US Car Hire - Under 21

Bah

Does anybody know any company in the US that will hire cars to under 21s? I'm looking to rent a car later this month in California, just for 3 days, but I'm under 21 (19). I know it's very doubtful that I'll find a company that'll rent to me... but I'm still hoping I will.

Any advice/info appreciated.

por

Bah wrote:

Does anybody know any company in the US that will hire cars to under 21s? I'm looking to rent a car later this month in California, just for 3 days, but I'm under 21 (19). I know it's very doubtful that I'll find a company that'll rent to me... but I'm still hoping I will.

Any advice/info appreciated.

Usually companies charge a 'surcharge' for rental to people under 25, which can be hefty
However in some states they will not rent to under 25's at all.
Check the rental companies websites and make sure what the term and conditions are for California, if they have no specific info try the California department of motor vehicles or the gov. of California websites that might give you what the law is in the state regarding renting to uder 25's.

babaduck

I did a quick search & found the following info...

http://www.rentawreck.com/rentalinfo.html


Because as a group they tend to have more accidents, car rental companies impose various restrictions and costs regarding young drivers.
No car rental operators will rent a vehicle to anyone under the age of 21.

A few operators will rent to someone aged 21 to 24 but will impose a hefty fee (typically $15 to $20 per day) on such drivers. One company quotes rates of CDN$10 per day for drivers aged 21 to 24 in Canada (in early 2000).

Policies regarding rental to young drivers and the associated charges for doing so may differ from location to location even within the same chain.

Andy Smith of Elk Grove, California kindly sent me these comments:

I noticed that on your page regarding Car Rentals and young drivers, you mention that no car rental company will rent to drivers under age 21. This is true for some car rental agencies. However, other agencies such as Hertz refuse rental to drivers under age 25. Additionally, while no company will rent to someone under the age of 21, a few will allow under-21 drivers to be added to the rental contract provided the vehicle is rented by someone over age 21. I was 20 years old when I was added onto the rental contract of a vehicle rented in my father's name at Enterprise Rent-a-Car, and was free to operate the vehicle under normal restrictions.
Mark Hankinson sent me a message saying that RentAWreck specialise in renting vehicles to under 25's and under 21's.

Bah

Thanks for the info. I did manage to find some companies offering rental to over 18s, but they need to provide their own insurance - which I doubt I'd be able to get easily for such a short trip.

I'll probably just stick with Greyhound.

John R

Have you held a full licence for over a year? This is also a condition for most rental companies.

Bah

Yeah, I've had my full licence for over a year.

I don't think I'm going to be able to rent anything in California.