Hiring mustang, driving from LA to Vegas

[fordomatic]

Going to drive from LA to Vegas via Death Valley for a few days on our honeymoon. Just wondering for those that did it, who did you go through and how much did it cost? Must be a V8 mustang, preferably not a convertable.

Have looked at Fox Rent a Car but they want a $300 just for dropping it off in Vegas.

[JC]

Have you tried Hertz? Back in 2000 we got a V6 convertible Mustang in place of the Taurus they couldn't supply.....

[DoreSlamR]

One way rentals are gonna ping you hard.

If your travel times are flexible you can set up a cheap one way drive deal doing something called a driveaway

http://www.independenttraveler.com/t...and-driveaways

Being that you want a mustang though, I think you're gonna find it hard to do it cheap.

[fordomatic]

Yeh mate, looking at $700 for 3 days through Hertz which is rediculous

[ZGM86]

I'll be watching this thread closely, as I'm in the exact same boat (except doing LA to San Fran, then San Fran to Seattle).

[DBourne]

Originally Posted by ZGM86

I'll be watching this thread closely, as I'm in the exact same boat (except doing LA to San Fran, then San Fran to Seattle).

LA to San Fran is a good drive, and if you go inland, just before Monterey is Laguna Seca

[gozzaxr6t]

I didnt drive to vegas but I hired a 012 mustang convertible 6 cylinder though, and it was $65 a day. I also hired a ls whatever they are camaro also 012 I beleive for around 80 odd bucks. The longer u hire them for the cheaper they are. The place is on santa monica Boulevard. Cant remember the name of the mob though. Sat navs were also 10 bucks.

[Tokyo Geoff]

Originally Posted by SgtBourne

LA to San Fran is a good drive, and if you go inland, just before Monterey is Laguna Seca

Hey Sarge,
the coast rd is best seen heading from San Fran to LA because they drive on the wrong side!
Cheers
Geoff

[Vesper Martini]

Originally Posted by fordomatic

Yeh mate, looking at $700 for 3 days through Hertz which is rediculous

for comparison have you looked at what it would cost in Australia to pick up a car in Melbourne and drop off in Sydney (3 days) for instance?
I don't hire cars very often but just went on the Hertz Australia website

$530.94 AUD for a Yaris through to
$1446.86 AUD for a BMW 320i
no V8 options

[fordomatic]

Originally Posted by Bevsta007

for comparison have you looked at what it would cost in Australia to pick up a car in Melbourne and drop off in Sydney (3 days) for instance?
I don't hire cars very often but just went on the Hertz Australia website

$530.94 AUD for a Yaris through to
$1446.86 AUD for a BMW 320i
no V8 options

Hertz here i get a very heavy discount due to my employment, so only costs me $55 a day including insurance for an XR6 or SV6, might look into it and see if it applies overseas.

Alamo rentals are looking alright at the moment

[gregaust]

I use Alamo. When I did it no extra charge , picked up in Vegas and return at LAX

[fordomatic]

Yeh, could fly to Vegas and hire car from there, really want to go to Death Valley. If we fly to vegas it would cost us $300 in flights and shuttles so may as well suck up the $300 surcharge.

I'm thinking it might not even be worth it now though. $700 plus fuel, plus accommodation in death valley, the 3 days are looking at around $1300 without factoring food in. I was just super keen to hire a mustang and cruise the desert.

[Tokyo Geoff]

Not quite what you are after but I did the LA VEGAS LA drive last November. I had booked a cheap 4 pot runabout until I arrived at Budget and this was between me and the counter. Was quite expensive at about $70 per day over the one I booked. 6 cylinder auto convertible. At 80mph it felt like it had run out of puff and was quite thirsty. With the roof up it was very disappointing but when I dropped that roof it felt like a different car and I loved it. The dash is too retro for my liking. Don't get ripped by renting a GPS for $10 per day just stop at the first shop and buy one to keep. The drive out of LA was quite complicated for me but once you get to the 210 it was easy. That does not go through Death Valley though. I did that last time in a Chrysler 300C 6 cylinder and it was a much better car than the Mustang. Death Valley is awesome but if you can go via Yosmite, its the most beautiful place on Earth apart from the adults only reviews in Vegas. Have fun, the US is a blast imo
Geoff

[gregaust]

I came the other way on that trip , from Florida to Vegas .
Usually do L.A to Vegas is a good drive in the desert . I did price the Mustangs but they were silly price . Got a brand new Dodge Charger instead way cheaper

[Herrod Motorsport]

Try Beverly Hills rent a car

[chevypower]

I am looking at rentals at the moment through Budget, Avis, Alamo, and Enterprise. It appears the Mustang coupe is very reasonable, but if you want a convertible, expect to pay 4 times the price. That was based on a one-month rental, picking up and dropping off here in Idaho Falls. I think you would pay a bigger premium at LAX or McCarran. I would be looking at non airport locations.

[rancidpunx]

I did San Fran to LA to Vegas back to LA in 2010 and had a v6 premium convertible for 10 days, think it cost $1400 with Hertz including the extra waivers and insurances. Brilliant drive, heaps of fun. Would have liked a V8 but we clocked up some Kays and couldn't really justify the extra for the rental and also the fuel. What are the costs between the v6 and v8?

[fordomatic]

Cheers for the replys,

Doesn't have to be a convertible and not necessarily a mustang, i want a V8 coupe or sedan though.

We were thinking of flying into LA and need to be in NY 10 days later. I was going to fly from vegas to NY. We have both done LA and San Fran before so looking at other places, we want national parks/outdoors stuff. It is in march next year and i would love to go to Yosemite but there is issues with road closures and getting to Las Vegas from the San Fran side at that time of year.

Any recommendations for first 10 days i am all ears, i was set on what i first posted but now i have doubts. Don't have to fly into LA. I want to do driving and lots of photographs of the outdoors.

Money isn't a huge issue (we have been saving for a while) but the less we spend in the first 10 days the more we have to spend in NY. From NY we are going to Vancouver, Squamish and whistler, staying with our friends and we are doing backcountry snowboard trecks by ourselves (we are experienced).

[Ben73]

2 years ago I drove from LA to Vegas.
Had a Focus booked through Dollar car rentals I think. At the counter he tried to upgrade us to a V6 convertable Mustang for $30 a day. In the end we got it to $15 a day extra.
Car was fine, went ok for a V6. Seamed very loud when you got up it.

Leaving LA on GPS was simple. Weekday morning everyone in the regular lanes driving slow and right lanes banked up near some exits. Us in the car pool lane up to 80MPH following an Escalade and being followed by an M3. Think the speed limit is 55ish on these Inner city motorways.. But no one does that speed, especially in carpool lane. Carpool lane has triple lines between it and the regular lanes, pretty sure you can only change in and out of it when it has broken lines, so it feels pretty safe to be passing all the slower traffic. I think some even have those orange posts between it and the regular to prevent people changing illegally.

Drive through the desert was ok. It rain most the way so roof off cruising was not possible unfortunately.

[furiousgibbon]

the V8s are usually part of the 'performance' car ranges and I wasn't able to find one that would allow drop off at a different location. I booked a 300C through Avis for a trip in December, they were by far the cheapest but I must have got lucky, cause when I went back in a week later the rates had almost doubled. Total cost for the 300C was $422US for 7 days, pick up at LAX and drop off at Bellagio Las Vegas.

When I arrived at Avis after 25 hours of travel and no sleep, I was easily upsold to a V6 Mustang. The rate was only marginally higher, and it only had a couple of thousand miles on the clock, basically brand new. No slouch, 305bhp and 0-60 in 5.9 seconds, definitely quick enough considering the foreign roads I was driving on. Great ride quality and awesome seats, but the boot was pathetic. Could only get one one large suitcase in through the mailbox slot sized opening, the other one had to go in the back seat which was a bit of a pain in the ***.

Driving around California was fun, but driving to Vegas was bloody boring. Cops everywhere too. If you want to drive a fast car, get to Las Vegas Motor Speedway and do some laps in a Ferrari F430 GT with Dream Racing. It's not cheap, but you'll never forget it. You can spend money just as quickly at a blackjack table, but with nowhere near the same rush! Alternatively you can rent supercars in Vegas for a pretty low rate, but there aren't many places you could really drive them to the limit.

[Bucket]

I rented a Camaro SS in October last year with Avis. There were no V8 Mustangs available at the time.. We drove from Vegas to San Fran via Napa Valley.



For four days, it was about $1100 USD. Expensive, yes but for the experience? Worth it.

Heads-up display is also a plus when you're tackling the other side of the road for the first time in MPH.


We basically took route 395, 88, 89 & 50 heading up and across from Vegas so you could do the same way across in reverse.. would make for some awesome Alpine Viewing, particularly if you can get into Yosemite National Park which we couldn't thanks to the Snow.

[fordomatic]

Originally Posted by Bucket

I rented a Camaro SS in October last year with Avis. There were no V8 Mustangs available at the time.. We drove from Vegas to San Fran via Napa Valley.



For four days, it was about $1100 USD. Expensive, yes but for the experience? Worth it.

Heads-up display is also a plus when you're tackling the other side of the road for the first time in MPH.


We basically took route 395, 88, 89 & 50 heading up and across from Vegas so you could do the same way across in reverse.. would make for some awesome Alpine Viewing, particularly if you can get into Yosemite National Park which we couldn't thanks to the Snow.

Sounds good mate, i would have the same problem with Yosemite. How long did you take? What was the scenery like along the way?

[Bucket]

Originally Posted by fordomatic

Sounds good mate, i would have the same problem with Yosemite. How long did you take? What was the scenery like along the way?

We cut our trip short a day as my Wife wanted one more day in Vegas. I had to burn the midnight oil to get to the El Dorado Hills.. You could comfortably do it in two full days and cruise a little easier over three. I'd highly recommend Napa for awesome food and wine if you have the time. It also has great views.

We left at about 2PM from Vegas and drove through part of Death Valley, Sierra Nevada and because Yosemite was closed, detoured through Bishop and Carson City. We arrived at El Dorado Hills on route 50 at about 1230AM. For the day light we had, it was spectacular. Snow Capped mountains, the landscape is so different to ours. Then, even going into the night, we saw massive pine trees in huge forests, massive cliffs and almost hit the token Deer. Try and Time it for Daylight the majority of the trip and you'll be laughin..The roads wind around and offer great sweeping bends, perfect V8 GT Country. Even though I'm a Ford man through and through, I found the Camaro's ride far more composed and manageable than the V6 Mustang I had in LA.

The snow was pretty deep on the edges of the road, but the snow ploughs had been through and we were fine without chains (thankfully). I'd honestly recommend getting to South Lake Tahoe if you have the time, for all accounts from people I met over there, it's amazing.

Make sure you check the California State Roads website coming up to your drive to make any amendments to your trip route you need to. Navman offer a 30 day map rental on your Navman GPS for $25 and that's what I used to plot our trip.

[fordomatic]

Originally Posted by Bucket

We cut our trip short a day as my Wife wanted one more day in Vegas. I had to burn the midnight oil to get to the El Dorado Hills.. You could comfortably do it in two full days and cruise a little easier over three. I'd highly recommend Napa for awesome food and wine if you have the time. It also has great views.

We left at about 2PM from Vegas and drove through part of Death Valley, Sierra Nevada and because Yosemite was closed, detoured through Bishop and Carson City. We arrived at El Dorado Hills on route 50 at about 1230AM. For the day light we had, it was spectacular. Snow Capped mountains, the landscape is so different to ours. Then, even going into the night, we saw massive pine trees in huge forests, massive cliffs and almost hit the token Deer. Try and Time it for Daylight the majority of the trip and you'll be laughin..The roads wind around and offer great sweeping bends, perfect V8 GT Country. Even though I'm a Ford man through and through, I found the Camaro's ride far more composed and manageable than the V6 Mustang I had in LA.

The snow was pretty deep on the edges of the road, but the snow ploughs had been through and we were fine without chains (thankfully). I'd honestly recommend getting to South Lake Tahoe if you have the time, for all accounts from people I met over there, it's amazing.

Make sure you check the California State Roads website coming up to your drive to make any amendments to your trip route you need to. Navman offer a 30 day map rental on your Navman GPS for $25 and that's what I used to plot our trip.

Awesome, that looks like a great route, also still gives me time to check if yosemite is open when i go through. That 395 route looks pretty picturesque keeping the National Parks on the right pretty much the whole way down. I wonder if the roads will be ok mid march getting through route 50, 88, 89?

Would definately stop at Lake Tahoe but its also a snowboarders dream there and i need to save that for the end of the trip

[bluovl]

I've been over there a few times.
The last time was August last year and I booked car hire before I went through driveaway.com.au.

I found them to be well priced. From memory the Jeep Grand Cherokee was $600 (aus) for 10 days, picked up in San Francisco and dropped off in Los Angeles.

[chevypower]

Originally Posted by bluovl

I've been over there a few times.
The last time was August last year and I booked car hire before I went through driveaway.com.au.

I found them to be well priced. From memory the Jeep Grand Cherokee was $600 (aus) for 10 days, picked up in San Francisco and dropped off in Los Angeles.

Sweet! Do you remember the rental company?

[bluovl]

From memory it was Alamo.
I booked it through driveaway.com.au not knowing what company I would actually be getting the car through. I booked it about 4 months before my trip.
I thought it was a pretty good deal $600 aus) and that included the one way drop off.
When I picked the car at S.F airport the guy behind the counter offered to upgrade it to a convertible mustang for an extra $100 or $200 for the ten days.
I wasn't interested because I was shopping for parts and needed the extra room of the Jeep.

[chevypower]

Originally Posted by bluovl

From memory it was Alamo.
I booked it through driveaway.com.au not knowing what company I would actually be getting the car through. I booked it about 4 months before my trip.
I thought it was a pretty good deal $600 aus) and that included the one way drop off.
When I picked the car at S.F airport the guy behind the counter offered to upgrade it to a convertible mustang for an extra $100 or $200 for the ten days.
I wasn't interested because I was shopping for parts and needed the extra room of the Jeep.

Awesome thanks, my mum is coming over so a Mustang wouldn't work for us (3 of us), and I'm not riding in the back of one...ever, and wouldn't want my wife or mum to, either. I think a Jeep GC would be a great way to travel, especially if it were the diesel, but I doubt they have those.

[The Yeti]

Buy a 64-66 one drive it to the port stick it in a box, bring it back and sell it.

They arnt 1/2 as desired there as they are over here

[doktoravalanche]

In 2010 hired a V8 Cadillac from LA and returned to Vegas. Drove up to San Francisco then into Yosemite, down to Death Valley and into Vegas. Brilliant drive and the opportunity to use the V8........you will enjoy!