Car hire Seattle to San Fran - 8 weeks.

nice_guy80

Hello

I need to hire a car for 5+ weeks in Seattle, driving on to San Fran at the end of the stay.

I want a low cost option.
Don't mind second hand cars.

anyone got suggestions?
cheers

jamo2oo9

You are probably better off buying a second hand car and then selling it in SF. It could work out as cheaper as you could sell your car at the end of the trip and you are only paying for petrol/diesel.

InTheTrees

http://seattle.craigslist.org/cta/

But remember I think its difficult to sell a car in a different state, you'd probably have to get the registration switched, new license plates etc.

chillywilly

Hotwire.com is great for rental deals. I saved hundreds by going through them when i drove from San Fran to LA.

nice_guy80

I've checked out the buying a car and selling it option - very tricky to do between different states with no address

plus problems with not having an address for insurance

have checked hotwire.

Was just wondering was there a US equivalent of Dan Dooley!!
or APEX in NZ

InTheTrees

nice_guy80 wrote: »

I've checked out the buying a car and selling it option - very tricky to do between different states with no address

plus problems with not having an address for insurance

have checked hotwire.

Was just wondering was there a US equivalent of Dan Dooley!!
or APEX in NZ

Rent-a-Wreck

or Hire-a-heap

Seriously, such places do exist although you may have to do some googling.

You could try getting something in SF, driving it up to Seattle (8-10hours drive) so you'd be set for returning it to SF.

Edit: I googled rent-a-wreck and apparently there's a company with that name now and it doesnt look that cheap...

Dj Stiggie

I done this drive a couple of weeks ago. It works out much cheaper to bring the car back to the office in Seattle and rent another one off them as a one way drive to San Francisco as they charge much more for a one way drive. We used Budget, probably not the cheapest, but we were stuck for time so didn't have a chance to weigh them all up. We rented off Fox once we got to San Francisco though.

nice_guy80

I'm going to Seattle from Victoria, Canada, so cannot really go to San Fran first...

Its a 13 hour drive to Seattle from San Fran! And then I'd have to drive back again!

any other suggestions?

magoko101

Rented a car stateside and it was the extras that were the killer.... ie gps, insurance etc...
Ended up booking with carhire2000.co.uk (or something like that) and it was considerably cheaper than the prices qouted on the other car rental sites.
You still end up with a booking with a main car rental crowd... in my case it was Alamo.... but worked out half of what it would have been to book from the Alamo site itself.... and that was minus the car insurance.

Enjoy the trip btw... n try to get down Carmel/Big Sur way just south of SF if you can (about 4 hour drive but beautiful spot).

nice_guy80

magoko101 wrote: »

Rented a car stateside and it was the extras that were the killer.... ie gps, insurance etc...
Ended up booking with carhire2000.co.uk (or something like that) and it was considerably cheaper than the prices qouted on the other car rental sites.
You still end up with a booking with a main car rental crowd... in my case it was Alamo.... but worked out half of what it would have been to book from the Alamo site itself.... and that was minus the car insurance.

Enjoy the trip btw... n try to get down Carmel/Big Sur way just south of SF if you can (about 4 hour drive but beautiful spot).

Oh I'd say we'll enjoy it!
so much to see

thanks.

nice_guy80

just to report

I will probably be getting a ferry from Victoria BC to Port Angeles in or around 20 September.

I am finding it very difficult to find a rental car so I can drive around the olympic peninsula and national park and the drop it off in seattle on 26th september

i've tried hotwire etc but no luck.

Would I be better off getting the ferry directly into seattle from Victoria and then hiring a car there, then driving back out around the Olympic peninsula.

all advice welcome.

InTheTrees

nice_guy80 wrote: »

Would I be better off getting the ferry directly into seattle from Victoria and then hiring a car there, then driving back out around the Olympic peninsula.

all advice welcome.

Yes, I'd go to Seattle. Absolutely.

The ferry from Victoria to Port Angeles is a big slow car ferry and its going to leave you in Port Angeles which isnt the prettiest of places. Nothing bad about it just that if there wasnt a ferry terminal there, you'd have no reason to ever stop there. And i guess no car rentals offices most importantly.

The ferry from Victoria to Seattle is a small fast passenger only catermeran, The Clipper. It only takes around 90 minutes and then you'll be in downtown Seattle where you can spend a night and rent a car.

When you leave Seattle to go around the peninsula you can go from Downtown Seattle and take a car ferry across the sound to start. SO its not like you'd be wasting time or duplicating your trip by going from Victoria to Seattle. In fact you'll see a lot more of the puget sound from the Clipper than you would from port angeles ferry.

You're taking 6 days to go around the peninsula? Is there anything in particular you're planning? Six days is quite a lot if you're just visiting the rain forest and driving around.

http://www.nationalparkreservations.com/olympic_lakequinault.php?gclid=CJaS_dXYgLkCFSRyQgodowYAiA

This place has some great cabins:

http://www.nationalparkreservations.com/olympic_kalaloch.php

nice_guy80

InTheTrees wrote: »

Yes, I'd go to Seattle. Absolutely.

The ferry from Victoria to Port Angeles is a big slow car ferry and its going to leave you in Port Angeles which isnt the prettiest of places. Nothing bad about it just that if there wasnt a ferry terminal there, you'd have no reason to ever stop there. And i guess no car rentals offices most importantly.

The ferry from Victoria to Seattle is a small fast passenger only catermeran, The Clipper. It only takes around 90 minutes and then you'll be in downtown Seattle where you can spend a night and rent a car.

When you leave Seattle to go around the peninsula you can go from Downtown Seattle and take a car ferry across the sound to start. SO its not like you'd be wasting time or duplicating your trip by going from Victoria to Seattle. In fact you'll see a lot more of the puget sound from the Clipper than you would from port angeles ferry.

You're taking 6 days to go around the peninsula? Is there anything in particular you're planning? Six days is quite a lot if you're just visiting the rain forest and driving around.

http://www.nationalparkreservations.com/olympic_lakequinault.php?gclid=CJaS_dXYgLkCFSRyQgodowYAiA

This place has some great cabins:

http://www.nationalparkreservations.com/olympic_kalaloch.php

hiking up from the Sol Duc
maybe from Hog Rain forest too
we have to visit Port Angeles to get a permit to enter some areas
the main thing about our trip is flexibility. nothing booked.

InTheTrees

I just looked and there's Hertz, Budget and Enterprise offices in Port Angeles.

Just go straight there then and get a car. Drop it off in Seattle later.

nice_guy80

InTheTrees wrote: »

I just looked and there's Hertz, Budget and Enterprise offices in Port Angeles.

Just go straight there then and get a car. Drop it off in Seattle later.

I've looked up the prices. $100+ per day!!

InTheTrees

Try this. From Kayak.com

I'm seeing $36 for a little car. No insurance included probably:

http://www.kayak.com/cars#/Port-Angeles,WA-c26749/2013-08-30/2013-09-02

nice_guy80

cheers for car hire advice

what is the story with entry to the USA from Victoria, BC?

do we have to state the exact date of entry to the USA on the ESTA application?
cause we're not sure what date we'll be leaving Victoria

thanks