Boraxo

Last December, we had the worst Hertz experience ever renting from the Hertz location at the Isla mall in Cancun.

I am Hertz Prez and had a reservation, but it literally took an hour to get a car despite the fact that I was the only customer. They actually sent a car to take me to another lot up the road to get the car (rather than bringing it to me). When I arrived I was shown a vehicle that clearly not been cleaned (interior or exterior) as there was trash inside the vehicle and mud streaks down the outside. I insisted that they clean the vehicle, which resulted in additional delay.

I was also asked to pay an upgrade fee as they did not have my reserved car in stock. Naturally I declined. The tank was only 3/16 full (Hertz claimed 1/4 on the contract) and the fuel light came on before we passed the airport on our way to Tulum.

All in all the worst experience I have ever had, bar none, at any rental agency. I would strongly urge everyone to avoid Hertz in Cancun until they clean up their act.

djwdjw

We are staying in Tulum, flying in and out of CUN. I would like to rent a car with the least amount of hassle possible. "Hassle" includes long wait times, aggressive insurance up-sell, and car-not-available-type stuff. Yelp and similar sites are full of stores like this for almost all brands/locations. I am willing to pay more to avoid this stuff. In the US, I would just go through a loyalty program and use the "gold" desk - but I don't think the major US brands run that kind of desk in CUN (because they are franchise operations, I guess). If it helped, I would get a transfer down to Tulum and rent the car there.

Here's the question: is there any brand/location at the airport or the general vicinity that you can recommend as a low-hassle option?

JDiver

Welcome to FlyerTalk.

Have a look at the thread http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/mexic...al-cancun.html (link), where this is likely to be merged, for some shared experiences and recommendations.

DeweyCheathem

My strategy for Cancun would be not to rent a car. I've never stayed in Tulum, so I can't say if you'd miss it. From Cancun, there are numerous tourist bus excursions to anywhere you would want to go, including Tulum, Xcaret, XelHa, Chichen Itza, and Playa del Carmen. For Cancun proper, you would be glad not to have bothered with it. But Tulum might be a different story.

VidaNaPraia

Go on the Easyway site. Choose your car. Choose full insurance options. See the total you will pay on arrival, no added last minute costs. (Cheapest/small car is probably about U$45/day total, including full insurance and taxes.)
Look for their staff (lovely, helpful people!!!!) outside the terminal, waiting with a sign to take you to their off-airport office.
Easy as pie.

JDiver

Thank you for sharing your reliable information.

amaroo

Nice post! I just took your advice. Like the OP we will be hiring a car at Cancun (staying Tulum) plus another hire at Merida (driving around Yucatan/Campeche)

For the two hires the quotes from Avis/Hertz came in around US$1,900 ... Easyway = US$1,150. Similar car (Town and Country v Grand Caravan) with full insurance package. Easyway appear to be offering a more comprehensive insurance package.

US$750 saving = AUD$950 ^

Cheers!

100% Green

Ok.

Good thing I find this thread.

I am looking at car rentals. Staying in PDC, hoping to visit Tulum and Coba. Debating taxi's or car rental.

Kayak is showing rentals for $1 per day. Easyway is showing car rental for about $23 per day with full insurance.

What am I missing?

VidaNaPraia

$!/day has got to be without insurance, for which you will undoubtedly be gouged on arrival.

I would think Easyway would be more like $40-45/day for a compact with full insurance and taxes. Maybe you found a special promotion of some sort. I see a tiny Spark for $37.12/day at the weekly rate with full insurance and taxes. I'd get something big enough to have a real trunk to make sure your stuff is out of sight.

SNA_Flyer

Bad experience at the airport for me with Hertz. Waited 30 minutes. Guy wanted to give me the hard sell on everything despite asking him politely to just look at my profile/reservation for coverages I need. Felt like I was renting from Enterprise.

Wait another 20 minutes to bring a car out. New guy goes over the car with me to document damage. Get in the car to drive away and has the audacity to ask for a tip. For what? Amazing.

I realize this is Mexico, but Hertz needs to hold their franchisees to some standards.

Mynameismud

Although i am familiar with renting cars in a few countries (i am from France), i am bit lost with Mexican insurance.

Any advice for 2 weeks rental from CUN airport ?
Easyway:557 USD (ALI included)
Avis.MX: 5325 MXN/ 284USD (ALI included)
Is this coverage enough ?
Why such a difference between those 2 companies

Gracias

T2A

Another thumbs up for Easy Way car rentals in CUN. Everything went great with the rental experience. We were staying in Tulum.

Driving in Mexico isn't for the faint of heart. Personally I would rather take buses and taxis around as it's often easier and a lot cheaper if you don't have any long trips planned.

Be very careful driving through Playa especially at night. Obey the crazy speed limit variations exactly (like where it goes from 100 down to 40 and then back up). We were pulled over on the way to the airport at 2am. An interesting experience to say the least. After initially being asked to pay a $1000USD ticket, negotiated them down to 400 pesos to let us off with a warning. Luckily I have a family member who just moved down there and prepared me for the possible encounter.

Also when you pump gas give the attendants exact change and be very sure of what you give them. I'd recommend getting out of your car and watching them fill your tank too. It's common for them to under fill your car or pretend you gave them a 50 instead of a 500. Dont let them check your oil or do any extra services. We had two attendants try to pull scams. My mother fell for the 50 instead of 500 scam, but thankfully my aunt realized what was happening and confronted the attendant who reluctantly gave the money back (after threats of calling the federal police were made).

We loved are time in Tulum and will probably go back in 2018. We most likely will not be renting a car again. Haha

Section 107

Hopefully this reply is still timely for your trip, Mud:

One rate appears to be ~$20US per day versus ~$40 per day. Assuming the quotes for the same class vehicle, the Easyway rate being so much higher indicates to me it includes supplemental liability insurance to $3,000,000mxn (rather than just the minimum $750,000mxn required by law) and it probably includes Theft Protection insurance, Personal Accident Insurance (medical costs for occupants of rented car), and Tire and Glass Insurance, and probably Road Assistance coverage each of which are usually in the range of $5-$10/day depending upon the class of car.

amaroo

Very happy with the recommendation for Easyway. Excellent service and they even collected and dropped us off at the small terminal that Tropic Air uses in CUN.... just like private transfers. The staff in Merida were very good - they opened the office Xmas eve at 5.45am, processed the paperwork and then dropped us off at the airport - how good is that!

turtlelurker

Just used Easyway in CUN and although there were some hiccups and two attempts to overcharge me as well as them giving me a different car then I ordered I think it was overall better then what I would have experienced with Hertz or other rental agencies.