Hertz - Help needed - one-way rental SFO to Reno

We need a 4WD to go from SFO to Reno in just after Christmas for 6 days, with NeverLost. Surprisingly, there is no availability according to the Hertz site.

Any suggestions what we should do? Is there another obvious company we should check out?

Assuming that we stay with Hertz, are there any good suggestions for codes?

Someone suggested we should just buy a GPS device off ebay. Does that make sense?

Many thanks.

If there isn't any rentals at SFO, did you possibly check to see if there was any other Hertz locations within the area that might have a vehicle with neverlost installed? I wouldn't go out and purchase a GPS just because Hertz doesnt have any trucks with neverlost. I would get on the phone with them and have them locate one for you. =)

I would try to see if any 4wd prestige vehicles are available then... (since they come with NL)

escalade
q7
navigator
h2
xc90

if you're doing a 1-way from sfo to las I don't think it should be a problem

The problem is the NeverLost -- not the 4WD. The Hertz computer is fairly adept at handling midsize through premium size cars with NL. Other than that, availability is generally very limited as an advance reservation despite the fact that other vehicles from Minivans to SUVs have NL. For whatever reason, the computer has a difficult time reserving those. ESPECIALLY for one-way reservations.

The suggestion to purchase a GPS is not a bad idea; you can buy a refurb unit for $200 and a decent model with full features for $500. Thrifty charges $12/day for a rental of a Garmin nuvi. You can do the math to see where it might be cheaper to buy your own if you rent more than once a year.

I would recommend checking other vendors -- National is known for cheaper one-way rates. Most of the other vendors also have portable GPS units that will enable you to add it to any car (though some also prohibit one-way GPS rentals). Avis, Dollar, National and Thrifty all offer GPS units these days.

I did a quick check on Orbitz and found that Thrifty will rent you a standard size SUV (Jeep Grand Cherokee) for about $450 plus $12/day for navigation for a grand total of $520 for a 6-day rental. This seems to be cheaper than Hertz by quite a bit.

Many thanks.