chile, UY or South) and then book Cabanas or camping!;)

I love Argentina and I think BAires is one of the most awesome cities in the world.
Having said that........ I would NEVER drive in BAires or in Argentina.
Imagine Italy, multiply it by the bad reputation that Italian drivers have, add some alcohol and really really short temper and you get BAires drivers (that includes taxi, bus and private cars)
Throw in lax rules and there you go.
Have fun

I know a lot of locals who would never drive in the capital...my wife being one of them.
However, once out of the capital and away from certain main roads driving can be a pleasure offering you the freedom to do as you please.
If I were a visitor I would see Buenos Aires, fly somewhere else and pick a car up there. For instance Neuquen is a good starting point for northern Patagonia as the roads there are very quiet.

It is expensive unfortunately.

Are you referring to the tiny roads with large buses coming around the corner?
:)

Are you referring to the tiny roads with large buses coming around the corner?
:)

If you want to sample tiny roads I suggest you go and drive in Scotland. The roads here are massively wide in comparison. :D

For those that insist of renting a car in Buenos Aires, I suggest you get a GPS. It will save you a lot of time is well worth the investment.

no problem to drive in BsAs!! Just that the traffic is horrible during rush hours!

no problem to drive in BsAs!! Just that the traffic is horrible during rush hours!

You're brave.

It certainly helps if you know where you're going. If not, then you'll be glad of the traffic jams to allow you time to find out where you are.

no problem to drive in BsAs!! Just that the traffic is horrible during rush hours!

HA! Part of it is anticipating the unexpected, how to treat a completely uncontrolled intersection, and other "customs" (like lines on the road being for decorative purposes only) - etc etc...

And the occasional "left turn only" lane in the right lane. Or 4 lanes of traffic exiting into a one lane off-ramp.

As for the right-of-way at all the unmarked intersections, the tells are often a small speedbump or dip just prior to the intersection. If you pass one, they you don't have the right of way. But like the lines on the roads, it is just a suggestion...

stop whining and keep driving !!!!!

stop whining and keep driving !!!!!

There speaks a man with experience. :D ^

one nice auto bumper decal I once saw read...

subite, sentate, callate y agarrate...... :D

Talking about driving in the capital.....do they have parking meters there?

In select areas of town, yes. Same applies for the GBA, we have plenty of meters in Martinez.

In select areas of town, yes. Same applies for the GBA, we have plenty of meters in Martinez.

Exactly why I have a driver come get me when I venture out to those parts! :cool:

In select areas of town, yes. Same applies for the GBA, we have plenty of meters in Martinez.

I ask because our local council have recently brought in car parking charges in the centre of town. Once parked you sometimes have to walk two blocks in the opposite direction of where you were going just to find a shop which on payment electronically logs your car registration.
Seems a bit of a hassle when they could just as easily have erected meters.

stop whining and keep driving !!!!!

The supreme law of driving in Argentina is quite simple: If you can visualize you can do it!

The supreme law of driving in Argentina is quite simple: If you can visualize you can do it!

+1

and in EZE I see lots of elders (70s) driving stick transmissions, parallel parking, dodging jaywalkers, traffic, etc... and not a single accident. Driving is not about getting in a car, turning the engine and putting the gear in "D" like it is done in the US, just focusing what's in front of you. Driving is also about being aware of your surrounding, being able to anticipate situations; to be alert, to read other people's intentions, to use the rear-view mirror, etc... When you master that, you can drive anywhere. As a side benefit, your attention span and reflexes will stay sharp ;)

cheers.....

--J

I recently used carrentals.com to check prices for rentals in Argentina for a planned trip next January. That site searches several major rental firms plus Expedia and Hotwire so you get good comparisons. The lowest price I saw was about $50/day for a small car. Its important to check if the prices include unlimited mileage as I found some same prices, one unlimited miles and one 100 or 200km/day.

There's no need to drive in BA. But I've rented there to take an overnight trip out to San Antonio de Areco and back. Getting out of and back into BA was no problem.

Outside BA renting a car is often the best way to see the best of Argentina. The drive from Mendoza to Villavicencio to Upsallata over the mountains and the drive from Salta to Cachi and on to Cafayate are two of the great drives of the world. They were spectacular and as long as you're not intimidated by gravel surfaces and heights they were relatively easy drives.

I'll be driving again north of Salta next year. Driving in Argentina outside BA is not difficult.

I may have stumbled across a training video for student drivers in Argentina: How to change lanes on a highway (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0d8tb_olU0).

My apologies if there's a comprehensive thread on this topic already, but I couldn't find it in my searches. I hope to rent a car at Punta Arenas this summer, drive around P.N. Torres del Paine, go see the Perito Moreno glacier, and then return the car at PUQ before a flight back north.

It looks like the rental cars are painfully expensive, and I'll have to pay ~$150 extra for what Hertz and Europcar Chilean websites call the "permiso argentino" -- presumably documentation giving me permission to cross the border. That doesn't sound like an unreasonable fee given an escribano apparently has to prepare the papers. Does this include the necessary insurance and do the windshields already have the plate numbers etched in them routinely? See, e.g., http://www.gendarmeria.gov.ar/otros/requimigra.html. It seems somewhat likely the agency would fail to prepare the papers or would transpose my driver's license number such that I'd be turned around at the border and miss out of the glacier.

I'd be grateful to hear some FT war stories. I only have about 5 days, so I can't waste anytime waiting for a bus. I'll also have luggage that would make excessive transfers unpleasant. If I can get the red tape squared away, it seems like this should be even better than my Iceland road trip last summer of similar time and distance.