Hybrid Car Rentals
You may be considering purchasing a gasoline electric hybrid car, but want to drive one for a while first before deciding whether the car will really save you money with the fuel economy. You may want to drive a hybrid car without a sales person in the back seat or passenger seat pressuring you to buy the car. If you want to test drive a hybrid car, check with some of the rental car companies for a hybrid car rental.
Moving Towards A Hybrid Car Rental
Though many people want to test drive hybrid cars, and that is why they are interested in hybrid rental cars, many others want to save money when they go on vacation. Though they may need to rent a car to be able to get around their destination city, they know there are other ways that they can save money while they are on their trip. Because most car rental companies have newer cars, the vehicles get above average gas mileage. A traditional rental car might get an average of 28 miles per gallon in the city. A hybrid car rental would save money by saving gas. This is especially helpful when you are going to do a lot of driving during your vacation.
Each of the four major car rental agencies offers hybrid rental cars. However, because hybrid cars are so much in demand, the car rental companies have to go on waiting lists like everyone else. Additionally, some automakers like Toyota only allow car rental companies to buy a certain percentage of their hybrids sold each year. Because of the stiff competition, the car rental companies don’t have enough hybrid rental cars to meet demand.
Reserving A Hybrid Rental Car
When you decide you want to rent a hybrid rental car, you need to reserve one in advance, and request a specific make and model if you can. Because hybrid rental cars are in demand, and the car rental companies don’t have many hybrid cars in their fleets, it can be difficult to get a hybrid car rental without the advance reservation. Additionally, though all the big car rental agencies offer the ability to rent a hybrid rental car, you may get mixed signals when trying to make a reservation through their website. Even if you get a standard response that they do not rent hybrid rental cars, you will want to contact your local office or the office where you will be picking up the car.
Hybrid Rental Car Companies
If you are going to be visiting southern California, two rental car companies offer only hybrid rental cars. Currently, these rental car companies only offer rentals in southern California, near San Francisco. Eventually, the big car rental companies will be able to get a large enough fleet to supply hybrid rental cars to whomever wants to reserve one. If you are looking for a guaranteed hybrid car rental, you can contact either eQuocar or Simply Hybrid. The company eQuocar is based in Burbank, CA. You can visit their website at http://www.equocar.com. Simply Hybrid is located in San Francisco. Their website is http://www.simplyhybrid.com.
Car rental costs vary greatly from one car company to another in addition to variances because of the time of year and how many people need to rent cars. In some cases, renting a hybrid car from a company that only offers hybrid rental cars may be cheaper than renting a car from another company like Avis or Enterprise. Keep in mind, though, all car rental companies change their prices at different times of the year, so you may find that the company that offered the cheapest hybrid car rental in April might not be the company to offer the cheapest hybrid rental car in December.
Saving Money With A Hybrid Rental Car
Many may assume that you get the best deal on a car rental if you rent a hybrid car because of the hybrid car’s fuel economy. However, many car rental companies charge more for a hybrid rental car. This might mean that you pay less for gas while you are renting your car, but you are paying more overall since the cost of the hybrid car rental is generally higher than an economy car rental for the same length of time. It is only when you are renting from either Simply Hybrid or eQuocar that you will find equivalent car rental prices.
Because economy or compact cars get good gas mileage, you don’t need to worry that you are paying more at the gas pump simply because you didn’t get a hybrid rental car. However, economy cars are not for everyone. If you are trying to fit more than 4 people into a car, you can’t rent an economy car without being overcrowded when you try to seat everyone. However, with an SUV or other vehicle rented through a car rental agency, you’ll find that your fuel economy drops and you spend more than you planned on your trip.
Your best bet is to find the happy medium. You can rent a hybrid car and spend more for the rental, but save on gas while you are driving around. Or you can rent an SUV and spend more on both the car rental and gas for your rental car.
Deciding To Get A Hybrid Rental Car
Before you choose to get a hybrid rental car, you will want to do some research. Find out how much it is going to cost for the rental car and figure out how many miles you are going to put on the car in the time you have it. If you are renting a car for 2 days, but don’t plan on going out of town, it’ll cost less for the fuel than if you rent a car for a cross-country trip to visit a national monument. If you are economizing for your vacation, figure out which way is cheapest and enjoy your test drive of the hybrid rental car.
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