Dollar - What exactly are the restrictions on driving into Canada from Seattle?

Normally, I don't like to rent from Dollar because I have found their Customer Service to be terrible. But in seattle they are $85 cheaper than their nearest competitor for my rental. They say you can't drive into Canada, but also say:

Traveling into Canada is limited to Vancouver and Victoria, BC metro areas only

Well, first of all I think that it is ridiculous to put this restriction in since Seattle is so close to the border, and it's definitely not more dangerous to drive in Canada than the US. But whatever. My question is about whether I should have any trouble driving to Whistler which is about 80 miles from Vancouver?

Frankly, while some say to ask them, my experience is that whatever some agent on the phone tells you has only a random chance of being correct, the only thing I can trust is the written agreement, but that is vague enough that I could interpret it either way on whether driving to Whistler is ok.

Normally, I don't like to rent from Dollar because I have found their Customer Service to be terrible. But in seattle they are $85 cheaper than their nearest competitor for my rental. They say you can't drive into Canada, but also say:



Well, first of all I think that it is ridiculous to put this restriction in since Seattle is so close to the border, and it's definitely not more dangerous to drive in Canada than the US. But whatever. My question is about whether I should have any trouble driving to Whistler which is about 80 miles from Vancouver?

Frankly, while some say to ask them, my experience is that whatever some agent on the phone tells you has only a random chance of being correct, the only thing I can trust is the written agreement, but that is vague enough that I could interpret it either way on whether driving to Whistler is ok.
Dollar in Seattle is franchised. Call the location directly. If necessary, ask to speak to a manager. Get the name of the person you spoke to and the date and time you called. Then you're guaranteed to get their exact policy and can argue that you were told differently if they do anything to you. Never trust what the 800-number rep says--they're reading the same T&C that you can read on the Dollar website, and they often interpret it incorrectly.

Not sure why they would post conflicting policies in their T&C (no Canada and then Canada driving limited to certain areas), but there is a reason they may indeed restrict driving into Canada for risk reasons: cross-border reposession of vehicles from delinquent renters is probably fairly difficult! It's not as ridiculous of a policy as it might seem. There is a lot of risk involved in running a rental car operation--if someone totals a vehicle and has purchased coverage, that rental company is out $30,000!

Also, reread the restrictions on driving into Canada again: it may say that Canadian drivers cannot drive American-registered vehicles into Canada (Canadian customs will stop them). You may be getting the two restrictions confused.

Slightly off topic but since you're talking about driving up to Whistler... just a heads up on some road closures that might impact your travel times:

http://www.canada.com/theprovince/news/story.html?id=bffc0d8a-ad44-44d0-b973-eae2383f591b&k=40419

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