Top Tips For Saving On Your Car Hire

Easy and effective ways to minimize your car hire costs and stretch your dollar.

Book the smallest car you can tolerate, aim for a free upgrade during pickup time. This is much easier than most people think. Car hire companies tend to carry more mid and full-sized cars than small cars and naturally, at any given time, they want to get as many of their cars out on the road as possible. It’s easier for them to rent out the smaller cars and in fact, they tend to overbook those class sizes with the intention to upgrade. Read more

Melbourne Airport – Best Independent Car Hire Companies

Hiring from the companies located on-site Melbourne’s Tullamarine airport (Avis, Hertz, Budget, Thrifty or Europcar) will incur you a 17% Premium Location Fee which you can avoid by either hiring from Melbourne city (of course) or the independent car hire companies located about 5 minutes off-site. Amongst these, we’ve filtered through the duds and overpriced to find the ones with the best rates.

East Coast Car Rentals Go To Site

Great value for All Car sizes with unlimited km’s

With over 20 years of history, East Coast Car Rentals have recently expanded to serve Melbourne Tullamarine Airport. With unlimited mileage included in all their rentals, they offer likely one of the best rates across all vehicle sizes from the economy Toyota Yaris hatchback (manual), mid-sized Toyota Corolla sedan, standard Toyota Camry, Mitsubishi Outlander SUV and Kia Carnival van.

The standard damage liability is A$3000 that will cost A$13.20/day or less to lower to A$200. Being a few minutes off-site, they will arrange a courtesy shuttle to transfer you to and from Tullamarine Airport. Placing a booking online will require you to input your credit card details but you will only be charged when you arrive at their depot for your pickup.

Bargain Wheels Go To Site

New/Used Small and Mid-sized Cars. Used Cars only for Large/Full-sized. Unlimited km’s

The prices you can find via Bargain Wheels are certainly competitive especially for rentals 3 days and under after taking into account they include unlimited km’s (as offered by Spendless Car Rentals). They are located just 3 minutes off-site and offer free pickup and return service from both the airport or your local accommodation.

Or, depending on how comfortable you are with the idea, you could go for their used cars for some extra savings (e.g. a 7-day rental for a mid-size may cost you A$230 for a new car but only A$200 for a used car) but you probably run a higher risk of running into car problems. For anything larger than the mid-sized Toyota Corolla sedan, they only carry used cars. They have a collision damage liability/excess of A$2500 and an extra A$15/day reduces it to A$350.

Discount Car Rental Go To Site

Low prices particularly for Compact to Full-sized Sedans and Vans. Only 250km/day

Rent for 2 or more days and there’s a good chance you’ll find decent savings (particularly on Compact Toyota Corolla hatchbacks, Intermediate Corolla sedans and the Standard-sized Toyota Camry and Vans). Their rates include only 250km/day with a standard Collision Damage Liability on cars of A$2750 that can be lowered to A$550 for A$16/day (which is cheaper than the Big Boys who charge between A$25-27/day) and they offer a free customer pick-up and return service to the airport. A cheaper “Metro Package” is also offered on a small hatchback for city-drivers who don’t need more than 100km/day.

Alpha Car Hire Go To Site

Worth a check for Full-sized sedans with 500km/day

With 500km’s included per day, Alpha may be the cheapest for a Family-sized car like the Toyota Camry. Any extra mileage is charged at 27.5 cents/km although you’ll be hard-pressed to exceed that allowance! Alpha’s standard collision damage liability comes in at A$3300. If you want to lower this, their cheapest liability reduction option costs A$17.33/day to get your excess down to A$550, getting cheaper the longer you rent.

Do check their Specials section which often serves up some goodies like 1 Free Day, 20% off or Free Add-ons.

Alternatively, see if you can use this voucher for A$10 off any 3-day or more car hire, or A$20 off for 14 days or more.

Airport Rent-A-Car Go To Site

Value on Economy Manual, Compact Auto hatchbacks. 500km/day

Airport Rent-a-Car’s hatchbacks are often are cheaper than the Big Boys (particularly during non-holiday periods where they offer 10% discounts – at the time of writing, this is being offered in June and July 2011). The rentals include 500km/day (A$0.25/extra km). Their standard Collision Damage Liability is a little high at A$3300 which you can reduce to A$330 for A$23/day (yes, that’s pricey and we strongly recommend you look at alternative rental car insurance options). Located 5 minutes off-site, they offer free pickups from the airport. The site is somewhat wordy so you’ll need to scroll down a little to get to the booking section.

Melbourne City – Best Independent Car Hire Companies

For Melbourne City car hires, the best independent rental companies are East Coast Car Rentals and Bargain Wheels.

East Coast Car Rentals Go To Site

Best value especially 4 days or more with unlimited km’s

East Coast Car Rentals have excellent deals across a broad range of sizes from the smallest manual hatchbacks to vans. They have primarily operated in Queensland where they also offer great prices but have recently expanded their operations into Melbourne. If you are looking to hire for 4 days or more, they are hard to beat. All rentals have a basic excess liability of A$3000 which you can opt to lower for A$13.20/day, getting less the longer you rent.

Bargain Wheels Go To Site

Value deals across all sizes with East Coast Car Rentals or Alpha Car Hire

Bargain Wheels is a comparison site displaying rates from a number of independent companies. They don’t have the most user-friendly search function but are definitely worth checking. In particular, you should look out for deals from Alpha Car Hire and East Coast Car Rentals where booking via Bargain Wheels can result in lower prices than booking with either directly (Alpha Car Hire includes 500km/day while ECCR includes unlimited mileage).

Do take the time to read the Supplier and Rental information provided to ensure you fully understand the terms, conditions and inclusions of the company you are interested to rent from.

Sydney Airport – Best Independent Car Hire Companies

The great thing about going with an off-site independent company is you will immediately save 18% off your car hire which is Sydney Airport’s fixed Premium Location Fee. After much sifting, the following few companies came out tops and are definitely worth checking out.

All findings are based on regular non-peak rates. You might want to note school holiday periods in NSW.

East Coast Car Rentals Go To Site

Great value on all cars especially on SUVs, Vans. Unlimited km’s

East Coast Car Rentals started serving Sydney’s airport back in 2010 and offers one of the better value propositions particularly since all rentals come with unlimited km’s. They carry a good range of cars from Compact manual hatches to Family sedans, SUVs and Vans.

The standard liability on cars is A$3000 that can be reduced to A$200 for A$13.20/day, or for A$11/day for rentals over a week. This is the cheapest reduction waiver rate you can find amongst car hire companies (however, we still recommend you have a look at alternative car rental insurance options). Their depot is just outside the airport so you’ll just have to make a quick call once you’ve landed and they’ll arrange for a shuttle bus to collect you.

Discount Car Rental Go To Site

Value on Compact Autos, Family Sedans. 250km/day

It may not be the prettiest site but you’ll find competitive rates on the Compact Toyota Corolla hatch and family-sized Toyota Camry. To counter the potential inconvenience of being off-site, they offer a free customer pick-up and return service to the airport. Rates are inclusive of 250km/day and A$2750 collision damage liability that can be dropped to A$550 for A$16/day (compare that to the Big Boys’ A$24-26.40/day).

Airport Rent-A-Car Go To Site

Good value for short (3 days) hires on Compact and Intermediate cars. Look out for discounts. 300km/day

Value can be found on Compact (manual and auto) and Intermediate cars like the Toyota Yaris hatch, Hyundai i30 hatch and Toyota Corolla sedan for shorter rentals. This website requires just bit of scrolling down to get to what’s important but beyond that, the booking form itself is simple. Certain months have further 10% discounts (at this time, this is being offered in June and July 2011).

Includes 300km/day (A$0.25/extra km) and A$3300 collision damage liability (A$23/day reduces to $330). Located 5 minutes off-site but offers free transfers to/from the airport.

Sydney City – Best Independent Car Hire Companies

For Sydney City car rentals, one company though limited in variety, emerged as the clear winner for those who prefer having a reduced excess. For what they offer, they beat everyone out there including all of the Big Boys of Avis, Hertz, Budget, Thrifty and Europcar.

Bayswater Car Rental… a.k.a. No Birds Go To Site

Our #1 pick. Toyota Corolla Hatch & Sedan only. Excess reduction included free. Unlimited km’s

This is the company the locals rent their cars from. They offer brand new Toyota Corolla Hatches and Sedans and their prices include unlimited km’s and reduced damage responsibility of A$300 (most other car rental companies, including the Big Boys, usually have an average damage liability of A$2750 that they then charge a whopping A$14-27/day to lower equivalently). This makes for excellent value. However, if you just want the lowest absolute price and are ready to take on a higher damage liability, have a look at the other independents.

Note: you need to book for a minimum of 3 days. Any less and you’ll have to take the 1-yr old Corolla Hatch city-use package which includes only 100km/day (A$0.30/extra km).

East Coast Car Rentals Go To Site

Competitive prices on all cars particularly SUVs and Vans. Unlimited km’s

East Coast Car Rentals is one company worth checking. With unlimited km’s included just like the Big Boys, they often offer cheaper rates on a range of cars. They particularly shine through on SUVs and Vans and are even more likely to save you when you rent for longer durations (e.g. a week and above).

Their cars come with a A$3000 standard liability. You can have that lowered to A$200 for A$13.20/day or A$11/day for 8-14 day rentals or A$8.80/day for 15+ day rentals. Most car hire companies charge noticeably more for such Excess Reduction. Before you purchase such coverage, have a read of our car rental insurance section.

Discount Car Rental Go To Site

Check for Compact or Intermediate cars. 250km/day

The site may be rather basic but if you don’t need the included Excess Reduction offered by Bayswater Car Rental, there’s a good chance you’ll find deals on small and mid-size cars at Discount Car Rental. Basic car rentals include 250km/day with a A$2750 collision damage liability that can be dropped to A$550 for A$16/day.

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