Chile Forum

PenquistaDeCorazon wrote:Ok you went from receiving horrible quotes to making a ridiculous offer....
For 1000 dollars you get to drive the car for 3 months? Unlimited miles touring across Chile? You might have to sweeten that offer even though used cars hold their value in CHile. But even then I can't see it working as you stand a very high chance of being stuck with the car at the end of the three months.

I would seriously consider getting a Chilean to do the calling for you. If you do the calling/emailing with perfect English and I own a rental agency my eyes are going to light up with dollar signs.

Your best bet no matter who you rent from might be to rent the 207 (or similar sized car) for your daily running around/short trips and then rent the Toyota for the 2 weeks touring CHile and Argentina when you will need more space. As for this part of the trip, are you talking just like as far down as Santiago and into Mendoza or around La Serena area? Reason I ask is that 2 weeks is not a lot of time....

Best of luck. I am sure things will work out and you will have a great time.

Really? I didn't think it was that ridiculous but I was really just making it up on the fly. $2,000 better? I was looking at it this way....if I was in the market to buy a used car, figured out the year and model I wanted and found that the average going price was say $12,000 USD. Here at least I find the price consistent, but mileage variable. So let's say that $12,000 car I want suddenly became $10,000, all because some clown from Canada drove it for a few months and racked up another 5 or 10,000 kilometres on it. I'd consider that a great deal! I get the car I want and save $2,000. That's a pretty steep depreciation for only another 3 months of driving. Seems like that would be a win-win for both of us. Same analogy applies with the $1,000 I first dreamed up but really I was just throwing a number out there for discussion.

Thanks for the advice though and I agree, probably best to go with the 207 and avoid the hassles. In terms of travels, we were thinking of going from La Serena over to Mendoza, then Buenos Aires, down the coast a bit and heading back over to Chile, then up the coast to Santiago. Although as you can tell we haven't looked into the logistics of it at all other than "doing a road trip" at the end of our stay. We also thought we might need 3 weeks, but really it's just a concept at this point with no definitive plans. Basically drive to a city / region, spend a day or two exploring, then drive to the next city / region and repeat, etc.

I get a 4 door 4X4 for $550 a week on a 6 week rental, something is odd with the price they quoted you. I would pay that for a much bigger better diesel powered vehicle.

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Contact my friend Andrés Gabor at LYS.cl .... He speaks English. I used to use his Toyota 4x4 trucks when I was running tours. Tell Andrés that you might be a friend of "Smokey" and see if you can get better deals for 3 months on the 1-month rates below

http://www.lys.cl/car-rental_eng.html

One up from most basic: 4 door Peugeot 207 about US$1350 a month
Then for your travel month on rough roads get 4-door 2WD pickup for about US$1730 a month


what is included according to their site
# Taxes (19% VAT)
# Full CDW Insurance (without accident deductible)
# Covers damages to third parties (liability) without deductible
# Unlimited mileage
# 24/7 Maintenance
# Road assistance
# 24/7 english spoken emergency phone number (anyday, anytime)

patagoniax wrote:.
Contact my friend Andrés Gabor at LYS.cl .... He speaks English. I used to use his Toyota 4x4 trucks when I was running tours. Tell Andrés that you might be a friend of "Smokey" and see if you can get better deals for 3 months on the 1-month rates below

http://www.lys.cl/car-rental_eng.html

One up from most basic: 4 door Peugeot 207 about US$1350 a month
Then for your travel month on rough roads get 4-door 2WD pickup for about US$1730 a month


what is included according to their site
# Taxes (19% VAT)
# Full CDW Insurance (without accident deductible)
# Covers damages to third parties (liability) without deductible
# Unlimited mileage
# 24/7 Maintenance
# Road assistance
# 24/7 english spoken emergency phone number (anyday, anytime)

Thanks Patagoniax, that's very generous to offer this contact. I'll email Anders in a few days. Just submitted my leave of absence request to work and assuming no hiccups will start a more earnest search into booking rentals, accommodation, etc once it's approved. I'll want to contact Anders with the ability to confirm and reserve right away instead of waiting until I have full approval from work.

Thanks again, much appreciated!