Car rental - Car del Mar

Has anyone used Car del Mar to book vehicles in Phuket? Their rates seem really good but I%26#39;ve never heard of them!

Any feedback would be great!

Cheers

Fran

Car rental - Car del Mar

I never heard but i would recommend rent a car outside the airport is too cheaper.

Car rental - Car del Mar

Hi frandaz,

You beat me to the post. I too have just got a quote from Car del Mar (who usually specialise in rentals in Europe, particularly Spain). As you say the rates quoted are very good and the particular attraction to me is that they offer All-inclusive (or what we would regard as Comprehensive insurance). The previous poster says you can rent cheaper at Phuket Airport. That is correct but try and find out the details of their insurance and at best you will get ';your fault you pay 10,000 (or 5000) baht. Not your fault you pay nothing.'; At worst you won%26#39;t even get a reply. Most of rentals from Phuket include CDW with an excess and 3rd Party Cover only. Fine if it%26#39;s not your fault and the other party is insured. Not so fine if they are not or its your fault.

There is no point in getting cheap insurance if it is at the expense of proper insurance.

On our previous two visits to Khao Lak I have rented through Budget (on-line before we went through AsianTrails) and Avis (on-line through a German company DriveFTI.de) who both had ';proper'; insurance.

At the moment for our forthcoming return to Khao Lak I am inclined to use Car del Mar and pay the extra for the All-Inclusive.

If anyone else comes up with a local operator who has full insurance, I would consider that (Car del Mar will be using a local anyway!).

By the way, to DRIVE a car in Thailand you need an International Driving Permit, obtained through the AA for 拢5.50 or at certain post offices (see AA website for which). Local renters will say you only need your own Driving Licence but that is only to RENT not DRIVE. (This was confirmed last week at the Royal Thai Consulate in Hull when we obtained our 60 day visas.)

Hi Arandora

From what I can gather, Car del Mar use Thai Rent a Car as their Thailand agent. It seems that the all inclusive option means is that you will still have to pay the excess but then Car del Mar will refund it back to you?

You can book through Avis through Air Asia at discounted rates approx 拢115 for a week and then upgrade at the counter to include fully comp insurance.

We have decided to book through Braun in Phuket and Stuart has been very helpful via email. We are getting a Sporty for 4800 baht for the week additonal driver free.

Just need to get our IDP%26#39;s now!!!

10 weeks to go and counting....

Have a good trip!!

Fran

Who/what is Braun?

If you book Thai RentaCar through ThaiVisa.com, it is only 3rd party and more expensive than Car del Mar. I%26#39;ll have a look at AirAsia as we have booked flights through them.

http://www.braun-rentacar.com/

to tell you truth, we%26#39;re that sick of trawling through them all, we%26#39;re going for this. My other half is a very confident driver ( he%26#39;s a vehicle technician for BMW and has driven so many different cars on both sizes of the road!), he%26#39;s aware of what the traffic is like in Phuket, so we%26#39;re just gonna go with their insurance).

My concern about insurance is not an accident with another vehicle, it is more with a 3rd party and/or when it is not my fault. A friend in Khao Lak who I contacted for some local knowledge, told me of a recent tragic accident involving a foreign hire car driver in which a young Thai boy was tragically killed. It was not the driver%26#39;s fault in any way but because the Thai family were poor (could not even afford a funeral) they said they wanted the driver taken to court as that might prove him guilty and might be only way to pay for their costs. This being the case he would have to stay in Thailand and prove his innocence (with all the emotion against him!). In order to avoid this he was persuaded to admit to a ';minor fault'; so that the family could claim off his 3rd party insurance. How sad and how disturbing!

I%26#39;ll contact Braum for a quote but looking at their website they seem more expensive than Car del Mar.

Hi,

For the last 4 years i%26#39;ve spent 4 months a year in Phuket. I had a bitter experience in which i just went for the cheapest car and after a accident ended up paying nearly a thousand pounds because of the lack of good insurance, I have used Stuart at Braun since and I%26#39;ve seen their insurance (insisted) and it is comprehensive, there is an excess, i think it%26#39;s 5,000 Baht. They might be 100 Baht or so more than someone else but for me it%26#39;s worth the peace of mind. I%26#39;m sure they are not the only ones that are decent but i%26#39;ve been very happy with them. Also Stuart is from the UK so the lack of comunication problems is a bonus.

Good luck

We eventually rented through Airport Car Rent after first confirming that they use AIG as insurers and that the insurance is First Class (Comprehensive). Excess is 10,000 baht but I purchased an annual multi-trip world wide excess waver insurance in UK which also covers tyre and undere body damage, both of which were important when we were driving on some of the lesser roads around Khao Lak. The car was a brand new Toyota Vios Auto and we got an excellent deal for our 8 week hire.