Rental car in Turkey?
 

I wasn't sure if this should go here or car rental forum, but what the heck: Some friends and I will be staying in Istanbul later this year, and in the interest of seeing Ephesus, we're thinking of flying to Izmir for the day. Then we'd rent a car at ADB and drive to Ephesus.

However, I just confirmed that my US car insurance does not cover me at all outside of North America -- so, what are the insurance options that would be needed for Turkey? I was thinking that with 4 of us, renting a car is more cost-effective than trying to bus it from the airport to Ephesus, but if the rental fees and insurance costs are sky-high, then we may rethink our plans.

Thanks!

To rent a car be sure, that your rate covers the "Theft and Collision Damage Waiver" = LDW and the "Personal Accident cover" = PAI and you should be fine. However, be aware of:

- rental cars are not that cheap (~55-75€ per day for a compact car incl. the insurances) I´d go with one of the big players.
- automatic gear is very uncommon in Turkey so you should be familiar with manual driving
- driving in Turkey (as in most southern european countries) can be a little bit ... exotic.

For a trip from Izmir to Ephesus I´d consider hiring a taxi. With a little bit negociating (important: before entering the car) that should not be more expansive than a rental car. You don´t have to worry about the routing or the traffic as well - the only thing that may happen is that you´ll make a tea-stop at the carpetshop of a very good friend of the driver. But that´s Turkey....:D

I wouldn't drive in Turkey. Just remember my few taxi rides in Istanbul. It was, to use the word of the previous poster, exotic.

About your trip to Ephesus. Istanbul is full of small travel agencies that sell complete trips to almost every touristic spot in Turkey. I would check them out if they have a cheap trip to Ephesus

You must be kidding us......
rent in Turkey?????
Forget car insurance, get life insurance.

Just a few thoughts-

Your plan to fly down there and drive around is fine.

I've rented cars down there. Turkish drivers are indeed among the worlds more misbehaved, but down there is going to be MUCH better than the cities.

Be careful, be defensive and keep your eyes open and you'll be fine.

I will say that the most common problem I've seen is from foreigners who insist on say, full stops at stop signs when no one is coming, and having a driver behind them slam on the brakes because "why would you stop??"

I would also be hesitant to book a full tour from a TA in Istanbul as I actually have a friend who is a TA who likes to tell me about the price spread between what he pays for a tour down there and what he charges the clients.

The spread is HUGE.

The idea of negotiating with a local taxi is fine and will probably be much better. In fact, you might want to find the smaller local rental agencies and see if they will set up a car and driver package.

Do keep in mind that whatever you do, Turkey is one of, if not THE most expensive country in the world for gasoline (3.27ytl/L last I looked). That will have an impact no matter who is driving.

In December, I'll be staying a couple days in Izmir/Kusadasi/Ephesus and am thinking of seeing the sights with a rent-a-car. I'm flying into Izmir, and the car rental prices seem reasonable. The Turkey Travel Planner (which is a very helpful site) seems to indicate that driving there is a reasonable choice. Is this true? We're a party of 5, so from an economic standpoint it seems reasonable.

I've driven in many countries around the world, so I'm not too intimidated by unusual driving habits. That said, I don't want to drive if it's truly "crazy." We're also visiting Cappadocia, but I'm a little afraid of snow there so I think I won't rent a car there.

I'd welcome all travel suggestions. Is there any place better to stay than Kusadasi for visiting Ephesus? Thanks.

We rented a car for a couple of days in Cappadocia two years ago and had no trouble at all. Yes, it was manual and yes, we got insurance through the car company, but it was a great way of getting around (it was in the summer, so no snow worries).

If you have any experience driving in big cities or outside N. America, I wouldn't hesitate, but what can I say, I'm an NYC driver.:D

go for it
 

we (two 60ish women) rented a car in turkey and drove all around the western half of the country with no problem..................only mishaps were a nail in the tire and lost the back license plate.............we had full coverage on the car, but the rental company still tried to give us a hard time about the license plate, but the hotel concierge came to our rescue when we returned the car in istanbul......oh, yes, we did get a parking ticket that cost over $100............there seems to be no markings/signs/etc to tell you where or where not to park so ASK at the closest shop before you leave your vehicle.............

iahphx, it sounds like you'll be fine.

The only concern I had when I read your post was that cars in Turkey tend to be much smaller than what you may be used to.

(Especially compared to Texas ;) )

5 people plus luggage is not likely to be comfortable in what they consider a mid-size car.

Have a great time.

R

Thanks for the driving tips. OK, it sounds like renting a car at the Izmir airport would not be crazy. Time to wheel and deal, I suppose. I guess I'll google it and figure out my options.

I had a very good rental from ADB with Holiday Autos and would just say remember that some of the road surfaces are very smooth and thus if it rains you may have problems of grip. Other than that, no problems at all.

I would suggest staying at Selçuk (pronounced Selchook) instead of Kusadasi because it is a proper Turkish town and Kusadasi has far more tourists and cruise ships and I found it far less 'authentic' and Selçuk is handy for visiting the hillside winegrowing village of Sirince (See rin chay) and the Steam Loco museum (excellent) at Camlik (cham lick).

Our rental was a year ago and I got an automatic but otherwise the same. We had no problems at all, and it made seeing what we wanted to see in Cappadocia WAY easier than trying to deal with the public transit system there.

What about the transit signs (exits, highway names and warnings)? Are thy enough understandable?

Old thread and my memory is a bit hazy, but I encountered no particular difficulty driving around the Ephesus area. It was actually pretty easy. Just keep in mind that petrol prices in Turkey are ridiculously high (about the highest in the world) and other forms of transportation (planes, buses) are very cheap. So a car is really only useful to explore a small geographic area, especially when there aren't other good touring options. I do remember that I had a cheap (and good) small group day tour in Cappadocia and, sure enough, it did snow that day in December. I was glad not to have to drive.

Get a GPS as a backup and you won't have to deal with traffic signs