So as I'm planning this trip, I keep stumbling upon prices that are too good to be true. From what I've researched, owning a car in Costa Rica is supposedly cost prohibitive. Especially with the incredible network of modern buses they have running everywhere. Unlike most of Central America, the buses are air-conditioned and some even have wifi. No converted chicken carriers here. Nonetheless, I wanted to cover as much of the country as I could in a limited amount of time. Plus, I was going with another person so all costs would be split. Did I tell you I was cheap? Well maybe not that cheap. Especially when all of the common travel booking sites list normal cars for rent for $5 to $10/day. Go ahead and launch any old travel site and search for rental cars in Costa Rica.
Of course, these rates are impossible. But renting a car can still be pretty inexpensive. Just not that inexpensive.
If there was anything that I was most concerned with about this trip. It was the rental car. A Google search of "renting cars in Costa Rica" results in more warnings and cautions than you find on the side of a prescription bottle. Obviously, no one is renting a car for $29 week. For starters, all renters must purchase third party insurance. This ranges from $10 to $30 a day based on the scruples of the company renting you the car. If you've ever witnessed how Ticos drive, you'll understand the need for insurance. Go on Youtube and search for driving in Costa Rica. That insurance is a bargain. Next, a lot of credit cards include LDW which stands for loss damage waiver. LDW might not be required, but you better be independently wealthy and have a friend in the Costa Rican justice system if you want to use your return plane ticket. Just make sure that about one week before you leave, you ask your credit card company to email you an official letter stating that they'll cover your LDW when in Costa Rica. If you do it too far ahead, the rental agency might not accept it. If you don't have the coverage, then you'll easily spend another $15-$40 a day for it. My advice to you is to apply for a credit card that covers LDW (mainly Citi Cards) prior to the trip. Additionally, many of their cards don't charge any international fees (we'll cover this later) so it's a win-win!
Be careful of what you read, especially from anonymous sources in travel forums. In multiple forums, supposed travelers claimed the smartest thing to do is to rent from particular Costa Rican rental agencies (Adobe/Vamos) claiming the international rental agencies won't honor their prices and will say they have no cars. I'm fairly certain those posts are paid internet trolls from those rental agencies. I too noticed that most Costa Rican traveler blogs also promote these no-name rental agencies and even offer affiliate links with discounts. Don't fall for these traps. The best I could do with them, even with the affiliate discounts, had prices that were more than double what I rented our car from Alamo at the airport for. And that included the extra airport fees and the additional driver. We even returned the car a day early and they easily and fairly prorated the rate. We also received a welcoming bottle of spring water as we arrived at the rental facility and a comfortable ride in a clean van solo from the airport to the rental location. For our 8 day trip, the rate was $185 for a brand new Suzuki Grand Vitara 4wd stick. We could have chosen an automatic transmission, but Paul would have nothing of it. Plus we both find driving stick fun and know it's more efficient and more powerful. Although, it's also more likely that you might stall shifting gears driving in rivers. More about that later. The best price we could get through the locals was nearly $400 for a Diahatsu Bego (whatever that is). When we were on a ferry, we ran into a couple that paid nearly $300 for a 4-day compact car rental from the same Alamo, so definitely shop around and try out as many coupon and discount codes as you can!
Depending on where you plan to travel, having a 4wd might become more of a necessity than a luxury. We drove one road in between Paquera and Mal País that was more like a road they were planning to build than a road that was actually built. We probably could have made it through in a compact. But it would have easily taken three times longer and would have been a lot less fun. Certainly, the Tico with the mattress attached to the roof of his thirty year-old Toyota Tercel didn't mind wrecking his suspension as he enjoyed playing cat and mouse with us for a number of miles. It was even funnier when we ran into him at the gas station about an hour away. So what is driving really like...
Of course, these rates are impossible. But renting a car can still be pretty inexpensive. Just not that inexpensive.
If there was anything that I was most concerned with about this trip. It was the rental car. A Google search of "renting cars in Costa Rica" results in more warnings and cautions than you find on the side of a prescription bottle. Obviously, no one is renting a car for $29 week. For starters, all renters must purchase third party insurance. This ranges from $10 to $30 a day based on the scruples of the company renting you the car. If you've ever witnessed how Ticos drive, you'll understand the need for insurance. Go on Youtube and search for driving in Costa Rica. That insurance is a bargain. Next, a lot of credit cards include LDW which stands for loss damage waiver. LDW might not be required, but you better be independently wealthy and have a friend in the Costa Rican justice system if you want to use your return plane ticket. Just make sure that about one week before you leave, you ask your credit card company to email you an official letter stating that they'll cover your LDW when in Costa Rica. If you do it too far ahead, the rental agency might not accept it. If you don't have the coverage, then you'll easily spend another $15-$40 a day for it. My advice to you is to apply for a credit card that covers LDW (mainly Citi Cards) prior to the trip. Additionally, many of their cards don't charge any international fees (we'll cover this later) so it's a win-win!
Be careful of what you read, especially from anonymous sources in travel forums. In multiple forums, supposed travelers claimed the smartest thing to do is to rent from particular Costa Rican rental agencies (Adobe/Vamos) claiming the international rental agencies won't honor their prices and will say they have no cars. I'm fairly certain those posts are paid internet trolls from those rental agencies. I too noticed that most Costa Rican traveler blogs also promote these no-name rental agencies and even offer affiliate links with discounts. Don't fall for these traps. The best I could do with them, even with the affiliate discounts, had prices that were more than double what I rented our car from Alamo at the airport for. And that included the extra airport fees and the additional driver. We even returned the car a day early and they easily and fairly prorated the rate. We also received a welcoming bottle of spring water as we arrived at the rental facility and a comfortable ride in a clean van solo from the airport to the rental location. For our 8 day trip, the rate was $185 for a brand new Suzuki Grand Vitara 4wd stick. We could have chosen an automatic transmission, but Paul would have nothing of it. Plus we both find driving stick fun and know it's more efficient and more powerful. Although, it's also more likely that you might stall shifting gears driving in rivers. More about that later. The best price we could get through the locals was nearly $400 for a Diahatsu Bego (whatever that is). When we were on a ferry, we ran into a couple that paid nearly $300 for a 4-day compact car rental from the same Alamo, so definitely shop around and try out as many coupon and discount codes as you can!
Depending on where you plan to travel, having a 4wd might become more of a necessity than a luxury. We drove one road in between Paquera and Mal País that was more like a road they were planning to build than a road that was actually built. We probably could have made it through in a compact. But it would have easily taken three times longer and would have been a lot less fun. Certainly, the Tico with the mattress attached to the roof of his thirty year-old Toyota Tercel didn't mind wrecking his suspension as he enjoyed playing cat and mouse with us for a number of miles. It was even funnier when we ran into him at the gas station about an hour away. So what is driving really like...
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