All Posts in "Automatics"

It’s the second time we’ve had to look for a car.  As my readers know, our car went kaput! a couple weeks ago.  Considering the difficulty we had in finding a car, I thought it best to share some of our experience so that others can commiserate and beware.[ad#ad-1]

First and foremost to American drivers: if you do not drive a manual, you’d best learn. Unfortunately for me, I’m too old a dog to learn a new trick.  Not that I even have a UK license yet.  I can’t even do that as I’m waiting for other things.  The fact that I have to lose my passport for three weeks has prevented me from starting this process – I have had to keep it handy for other purposes.  But, back to the point, automatic cars are hard to come by, unless you’re willing to pay for it.  We have too tight a budget.  In fact, one dealer told us that for the price we had in mind, we would have to find a very old car and/or a large car.

Our last car was not big by American standards (1.6L), but in the UK, it is moderately large.  It was not as fuel efficient as the majority of small cars on the road, but it served us well.  The problem was that we put a lot more miles on it than we had expected to.  It must be all those winding roads.  For a car used to a quiet, gentle existence, it was like doing 6-months hard labour in its dotage.  We had paid 350 GBP for the car – it was well worth it. 

Even before the dealer had put in his two-pence worth about our budget, we could see that we would not get what we wanted.  We wanted a more fuel-efficient car that was reliable and had enough space for the four of us to get from point A to point B.  Anything remotely resembling that was a manual.  Of the automatics, they were of the 2L models or bigger.  That’s not to say that we didn’t find any smaller, fuel-efficient cars under 500 GBP (our limit).  They were either snatched up before we had a chance to view them, or they were not worth the price.[ad#ad-1]

We mainly searched the Friday Ads, until someone put us onto Ad Trader.  Seeing that cheap economical cars were selling like hot cakes, we had to act fast.  We had nearly settled onto a Proton for dirt cheap until we figured that we had to get an MOT very soon, as well as tax.  That brought it up to our budget and we were somewhat sceptical about the reliability as well as the availability of parts, should the inevitable happen.  On the same day, a new ad appeared on the Ad Trader site; we went over the next day to look at it.  It was a Renault Clio, with MOT and tax.  It was over our limit, but we managed to get them to reduce it a bit, so that we were only over by 50 GBP.

We had been renting a car for the past week – a newer Ford Mondeo that has been well-used with 180K miles on it.  It was powerful, smooth and had a blessedly cool air conditioner (great for the heat wave we just passed), but it ate a lot of juice.  We were desperate to get a car so that we would not have to rent it for another week.  Though we do miss the air conditioner – we were spoiled in the US.

Americans have traditionally scorned French automakers, but we just brought the Clio home and it is performing well.  In fact, it has more miles on it than our last car did when we bought it, yet it rides fairly smoothly.  So, this American will have to reserve judgment for later.  We have always owned Japanese cars, so this is a first for us.

Yank by — July 6, 2009 in Travel 3

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Car rentals can be very expensive in England.  It is even more so if you cannot drive a manual.  Most cars here are manuals.  They are cheaper to rent, as well as buy, because they are more readily available.  Some car rental companies do not carry many automatics, if at all.  So, if you can’t drive a manual, you should start learning now.

For those, like me, who cannot drive manuals and dread learning to, there are other considerations in renting that will impact their finances.  First, and foremost, is the insurance.  If you cannot prove that you have adequate insurance coverage (for their purposes), then you are required to purchase their insurance.  In addition, if something should happen, there is a high deductible (called excess) applied.  This deductible is added to your car rental until you return it claim-free.  You can also choose to pay an extra fee to reduce this deductible (or excess).  The terms were so confusing that we did not fully understand it at first.  Besides the basic car insurance that you pay for, you also must pay another insurance for Tire & Windshield.

The issue regarding fuel over here is similar to the US.  You either choose to pay for your gas upfront or refill it to the same level you took it out.  If you don’t return it at the same level, they charge you a small fee for refueling it.  The difference is that you don’t have to pay the maximum rate for fuel.  They just charge you their current fuel charge, which can be cheaper than what you’d find locally.  I know Hertz does something similar now.

When we’ve rented in the US, there never seems to be a major inspection of the car prior to you taking the car; but when it is returned, sometimes they look it over, other times you just park it up and leave.  that attitude varies over here.  Some places, you have someone going around the car quite thoroughly with you before they hand over the keys and they do the same when you return it.  Others, they just hand you the keys and expect you to look it over yourself.  It is your responsibility to report any damage to the car before you take it.  Otherwise, you may be expected to pay for it.

Whether you are visiting or staying, you will need your passport as proof of identity.  Some places (we know from our experience of Enterprise) will also require your flight details in order to confirm that you are only renting temporarily.  If you are staying, some places (again, Enterprise) will want proof that you are residing here – they will want two bills for this.  It made it difficult for us because we still didn’t have a place of residence and needed a car to rent.  We couldn’t prove that we were staying because we didn’t have any bills and we couldn’t prove that we were visiting because we didn’t have airline tickets.  They had no answer when we asked how we could rent a car so that we could get around and find a place to live.  Luckily, we had found another company that was not going to put us through that rigmarole.[ad#ad-1]

It’s best to use a credit card to reserve a car.  Using a debit will mean that they will take your money out first and return it later if you did not damage the car.  I find it more reassuring if they only take out money after the fact and you know how much they will take, rather than guessing whether they have returned your money.  Or, if you have cash on hand, that is even better.  Just remember that Discover is not accepted at most places in England.

Yank by — November 15, 2008 in Travel 0