wireless_999

FYI no executive lane here. No free upgrade. Had to pay up for a bs ford escape. Only 15/day extra.

arollins

I know the feeling, been renting from national SJU almost every other month for the past 5 years, and I can certainly say that their selection has really gone downhill. I used to be able to get a Hyndai Sonata, Toyota Camry. Now is more like a Yaris, or Lancer. No Impalas, Malibu or similar type cars. In my opinion, with the high price of gas in PR and tight parking places, it is best to have those type of vehicles, yaris, lancer, corolla. If you certainly want a Larger car, I suggest renting a midsize or larger type vehicle. I usually rent a compact or economy, and 90% of the time I end up with a midsize, or larger. If I don't like the car that has been assigned I ask if there is something better and most of the time I get it without any extra fees. However, unlike most stateside National locations, what they call midsize, large cars, are what other locations will consider economy, compact.

One thing I've noticed lately is that now they are pushing the prepaid toll, I think it is something like $10 or so for the rental period. I'm not sure how it works, if the $10 covers all of your tolls, or if there is still extra fees on it. My advise to other renters, if you ARE NOT traveling around the Island and just staying in the local metro area, DO NOT GET IT, as there are no tolls to pay. However if you are certainly traveling, definitely get it as it will save you time and maybe money. Puerto Rico tollways have changed now in that they no longer give change or some do not accept cash. They have a separate line called R, R-, R+ where you give them $1.00 and the cahnge is given back to you as a prepaid toll card to use latter. Trust me, it is a stupid method and basically they are forcing the locals to buy and use a prepaid card to mount on the car.

wireless_999

Yes I did get the toll package for 10 bucks. We did travel a lot on the island so it was good.

mobil11030

I'm renting at SJU for the first time later this month. It looks like there is no ES and I should set my expectations low as far as quality of vehicles?

mkt

Camry, Chrysler 300 maybe... pretty standard vehicles.

Our roads are terrible, and we're terrible at parking - you don't want a nice car here.

mnredfox

+1, so true. I remember driving down to Ponce saying to myself, if I lived here I would want the biggest POS car...

mkt

I've had one "nice" car here, an Acura RSX type S, which was the first car I bought when I moved back here in 2007. Never again. I've never spent more on suspension work and body work in my life. Prior to living here, I never had to pay to have my wheels straightened - here I did that once every six months, and my front wheels had at least 2 dents each.

Now I drive a 97 VW Jetta that I bought for $1k cash (for my SJU-BQN-SJU commute), and I have a 2003 4Runner that sits in the garage for when I need it. Both cars can take a beating, cost less than the Acura, and in the case of the Jetta, it actually cost less than most of the body shop bills I got in the Acura.

To be fair though, I've also since befriended the owner of an auto parts store, who will sell me any spares at his cost.

My mom has a 2007 Acura MDX, and she's dropped easily over $10k (if not $15k) on body work and suspension work in 6 years. That's a lot, but most people here aren't that meticulous about bodywork. To give you an example, a Chevy S10 backed into the jetta, and ripped off part of the bumper. This was in February 2012, and I just recently started looking into getting it fixed.

Now, in Miami... I have a BMW 535i, which I will NEVER ship to PR.

mobil11030

Just rented from SJU last week...

Their inventory consisted of a few Nissan Rogues and Ford Explorers, a couple of Siennas, Outlanders, Camrys, a 2013 Escape and most notably, a black Toyota IQ.

I am Executive and reserved a Full as I usually do. There were 5 of us travelling (3 adults and 2 kids) with a pile of baggage. I played dumb asked the counter agent if there was an Emerald or Executive aisle. I replied with a disappointed "Oh." when he said there wasn't. He must have noticed the volume of our baggage because he offered me a free upgrade to a small SUV (Nissan Rogue) or to an Explorer for $10/day more. I thanked him and happily accepted the Rogue. It was in great condition with only 975 miles. We definitely would not have fit everything in a Camry.

I did the $10 toll thing, which I'm a bit worried about, because I haven't received that bill yet. Basically, you blow through all the toll booths triggering the red light and camera and I guess National basically tallies up your tolls by all the violations you've incurred. I'll let you guys know how that turns out...

OC_Matt

Any feedback on the tolls? How is parking around San Juan? Is a smaller car really the best way to go?

arollins

I cant comment on how the toll thing works, other that if you are stying on the METRO area, no need to use it, however, if you go to the rainforrest or travel in-land, it helps a lot. See my post on this same thread. There are numerous public parking facility in San Juan, I pressume you mean Old San Juan. I still recommend a small size car if that works for you.

dajoip

Any suggestions for the best/cheapest options for car rentals in SJU for 2 days in May? Never been before and we're wanting to explore a little bit.

mobil11030

The tolls were billed to my credit card about 2 weeks after. It was $10 admin fee plus actual cost of tolls. Whether or not it was accurate, I'm not sure... I didn't keep track of the booths I went through.

Parking spaces seem generally smaller and the lanes on some roads are definitely narrower (thought I might lose my side mirror a couple times. )

baxterboy12

I was there March 15-18 and the aisle had just opened. Walk 3-4 minutes from baggage claim and bypass the counter. Very easy. I used [email protected] to get a mid-size for $30/day and was able to snag a loaded Ford Explorer with satellite and less than 3K miles.

However, the parking spots at the hotels and in Old San Juan were small, so although we enjoyed the extra room, I was really nervous about door dings.

If I had to do it over again I would get a smaller car from the selection area.

All in all, the aisle service selection and quality was only slightly worse than being in America.

BenFranklin

Very convenient location in garage across from baggage claim . Could be a new location because some of the signage one might expect on airport property is missing or conflicting (i.e. don't wait for a shuttle).

If you are Emerald or above, you can take the elevator upstairs to get to the cars (there wasn't a sign for that). Lobby area also has a counter for Alamo.

Executive Aisle had plenty of recent mid and full size cars -- Ford, Hyundai, Nissan, Toyota, etc. Several SUVs. Actually better than I expected based on reviews from 1-2 years ago; I wasn't even sure there was going to be an Emerald Aisle.

Multiple agents roaming the garage offering assistance. Seems like the location is running well (at least for now).

bthobe

Any recent updates on the cars in the Exec lot at National?