Car Rental In Mexico

[RTBT]

We have travel planned to mazatlan during xmas and am looking into renting a car. We will be staying in Pueblo Bonito. Most big rental companies have outlets in the airport, but the CDW coverage is ridiculously high. I suspect it is a good idea not to "deny" coverage and hope the cc or insurance will pick it up. Any thoughts and suggestions will be helpful.

[alfie]

Car rental in Mexico is very expensive due to the high cost of insurance. Expect to pay $60 a day for a small compact with full coverage.( collision, liability, theft) there is also an up front deductible of 10% of the value of the car which is frozen on your credit card, until you return the car undamaged. Insurance coverage attached to your credit card only works in USA and Canada were the laws are about the same. This type of coverage is not valid in Mexico. We always use the bus or a taxi, unless we want to go on a local day trip where the cost of a tour is more than a rental.

[T_R_Oglodyte]

Originally Posted by alfie

Insurance coverage attached to your credit card only works in USA and Canada were the laws are about the same. This type of coverage is not valid in Mexico. We always use the bus or a taxi, unless we want to go on a local day trip where the cost of a tour is more than a rental.

Not true. VISA CDW and loss of use coverage, for example, is good throughout the world except for a few specifically excluded locales (and MX is not one of the excluded locales).

But credit card coverage is 2nd party insurance, not 3rd party insurance. 3rd party liability is required in MX and must be written by a Mexican carrier. That is the insurance you must obtain from the rental company if you can't prove you already have it. The rental company will usually try to package the Mexican 3rd party liability with the 2nd party CDW coverage.

Review your coverage options. In most cases, the credit card CDW coverage will be more extensive and complete than the rental company CDW coverage. And it doesn't cost you anything. But it won't be available to you if you take the rental company CDW.

Auto insurance in MX has been discussed thoroughly in previous threads. The discussions have included insurance available on different cards, purchasing specific insurance coverages available from certain credit cards as primary insurance, etc. If you do a search, you should find some good info.

***

Our last trip to Puerto Vallarta we rented a compact car from Thrifty for $150 US for the entire week, including taxes, fees, and insurance.

[PStreet1]

Alfe is mistaken about coverage--at least for U.S. issued cards.

Coverage in Mexico is in two parts:
1) manditory (Mexican law requires it) 3rd party liability for damage you do to others or their property. No credit card will cover this insurance. The cost for 3rd party liability is $7.00-$10.00 a day, depending on the company. Avis includes the cost of this insurance in the rate they quote you (since you are legally required to buy it); other companies do not, so add $7.00-$10.00 a day to the rate they quote you to make them comparable.
2) insurance on the vehicle itself. Our Visa/Mastercard/Diner's Club does provide coverage on the vehicle. The credit card's insurance has a $0.00 deductible; the insurance from the rental company frequently has a $1000 deductible. Check with customer service for your card. The other nice thing is that in Mexico, credit card insurance becomes primary (provided you turn down the rental agency's insurance; if you don't, you lose the credit card insurance), and your insurance company that covers your car in the states will never know about it.
Our Customer Service Rep. told us to print out a copy of the insurance policy and take it with us. He also gave us a toll free number to use when calling from Mexico--not 1-800.

We've always purchased 3rd party liability and used the credit card company's insurance for the rest. Check Avis to get an idea what the rate should be including liability, and that should be the final cost you are aiming for with the others (after you add $7.00-$10.00 per day to their quote). I've heard that some other companies try to tell you that they won't accept credit card insurance--or won't. I don't know from experience because we're Avis people. The Avis International desk directed us to a section of their web site which specifies that the liability was included in the quote and that credit card company insurance for the vehicle is fine. He said to print it and take it along. He said, "They are all supposed to know that, but, apparently, some forget."

[RTBT]

Thank you all for the detailed information. This was extremely helpful. I will check with the credit card company asap. Avis sounds like they know the potential problems, so that should be a good choice to consider.


Thanks again

[alfie]

Sorry about the misinformation. I guess I have been conned all these years by the car rental agent in Cancun into spending more money on insurance than I really needed.

[LTTravel]

Make sure you check your credit card as others have said. I was surprised to find out that many American Express cards, even Platinum ones, do not cover CDW in Mexico.