Nobody Speaks english. This is not a civil thing here but a criminal process. You are placed into holding while statements are taken but a court clerk. After you have given the statements then the judge has to review and make a decision within 36 hours. If the judge rules against you, you will have to pay for all of the damages to the other persons car as well as your car if it is a rental and if you are insured which you better take the insurance you pay what the insurance doesn't cover.
Now some of the time the car rental insurance contract excludes paying for anything if you are found to be at fault. Stay with hertz, avis, budget, executive. All of the above assumes that there were no injuries to anyone. If there are injuries it is a whole new ball game and you don't want to know the issues there. Death is not an option Did I mention that nobody speaks english?
If you cannot communicate with them you will have to hire a certified translator to do all of the translating for you and of course you will wait til there is one located or available.
Yes I know the law first hand from personal experience as well as being on hand for several clients that have had brushs with the law from accidents as well as other issues. Mexican laws are very different from the US. I agree with the previous poster. No sense in taking a risk, go with a moving company if at all possible, and leave the hummer at home, but it would be a lot of fun in the jungle if you want to take the risk.
Good Lord, go for it! What I wouldn't give for an adventure like that right about now. And the stories you'll have to tell Make sure you have good insurance , goes without saying to check with your insurance company.
Take extra gas cans, keep bottled water, yaddah yaddah yaddah. Use your head and have a ball! Heck, you never know what's up around the next corner, whether you stay here in the states or go out and explore. Go for it! Personally I think the drive would be an adventure. Great information Adam and everyone else that has posted here! It is great to be able to read others experiences and to try to avoid being overcharged.
Has anyone had to rent a van? We are travelling November 26 — December 3, I want to make sure there is a vehicle large enough for us as we are driving 4 hours from Cancun Airport down to Bacalar so we need to have enough space for all of us and our luggage.
Thank you! We highly recommend renting 2 cars. The best bet is to reserve a few cars just in case. Thank you Hannah! That is exactly what i was thinking, the drive is a long one so we want everyone to be comfortable.
I loved this post! We arrive in Cancun on Sep. My husband called the credit card and they will be sending all the paperwork required for the insurance coverage. We will make sure to deny any additional insurance, and have no problem with the hold on our card.
Thank you so much for the tips and advice. I do have one question, somewhat related to the subject, out of the 11 days, we will be spending 2 nights in Isla Mujeres, not quit sure what to do with our rental car then, should we just leave it at the hotel in Cancun for when we return, or do you know of any parking available close to the ferry?
This is our first time in Cancun, and we will be going all over, including Playa del Carmen and Tulum. Thank you for all your help! Great to hear you got a cheap rental car in Cancun! There will be places you can pay to park the rental car while you are there.
Possibly ask your hotel in Isla Mujeres if they have a secure parking lot they suggest by the ferry. We are excited about driving and exploring. My VISA provides collision damage insurance and I have copies of their letter in hand to provide proof.
Be prepared for the agent at the counter to tell you that you still need to buy it even when showing them the letter. They must make commissions on insurance sales, but be firm and show them you know their games.
For us, the most stressful part about driving in Mexico is the rental agency! Good luck and travel safe! This post is amazing! My partner and I are going to Tulum in January of My questions is: What is the best way to show proof of coverage so we are not hassled into buying their insurance?
Just print out the documents and show them at the counter? The best way is to have your credit card company send you a letter with proof of coverage and bring it. So, as promised, I just wanted to share my own experience of the car rental from this trip to Cancun.
Expedia total including taxes and fees was So, landed in Cancun with 4 different rental car reservations!! Ace rent a car operates through MEX at Cancun airport. It was easy to hop on to the shuttle to get to MEX. She spoke good English, so no communication issues. Now the first surprise. Although Expedia and Ace Rent a car reservations included all taxes and fees, she mentioned that Ace sent a different number to them.
On the second surprise now… they wanted to charge in Pesos, but how do you arrive at the amount to be charged? Of course, using the conversion rate! This is where they make a killing! They used an outlandish exchange rate of My card obviously used the prevailing conversion rate as on that day So, what was quoted to me as Because of similar conversion rate fiasco, the 2, USD hold they put on my card, actually turned out to be 2, Other than these two surprises, everything else went off smoothly, although the whole process of getting the car took almost two hours.
They just put the hold on the card and that was it! Overall, the car and its condition was pretty good. It has around 15, KM on the odometer. I added another 1, KM to that!
The return process was unbelievably smooth! We just pulled in and one agent just took a look and in less than a minute, said that everything was alright!
Nonetheless, thought of taking the time to write this post such that everybody who reads this would be aware of this unfair business practice followed by the car rental companies at Cancun airport. Even though you are aware of this practice, I guess, there is hardly anything you can do about it.
Driving is a must in the area if you want to understand the culture and do things at your own convenience! Have fun! Thanks for sharing your experience. Also, I would caution against taking too many rent reservations, if everyone does this the prices will definitely rise, more than one reservation is only a good idea when you need a large or custom vehicle, standard cars are not an issue generally.
Thanks again! Thanks for your article which helped me with my last vacation. Once I got to the rental counter, the agent told me that I still needed insurance for liability. So I told them it was included in the car rental contract.
So they finally agreed and made me signed like 4 different document that I was responsible for all damages which I was fine with. So using that higher exchange rate allowed them to overcharge my credit card. But still, overall it came down to be cheaper than having paid for their insurance plan like I did in previous trip! So thanks for the advice and look out for the extra charges and also the exchange rate scam they are using to over charge you!
Glad it worked out for you, and hopefully you fix your little scam issue. All it takes it some patience when renting a car in Cancun, but once you have the car it is the best way to see the Yucatan! Adam, I am using Orbitz. Thanks again for all the tips!
Yes, summer months are busy and last minute booking prices like anywhere else in the world i guess. That must be the catch. Wish I could get that! They are operating through MEX. Was that the case when you visited Cancun earlier this year? I will share my experience once I come back from the trip. Please see the above screenshots. Trust us we have lived there and rented cars often, our last rental from the Cancun airport was February What website are you using?
This is an awesome post, Adam. Very reassuring for the folks who are considering to rent a car in the Cancun area. When I am checking on Orbitz. Am I missing a trick here or the rates are just higher than normal at this time of the year? Also, did you ever need any roadside assistance? If yes, how did you get that?
If you are picking a larger car the prices will be higher. The rate is also without the extra optional insurance, see the screenshots in the post. No we have never needed the roadside assistance. We always have cell phone service in Mexico so if we did we would just call.
If you have Tmobile or Verizon coverage in Mexico is usually included in your plane call to confirm. I have the EveryDay Card. They will email me the coverage and also mail me a hard copy. They told me to be prepared to be hassled by the Rentar Car agents at Cancun Airport but if I show them my AE letter they should leave me alone. That seems unreal but it is true. Yes, you will have to be ready to be hassled by the car rental companies as they want you to make the sale on the insurance BUT if you have that letter your insurance company sent you showing coverage you should be fine.
I know the price is crazy cheap! Have a great time in Tulum let us know if you have any Tulum questions or need suggestions. Hi so I rented a car through orbitz at Hertz. When I was renting through orbitz the price had a checkmarked Mexican liability insurance included. Am I going to get surprised with an added charge for liability when I go pick the car up in Cancun? Under damage protection it says you have not purchased any insurance or protection.
Also I will be walking the 7 or so minutes from my hotel to the hertz to pickup the car in cancun in the zona hotelera if for some reason i need to walk away from that reservation, are there other car rentals in the area? Make sure to call Chase and have them email you the letter you can show Hertz showing you have collision protection.
We have never rented for the hotel zone in Cancun, I would look at Google Maps and see if there are any other rental car companies nearby. Let us know if you have any other questions. WOW Adam this article was amazing and thank you so much for the hard work and though you put into it. I really appreciate all the information you provided. I have rented before in Cancun but now everything makes so much sense and only now and because of you I know that my credit card has rental insurance.
You will be on your way in 2 sec ;. I had another question though. What would you recommend as far as purchases in Mexico, use cash or cards? I have cards that have no foreign transaction fees but never used them in my previous trips. Have you only used cash or cards as well?
And when using cash what is your recommendation on where to exchange the money since I know that different places charge more especially at the airport. We try to use local cash while traveling, but a card with no international fees is great to have too. You can use US dollars around Cancun, but it will always cost you more.
Thanks for this great article! Super helpful. While renting from a local companies you can avoid that. Is that so? Are there any local companies to rent from? We have never seen this and all of our rental cars have had the same plates as our friends that live in the Yucatan. Thanks for all the awesome and useful info on renting in the Riviera!!
The advanced warning is priceless tho. Question: what do you attribute the super low rental fees from your picture above? It will also depend on car class. But you are right, currently the cars are a little bit higher than normal. Hope you have a great trip, let us know how it works out. Thanks so much for the great insight!
Have you recently used another car rental thru Orbitz beside Fox and Ace? We are visiting Mexico and Belize for 3 weeks. Can you hire a car in Cancun and take it across the border to Belize? We want to then go to the islands off Belize, so will want to return the car in Belize. Then pick up again a week later to drive back up to Cancun.
Any advice would be useful. Driving the rental car across the border is going to be problematic at best. You would be best to check with a major rental company to see if this is possible first. Then travel back to the car and drive it back to Cancun. I currently have two bookings and trying to decide which is best. I can cancel anytime. I have one with Payless and one with Thrifty.
Both have bad reviews on yelp. Just looking to get through customs and get my car as quick as possible. None, they all require a short shuttle to the rental lot. As long as you have everything in order either company would be fine honestly.
Thank you for your help! This was very useful. I am a wedding photographer and my husband and I will be staying at the Grand Palladium Riviera Maya as well at the end of June to photograph a wedding. We will be there for a week, so we are only planning on taking one day to explore Tulum and possibly one other day to explore Playa Del Carmen. Does the resort offer car rentals or shuttles? If they do offer these, which do you recommend? Thank you in advance!
I will be in Cancun in July and definitely I will try to rent a car this way. Thanks for the advise. Hector, yes that is correct. I hope it all goes well. Let us know how it went for you. I was wondering about taking the car to cozumel. Is that too much of a hassle? You can find out more information, including schedules, at ultramarcarga. The page even translates from Spanish to English with one click.
Hi — well- even after reading all your great advice, Ace in the Cancun airport did talk us into the full coverage insurance- even though our credit card has the coverage. It was pretty confusing. But my real question is about the license plate. They only put one on front and did not put one on the back.
We notice all the cars have two. When we asked they said it was ok — but wondered about language barrier. Are there supposed to be two plates on the car??? Beth, I personally think the agents are trained to confuse people — it is part of their tactics. They used language barrier and flat out lie sometimes to get people to take the add-ons. There is definitely supposed to be a license plate on the back and should be on both. This is so helpful! Quick question- we rented from Advantage auto?
Have you heard of this company? Should we cancel that one and go with a more well known company? Please and thank you! Hi I made a reservation for Cancun June 1 to 4 on Expedia I rent it with Ace and its final price is 2 dlls for all those days it said is included the , Mexican liability in my case I have citi card and American Express both offers com and coll for rental I know they are going to push me to get insurance is how they do money but you mention you actually only pay that price I would love to be as lucky as you any recommendations I was planing to call my card so they send me a covered letter and Expedia to see if they can send me another letter where it said I have liability in you case if was difficult to prove orbit give you the price w liability do you ask Ortiz for a letter?
In case they refuse to rent the car plan b is using the ado bus any recommendations please let me know. I would print the letter from the credit card company and print your booking documents. Hope it all goes smooth — ACE is pretty good, they are our favorite local brand.
Have fun in Cancun! This is extremely helpful. I suspect that the temporary plates makes it very easy to identify tourists. That is odd we have NEVER had a temp plate on our rental cars in Mexico but we have never rented from Enterprise or Budget so maybe that is something they do.
We also use Fox or Ace and they have regular Mexico license plates. A few questions…. Do not purchase any additional insurance at all when booking, because they will still insist you purchase another insurance at the counter. True or False? Boutique car rentals are allegedly better than American chains Enterprise, Hertz.
The Boutique places are more expensive! Have you had to go down to the police station to get your license? Or were they just bluffing? Do they put a hold on your card even if you purchase additional insurance?
It sounds like they do… 7. Any parking scams to be aware of? Their opinions were based on something they heard on TV or read somewhere. There have been lots of reported violence in recent years, but most of what I found seemed to be between the drug cartels and police and not in areas most people are likely to visit.
I asked a few paisano friends of mine their opinions and discovered that some of them regularly traveled to Monterrey and had never experienced any problems.
I decided to proceed cautiously and do the trip despite my apprehension. I drove from Houston to Laredo, and crossing the border was easy. Things get a little more complicated once you drive outside of the border towns.
You need Mexican insurance for your car, a tourist card, and a temporary vehicle importation document. The good news is you can do all of that in one stop. Officials are very strict about collecting the card back when you leave by air, but no one asked for it when I crossed the border in my vehicle.
You get this at the immigration desk. Mexican insurance: You can buy this online before you leave, at the border or at the same place where you get your tourist card. You are guilty until proven innocent and you could end up in jail. What Do I Do? What Is Comprehensive Coverage?
Retrieve a saved quote. Skip to main content Explore Allstate. Popular Searches. Allstate We help customers realize their hopes and dreams by providing the best products and services to protect them from life's uncertainties and prepare them for the future.
Skip to main content Toggle navigation Log in. Edit location. Select a product to get a quote. Register new account Pay your bill. Get your ID cards. Quality Auto Coverage Starts Here. Get a quote Find an agent. According to the Department of State , you'll need to obtain the following documents as you prepare for your drive to Mexico: A U.
Passport or Green Card A U.
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