Driving in Colombia??!!! Car Rental Prices are NUTSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!

[charlie640]

Howdy All

I obtained an International Drivers License with the hopes of renting a car in Armenia to visit the parks out that way.  While I would not consider driving in BOG,  driving in less crowded regions seemed viable...  especially since we wanted to rent a house out in Montenegro.  We meaning my Novia and another couple.  What was NOT attractive was the rental process at the Airport in Armenia nor the price.  Thrifty Rentacar has a one desk office out at the airport in Armenia.  I rented a Toyota Corola that was actually VERY nice, but the $250++  / day price was not.
Not only that but the rental process took so long I might hs well have been buying the car.   3 or 4  signed credit card vouchers in reserve ...  countless forms...  I can only think they have a BIG problem with locals renting cars and thinking that they bought them and not returning them.   at  $250++  /day... I'd say there is room for alot of competition...  OR maybe the demand is sooooo low the need to charge those prices....  Anyone have anythoughts on that

Driving around the coffee region was quite nice...  rolling hills and amazng shades of green.  Took a side trip to Solento through he mountains...  talk about steep hair pin turns !!!     NOT FUN !!  especially at night!  but I enjoyed it. 


I tried to be VERY carefull when driving.  Driving slowly and carefully..  trying not to hit the swarms of kids on bikes trying to sell me tickets to the parque or  whatever it was they were after me to buy OR the few cows and occassional sleepings dogs I encountered in the middle of a few of the  less traveled back streets.   The predomoinent thought in my mind is I WOULD BE SCREWED if I got into an accident where someone was hurt or killed.  THoughts of being detained in some jail weighed heavily on my conservative driving style.    Any one else here drive while in COL  

[utopiacowboy]

Would you rent a car to the average Colombian? I'm surprised that any car rental companies do business there at all.

[mudd]

ummmmm, question, why would anybody want to rent a car in colombia?? 1st, the liability of it, 2nd, the cost, 3rd you would be worrying abuy everything and heaven forbid that something bad did happen, hit somebody, get into an accident, car stolen, carjacked.
cheaper and  less of a headache to hire a driver with a car than to rent one.

[charlie640]

Why rent a car? 
Freedom to do what we want when we want... and besides it was bad enough having two full time maids/cooks in the house...  another hired hand is just not my style.   If we had a driver my gal would no doubt have felt guilty about having him sit in the car while we dined in style and he would have been eating with us.  ... and I'd prefer not to have a stranger at my table.    Regarding cost...  yes it was high relative to USA prices but I can afford it. 

I had full liability coverage for he car...  I was just worrried about killing some one....   

[mudd]

all good points, but man, just the liability of a serious accident and having to deal with a Colombian insurance company, gives me the chills!!!!! and you know, being a foreigner, if it was something serious, kill or seriously hurt somebody, they are going to come after you.

[Dan Las Vegas]

After seeing what driving was like in Medellin, I thank god for taxi's!!!!  I thought the drivers were bad here in california, but Medellin takes the cake! It was unbelieveable how many accidents I witnessed while on my trips.  I will gladly pass on a car rental

Just my humble opinion

Daj

[Dave H]

I thought the drivers were bad here in california, but Medellin takes the cake! It was unbelieveable how many accidents I witnessed while on my trips. 

Just my humble opinion

Daj

Hey Dan,

Southeast Florida (Miami area) prepared me well for driving anywhere in the world. I even learned how to cross the solid yellow line and pass on a curve with oncoming traffic...although I prefer not to do it.  However, I think I may have become a little too aggressive on the horn honking!

Dave

[Dan Las Vegas]

Hey Dave,

I've been to the Miami area many times and they are formula one drivers compared to the average driver in Medellin!!!! But at least you can use your horn...for a time in LA, if you honked your horn at someone, you had a  good chance of having a few shots fired at you!!!

ahh the good old days....

Dan

[Dave H]

Hey Dave,

I've been to the Miami area many times and they are formula one drivers compared to the average driver in Medellin!!!! But at least you can use your horn...for a time in LA, if you honked your horn at someone, you had a  good chance of having a few shots fired at you!!!

ahh the good old days....

Dan

You are right about being formula one drivers...with cellphones! There are certainly more competent drivers overall in the total mix in Southeast Florida. Horn honking in Miami can still get you shot...so can inadvertently looking at someone. Things get much safer north of the Palm Beach County line.

Dave

[Kiltboy1]

Charlie

You are in Colombia remember, you have no freedom to do what you want. Fact of life there.

[raycjs]

i could not imagine the stress i would be under if i was driving a rented car in Colombia. Wow that is not for me but if you can handle it then god bless you.
you are a better men then i. As far as driving in South Florida Dave and i lived 15 min from each other and i have to say South Florida is one of the worst places to drive. I now live in Ohio and i have to say the people up here really know how to drive and it is great no traffic and wide open roads


Ray

[CAMA1888]

dont know where you rent your car from in arrmenia but 250 a day? sounds like you got ripped, and also a corolla is considered a mid size car in colombia . i have rented from hertz and thrifty in cali , renting the smallest compact car they offer for as low as 85.000cop per day. but is not for only a few days - i am renting it for 2 weeks straight and also i deal only with them and they remember me as e repeat customer and work the rates around a little . next time get a chevy spark or hundai getz . the larger suv go for only around 100 to 150 dollars a day- like the toyota 4 runner or colombians version of this.

[CAMA1888]

also only your us drivers license is accepted by the rental companies in colombia . you do not need to purchase an international dl. i usually keep a copy of my passport with me as well .

[Jeff S]

I've never had to show an International license anywhere in the world, and I've rented cars in Asia, Latin America and Europe. I've never paid one fourth of that amount anywhere either, but I've never rented one in Colombia. Yes, they're more expensive in Latin America than the US, but that sounds completely out of line.

[Dave H]

i could not imagine the stress i would be under if i was driving a rented car in Colombia. Wow that is not for me but if you can handle it then god bless you.
you are a better men then i. As far as driving in South Florida Dave and i lived 15 min from each other and i have to say South Florida is one of the worst places to drive. I now live in Ohio and i have to say the people up here really know how to drive and it is great no traffic and wide open roads


Ray

Hey Ray,

I agree! South Florida has to be one of the worst places to drive in the US and probably ranks in the top 100 places on the world worst driving list. I gave up motorcycle riding in the Philippines yesterday...first ride here in 3 years. It is just not worth it! Motorcycles get no respect and I can't find a bike in town with a clutch or a big enough motor to get out of it's own way. Most are 110-125cc's. 150cc's (rare) are the biggest bikes in town. I want something at least 500cc's, preferably over 1000. I would have to go to a big city to find one and just want to set back and relax at the moment. I will stick to driving the van and mini pickup for now. I need to make a Philippines driving video and post it on Youtube. It is pretty crazy, but nobody seems to crash very much and fights over driving are even more rare.

Dave

[Jeff S]

It can't be as bad as India:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PySM8dGaNLo