May 2nd, 2007 
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With the environment such a hot topic around the world and especially in the transport industry, there are companies that are embracing new environmentally friendly technology. Hybrid Cars and ever increasingly fuel efficient diesel cars are becoming more available to mainstream motorists. I used to work for a corporate travel company and many of the major corporations were requesting the inclusion of Hybrid cars in their contracts. This was more to do with increasing business opportunities by being seen to be green as opposed to wanting to be green!
The question arises when people travel and want to maintain their commitment to the green cause. Car Rental companies will be the ones providing these vehicles… or will they?
I have chosen (for the Australia traveller) major car companies that you can book ‘green cars’ with. Working for DriveAway Holidays here in Australia, the most common request is for diesel cars. This is driven out of cost concerns and also the occasional environmental concern. (Shouldn’t it be the other way around??)
First off the rank is Avis Rental Cars.
In Australia, the group L car will give you a Toyota Hybrid. This car is the favorite for the car rental companies due to it being built by Toyota.
In the UK, there doesn’t appear to be any green cars, although there may be diesel cars on fleet, Avis don’t make them easy to find.
In the USA, like Australia, the Toyota Hybrid under group XG is available.
Second off the cab rank is Hertz Rental Cars.
In Australia, like Avis, the Toyota Hybrid is the car of choice. Book a group G and you will get this car.
In the UK, Hertz has a range of fuel efficient diesels on fleet but no hybrids. This seems to be a common factor in the UK. Being an expat, I know that Toyota car prices in the UK are reasonably expensive compared to other european manufactured vehicles
In the USA, Hertz has a range of Hybrids, although on some of the cars, I couldn’t tell if they were Hybrid or not.
Now, all credit to Hertz as they do promote their green cars as part of their Green Fleet. Avis don’t appear to market their green cars in any way, which is a shame.
Third on the cab rank is Europcar Rental Cars.
Again, unlike Hertz, they appear not to promote their green fleet. Looking at their Australia Fleet guide, they have the regular passenger vehicles such as Small, Medium, Large, Prestige, Minivans, Sport, 4WD. Europcar list the green car as part of there regular fleet, however, it does have it’s unique identifier (IHAR) in Australia.
In the UK, Europcar doesn’t appear to have any green offerings. Maybe it’s something you can request at pick up. Personally, if I could book a green car over the internet, I would do so with a company that offered that service.
In the USA, I chose LAX as Europcar have a limited presence. There were no cars I could find that looked green.
To Europcar’s defence, in other parts of Europe where they are particularly strong, one is able to guarantee a diesel for an extra few euros per day.
In this brief look, Hertz appears to be the only car rental company that is actively promoting green cars. Avis & Europcar seem to be a bit hap hazard in their approach to a green fleet. Whilst it may be a case of logistics and a supply issue, there is no reason why they couldn’t promote their green cars.
I am sure that in 12 months time, the situation will be that every car rental company will be actively marketing green cars. The consumer can currently offset their CO2 emissions in the various transport sectors and I am sure that the car rental industry will follow suit in the near future.
The Environment is a marketers dream and I do think that some of the car rental companies have missed the boat so far. Hopefully their marketing departments will wake up and smell the cleaner air..
Watch the video related to cars used
*song only* Lyrics: When we were younger we used to sit on my porch And talk smack about girls and professional sports There’s a lot of things I wanted to say But never got a chance to find a way (One) take a good look at all of your high schools this is the first reason that I want to write you it must be tough when society is messed up Gotta save money, please don’t take it out on us Do they even know? Do they even know? If I was brave I’d write a letter to the president And have him pass …
Help answer the question about cars used
What are basic advantages of Buying Used USA Cars?I have heard little advantage in buying used cars from USA. Most of them prefer to buy used cars because they are cheaper than new cars. But I want to know from your site.
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Car Guru writes for DriveAway Holidays, DriveAway Holidays New Zealand and DriveAway Holidays Blog
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No Carmageddon 2 is with Humans.
lol the intro for the sequel comparing to this is crap!
Research through Expedia or other travel site, then book as early as possible. If you're a AAA member, you get a 10% discount.
Yes, you pay for the damage. For future reference, credit card insurance isn't auto liaility insurance & it doesn't alleviate your responsibility to have it…what would you do if you hit a pedestrian or another car?
Well, don’t think it can or realy should be. This is a glory of the past game.
I mean if they made this game in this modernage with the new Physics and graphic systems emm, well lets just say that it would never make it to the story by al the public (Goverment) demands. Real life looking game were you driv over Man, Womman and children.
I mean Modern Warfare 2 implomented a more realistic world event with the Terminal Sean, “Civilian gundown”, And it got on world news and banned in russia..
Actuaries determine rates based on statistics(accidents, claims…) that U-25 drivers have MORE accidents.
http://www.actuary.org/
http://www.soa.org/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Actuary
For those who are about to die, we salute you.
Europcar, Sixt, Budget, and Avis should do that.
The rates seem to depend on a number of factors…I have found (through personal experience) in some cases its cheaper to rent from a suburban car rental place than at the airport or in the city (taxes are bad as it is in the city).
Also take the individual rental agencies into account. If you are going out of state, be sure to check with Enterprise because sometimes they might charge you on mileage. Generally the bigger names (Avis, Budget, Dollar, etc) have unlimited mileage on the standard models and can run from about $20 a day for the smaller cars to $50-$60 for the fancier cars.
Check out http://www.kayak.com as you can comparison shop right there. In addition, when you make the actual reservation, it will be right on the car rental website or on the travel sites like http://www.orbitz.com.
You might also want to check with any of the airlines you may have frequent flier miles/points with as they sometimes have a decent deal with the car rental agencies as well.
Good luck!
its funny, my dad let me play this. i was maybe 5 or 6. still a great game.
Hmmmm, got a "hot date". I wouldn't mind meeting in Las Vegas, although this time of year is scorching HOT.
My company partners with AVIS Rental Car and I've picked up a rental car several times at one location and have dropped it off at another. They usually charge you a little more for not returning it back to the original pickup location, but "do the math". It might be worth it.
Good Luck
–J
its time for a new carmagedon
Car rental agencies are not going to hire someone off the street to drive just one of their cars cross-country for them. If you are insurable and bondable with a good driving record, you might try to hire on with one of the drive-away companies that contract to move automobiles and motor-homes for customers.
Do a Google search for drive-away companies on the west coast…
ahh the memories this brings back
Make sure to read your rental agreement first. On a rental contract I had last year with Budget, when I looked it up, there is a paragraph in the contract that states:
"You understand that you are not authorized to repair or have the car repaired without our express prior written consent. If you repair or have the car repaired without our consent, you will pay the estimated cost to restore the car to the condition it was in prior to your rental. If we authorize you to have the car repaired, we will reimburse you for those repairs only if you give us the repair receipt."
Check first and if your contract says something similar, make sure to get their consent.
You can get 3 quotes for repair, so that you have some concrete evidence to argue, if they do not authorize you to fix the vehicle, and you feel that you're overcharged for the repair.
This game is soooooooo awesome! I still got it somewhere!
I´m not 18 but I love this game!
I think it´a really great game!
You'll have to purchase the rental company's insurance. You can't even get insurance outside of that because you don't own a car to insure. Insurance through the rental car company is sufficient for police.