Asia - Car Rental in TPE?

Hi-
I need a car rental in TPE for 4 days, and I would like to have someone who speaks English and can have most of the transaction handled before I arrive in TPE. The last time I rented in TPE, I was shuttled off to some local store, where someone who spoke no English at all had to call another person and we played telephone to try to explain what was needed to rent a car. In all, it took over 4 hours, and I really did not know what I signed. I would like to avoid that this time. Does anyone have a good experience with a car rental company?

This is the one we used on our last trip to Taiwan: http://www.iws.com.tw/befor/default.asp?Version=En

My wife (Taiwanese) made all the arrangements ahead of time so I am not totally sure about their communication in English. There was a guy at the rental office speaking English fairly well when we got there.

This is another one we considered but didn't rent from due to higher cost: http://www.car-plus.com.tw/EN/ugC_AboutUs.asp

What a timing! If you prefer any international car rental company, Avis just recently (maybe this July?) started its operation in Taiwan:

Avis Expands Asia Network With Launch of Taiwan Operations (http://finance.yahoo.com/news/avis-expands-asia-network-launch-150000012.html)

http://www.avis.com/car-rental/location/TW/Taiwan

Avis may not be the least expensive options out there but I am certain language will not be an issue. :D

Although I've never had the need to use them, there are other local companies/drivers that can competently handle English. IIRC, a few FTers even provided contact info for some drivers/companies. You'll have to dig it up though.

Sorry to hear about your unfortunate car rental in TPE. I still can't believe your 4-hour ordeal last time. Something went very wrong. :eek:

If your trip is in the city taking taxi all the way may be more convenient.

If your trip is in the city taking taxi all the way may be more convenient.

Would agree except the OP did write:

I would like to have someone who speaks English

My experience is that Taipei taxis rarely speak English. There are some great "have a go heros". I've had a few speak Japanese to me, a couple speaking Spanish (perhaps filipinos) and one guy that spoke pretty good Vietnamese. (He was a Taiwanese bloke that married a Vietnamese and made the effort.) Kinda weird a British guy and a TW guy using VN to communicate. (My Chinese is near-non existent.)

I'd say 1 in 3 have a few words of English, 1 in 10 anything approaching functional. Some will try to call someone to help. This shortens your life expectancy as they speed through Taipei whilst prodding buttons on a mobile phone or radio.

There is some kind of association of English speaking taxi drivers in Taipei. If you are waiting at a rank, you might see that one of the taxis has their logo on the door (can't remember exactly what it's called.)

I think Taipei taxi drivers are brilliant. Taiwanese friends ask me what I like about Taiwan. I struggle, but always start off by mentioning taxis in Taipei. Universally honest, good attitude, cheap, abundant, always got change and never expect tips. Of course the locals will tell you that they are all criminals and if you're female travelling late at night you have little chance of not being raped.

Apologies for going OT.

http://eng.taiwan.net.tw/pda/m1.aspx?sNo=0011184

http://www.sinolimo.com/driver_hire.asp our company use these guys when our staff want to go sight seeing

http://www.sinolimo.com/driver_hire.asp our company use these guys when our staff want to go sight seeing
That appears to be a China-based company. I've never heard of them before though. FWIW, they do have Taipei to be one of their "Service City": http://www.sinolimo.com/Taipei.asp

If I read OP correctly, he intended to drive the rental car himself. So English-speaking drivers may not be needed. ;)

We used Chailease auto rental service-Taipei.
Tel 02 2828 0033 Fax 02 2826 2191.
We arranged everything in advance over email: Shorttermrequest@chailease.com.tw

They are not actually at the airport but will deliver and pick up there or at a hotel (we picked this alternative) including after hours, for a fee (between 500 and 1500 ntd, depending on when and where). Their rates seemed reasonable and everything worked as promised. The only issue was that after we rented the car, torrential rains closed the roads we were planning to travel on. We were unable to reach them to return the car early (they didn't answer their phones for a whole day, but it was a day that schools and government offices were closed due to the rain). So we had to pay the full amount without actually getting to use the car as planned. I don't think this should be a mark against them, though, since it was a factor out of their control and the contract didn't provide for this contingency.

The person who delivered and picked up the car spoke perfect English, and all our email communications were very clearly conducted in English. The rental contract was in English as well.

Thanks for the feedback!

https://www.easyrent.com.tw/English/

I used them twice. Excellent service. Price is decent. And they allow foreign passport holders to rent. GPS/car seats provided upon request.