Dollar - Minivan Rental....Only Chrysler Products?

Renting a minivan from Dollar this February....wondering if they have or will have moved to the new Dodge Caravan and Chrysler T&C for the most part? Has anyone driven one of the new ones yet? Well equipped? Does Dollar offer any other vans than Chrysler products?

Thanks in advance for any info!

It varies location to location, especially if the location you're renting from is franchised. Dollar Thrifty YYG (franchised) is housed in a Kia dealership, so you'd get a Kia Sedona as a van. Most corporate Dollar Thrifty locations use a mostly-Chrysler fleet. A friend of mine who works at Thrifty SEA (corporate) told me they just got their '08 Town and Countries in (Dollar SEA is franchised, though, and they're not dual-branded there; don't know what they run).

We just got a few in up here. I've tested out the base (LX) model, which is pretty plain vanilla, as well as the Limited trim model, which has automatic opening side doors and liftgates as well as "party bus"-style nighttime mood/ambiance lighting (and LED-based dome lighting). Pretty, er, pimp, if you ask me (see here (http://www.allpar.com/model/m/2008-minivans.html) for info and photos).

So far, none have arrived that feature Swivel 'n' Go (our franchise owners don't want them, anyway, because they think maintaining the stowable table would be too much hassle and result in lost pieces too easily).

If you ask me, they're pretty ugly on the outside (though every radical change in design seems to gradually grow on everybody--the Mercedes M class was as ugly as anything when it first came out, and now it's pretty plain vanilla). The insides are roomy, though, and updated dash looks nice. Otherwise, it's just a normal minivan (except the one with the party bus lighting...). One cool thing: the side windows on the rear sliding doors roll down. Wonder why it took them 30 years to come up with that feature.

Thanks for the detailed reply!

Do you know if there is an opportunity to select your own car? I will be renting at SFO...

The Limited trim model, was that also a rental or simply seen somewhere else?

Thanks again for any information!

Both trims were rentals. We have no control over which trimlines Chrysler sends us. They just dump their overflow or something--we'll get a mix of some base models, some midrange models, and a few nice models in each car class. We mostly don't differentiate between them, so it's the luck of the draw.

I haven't been to Thrifty SFO, but I do not believe they (or any Thrifty locations) have the Emerald Aisle-style pick-your-own-car. Perhaps on the way into the office, peek around the lot and write down a specific unit number/license plate and try to sweet-talk the agent into giving you that one...

Will do, thanks....I have been pretty lucky asking nicely and receiving....

Do you know if there is an opportunity to select your own car? I will be renting at SFO...


I rented a minivan at SFO in October and I got a Town and Country. I don't recall seeing any other model of van other than all the T&Cs lined up in a row. It's a great rental for families. We put on a ton of miles and were very comfortable in it.

Excellent, thanks...it is 5 of us...for 18 days....so, comfort is important, of course....

Report from Dollar Thrifty CLT (another corporate-owned store, so I assume the fleet would be similar): two 2008 Chrysler Town and Countries (LX trim) and one 2007 Grand Caravan on the lot.

Thanks for the update! Keeping my fingers crossed for a nice, new T&C