Has anyone rented a car in Cancun? Looking for good/bad... we can get a car for less than $50 for the week but am a little nervous about a couple of gringos driving around looking at ruins and stuff. We've rented in Cabo before and never had a problem, just never have been to Cancun so it's fear of the unknown Thanks ya'll! See ya in 10 days (and COME ON sign up for that July 30 Boobs Cruise lol)
I reserved a car for upcoming trip in August. From what i read online, you should be ok driving main roads and highways. I guess roads to main tourist areas are safe. Btw $50 per week does not include mandatory insurance, which is $15-30 per day(depends if your credit card provides collision coverage)
Yah, buy the insurance there. Mexico requires at least mexican liability insurance. For going to TTR we've never seen the need. When you factor in the insurance and gas and time just taking private transfers makes more sense.
Be careful renting a car. It's not dangerous driving round as a Gringo (I have done it daily for almost 10 years with little incident) but car rental places are notorious for attempting scams. Even using a well known company such as Hertz or Avis doesn't really give you any guarantees, since they are just franchises. Always check for scratches bumps etc, take photos of any damage to the car before you drive off. Also check for a spare wheel - a popular scam is to claim the spare has vanished during your rental when there wasn't one there in the first place. About 6 months ago our usual car was in for repair and we hired one for a few days. We were pleased with the company we used and had no issues, their link is: Car Rental in Cancun and Riviera Maya, All Inclusive Rates Cost was around $50 USD per day (including full insurance). Using anywhere offering rentals at $50 per week is kind of asking for trouble imho, there will definitely be add ons making the final price much higher.
Thanks everyone, especially Steve (especially since you live there). We may just get one for the day (can we get one through the resort?) because I'm a girl and gonna have to do a Walmart/shopping/ruins run one day. ALMOST 9 days and counting...
I wouldn't use a rental car for shopping/Walmart. Use the bus or maybe a taxi. If you dont know downtown Cancun you'll likely not find Walmart and may end up getting lost. Cancun is a big city with over 1 million inhabitants. Visiting the ruins is fairly straightforward though, you'll be on main roads all the way - straight and direct. Tulum is about 2 hours south (around 100 miles), easy drive and plenty of gas stations and places to stop off at. Chichen Itza is a little more tricky. It's 3-4 hrs hours south west (about 200 miles away). For Chichen Itza the road is a toll road and tolls are expensive, add in your gas, entrance fee and it's probably a lot more cost efficient to book a tour. Also beware of running out of gas, gas stations are 80-100 miles apart and if you run out on the highway you're stuck in the middle of nowhere.
We have rented one before when we stayed in Playa del Carmen and hit a few minor bumps. First, as someone said earlier, take note of any and ALL damage to the vehicle. Dents, scratches, cig burns etc. Watch the gas stations attendants. One night I filled up and attempted to pay in USD which got turned down. When he gave me my money back he handed me a 10 instead of the 100 I had given him. I argued the point but..... Also, note where you park. We went shopping and parked in the midst of a bunch of other cars. When we returned, one of the tags had been removed. It seems I had parked amongst a bunch of taxis in a no parking zone and in order to make sure you pay your parking ticket, the police take your car's license. It wasn't that bad costing about 40 plus a tip for the cab driver who took me to the police station to pay the ticket. Still, we enjoyed the freedom to "explore" in a car but be aware of other issues that could arise....PS, pay the extra $5 and get the air conditioning...lol
Steve was right on we went to Market 28 on the bus, caught the bus right in front of the hotel. It was $1 US each there and the same back. The same stop for Market 28 is the same as for the Walmart. The only difference is when you get off the bus if you take the street to your right and walk for about 5 minutes you'll come to Market 28...one tip it'll say Market 28 in both Spanish and English unlike most of the other stores that just show it in English just trying to get the tourists in the door. If you go to the left just in behind the gas station is the Walmart. Less than a 2 minute walk, you can go in shop and hop the bus back to the resort the stop is directly across the street from the resort. And $4 US round trip and you don't have to worry about insurance...or as Steve has said take a taxi there and back not sure what the cost will be for that...oh and one little tip the greeter at the front of the Walmart works for a timeshare
We stick with local vetted drivers/companies we trust. In my line of work I even have connections to associates & partners in protective details/executive protection industry in the area (not necessary for us) BUT if you don't know the area be cautious. Outside the resort district is a crap shoot like any other city in the world there is the good bad and ugly. Last time we were there a couple rented a car and got jacked driving around lost in an area they were not familiar with. Luckily not hurt. But hey if you are one of those people that think you can feed the lions, swim with the sharks and admire the Grizzly man (alaska idiot who got eaten playing with bears) then call it an adventure throw the map out the window and come back with one hell of a story!
