First of all - ALL the other reviews and warnings about renting cars in Mexico are completely true. DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES RENT A CAR IN MEXICO! (From ANYONE!) ALL the rental agencies are going to be difficult, it is a matter of degrees of difficulty. ALL rentals are going to end up being very expensive (even if you take all the optional insurance). They ALL put a massive hold on your credit card of between $1000 to the full limit based on the rental agreement (which in Budget's case is $1500). That hold does NOT comes off your card immediately upon return either!
Budget has an extremely small driveway which is immediately adjacent to another agency. If you miss the driveway upon return you are in the world of everlasting hell to make the grand circuit to come back. Upon returning... if the car isn't in trophy condition (as if it just came off the display stand at the Chicago Auto and Boat show), they will REAM you with additional charges.
You take the car as is... but upon return, they go over the car with a fine-toothed comb and look at things I would never of thought of when BUYING a new luxury Mclaren SLR. They open the doors to check the weather stripping, they get on their hands and knees to look at the under carriage for pits and dings from small stones, they pull out the carpets and look for sand... it is insulting. If there is the least thing on the windshield, guess what... you just bought a new windshield!
There is NO reason to rent a car if all you're doing is staying on the beach near the Hotelera. Everything is in walking distance. Taxis are perfectly reasonable. You can hire a guy for a day if you needed a trip to Tulum or anywhere else (far cheaper than any rental car). You can continue to drink and party and not worry... Mexico is NOT the US. If you get picked up for drunk driving (even a hint of alcohol smell when pulled over), you are in dimensions of screwed you could never imagine. If you get into a car accident (even if not your fault) you're going to spend the night in jail!
Seriously... just do NOT rent a car (and most certainly NOT from Budget).
I wrote and called their customer relations and was assured the high credit card hold and being forced to take extra insurances would not happen... only to get clobbered on the first hour of my vacation with a monster credit card hold that truthfully limited my ability to feel care-free.
I rented a car at Airport Budget rental Car Company in Cancun Mexico. Upon picking up the car, and after they had done their supposed inspection, I noticed the right front tire was almost flat. I called this to their attention and told them I wanted a different car. They refused to exchange the car and instead only added air to the tire. I took delivery of the car in protest. Later during a road trip from Cancun to Merida, which is about a 3 hour drive, that same tire blew out in the highway. After putting on the spare tire and continue on our way, a few miles down the road, the car began to shake until it blew another tire on the right rear of the car. This left me stranded on a very dangerous stretch of highway with my three young daughters’ ages 16, 16, and 15. This also caused us to lose our day trip to Merida since we had to jump through several hoops and wait for hours to be able to get towed into the nearest Budget agency in Merida Yucatan, where they were kind enough to exchange the vehicle.
Upon arriving to the airport to return the vehicle at the end of our trip I requested to speak to a manager and I was told that he was unavailable, and they did not know when he would be available. I was stonewalled. Also, that there was no one else present with the authority to listen to my complaint, as i was demanding a discount for all of my troubles due to their negligence and lack of proper maintenance of the vehicles. They not only denied me access to a manager, but they also overcharged me much more than the amount that was stated amount in my Priceline.Com reservation. This car agency is not only a very bad place to rent your car. It is also a danger to the public's safety due to their negligence and lack of proper preventive maintenance of their vehicles. I will post this same review on as many travel site online as I possibly can, as well as dispute the charges with American Express.
Budget Car Rental Cancun Mexico Reviews
Do *NOT* rent cars in Mexico
First of all - ALL the other reviews and warnings about renting cars in Mexico are completely true. DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES RENT A CAR IN MEXICO! (From ANYONE!) ALL the rental agencies are going to be difficult, it is a matter of degrees of difficulty. ALL rentals are going to end up being very expensive (even if you take all the optional insurance). They ALL put a massive hold on your credit card of between $1000 to the full limit based on the rental agreement (which in Budget's case is $1500). That hold does NOT comes off your card immediately upon return either!
Budget has an extremely small driveway which is immediately adjacent to another agency. If you miss the driveway upon return you are in the world of everlasting hell to make the grand circuit to come back. Upon returning... if the car isn't in trophy condition (as if it just came off the display stand at the Chicago Auto and Boat show), they will REAM you with additional charges.
You take the car as is... but upon return, they go over the car with a fine-toothed comb and look at things I would never of thought of when BUYING a new luxury Mclaren SLR. They open the doors to check the weather stripping, they get on their hands and knees to look at the under carriage for pits and dings from small stones, they pull out the carpets and look for sand... it is insulting. If there is the least thing on the windshield, guess what... you just bought a new windshield!
There is NO reason to rent a car if all you're doing is staying on the beach near the Hotelera. Everything is in walking distance. Taxis are perfectly reasonable. You can hire a guy for a day if you needed a trip to Tulum or anywhere else (far cheaper than any rental car). You can continue to drink and party and not worry... Mexico is NOT the US. If you get picked up for drunk driving (even a hint of alcohol smell when pulled over), you are in dimensions of screwed you could never imagine. If you get into a car accident (even if not your fault) you're going to spend the night in jail!
Seriously... just do NOT rent a car (and most certainly NOT from Budget).
I wrote and called their customer relations and was assured the high credit card hold and being forced to take extra insurances would not happen... only to get clobbered on the first hour of my vacation with a monster credit card hold that truthfully limited my ability to feel care-free.
Just don't.
I rented a car at Airport Budget rental Car Company in Cancun Mexico. Upon picking up the car, and after they had done their supposed inspection, I noticed the right front tire was almost flat. I called this to their attention and told them I wanted a different car. They refused to exchange the car and instead only added air to the tire. I took delivery of the car in protest. Later during a road trip from Cancun to Merida, which is about a 3 hour drive, that same tire blew out in the highway. After putting on the spare tire and continue on our way, a few miles down the road, the car began to shake until it blew another tire on the right rear of the car. This left me stranded on a very dangerous stretch of highway with my three young daughters’ ages 16, 16, and 15. This also caused us to lose our day trip to Merida since we had to jump through several hoops and wait for hours to be able to get towed into the nearest Budget agency in Merida Yucatan, where they were kind enough to exchange the vehicle.
Upon arriving to the airport to return the vehicle at the end of our trip I requested to speak to a manager and I was told that he was unavailable, and they did not know when he would be available. I was stonewalled. Also, that there was no one else present with the authority to listen to my complaint, as i was demanding a discount for all of my troubles due to their negligence and lack of proper maintenance of the vehicles. They not only denied me access to a manager, but they also overcharged me much more than the amount that was stated amount in my Priceline.Com reservation. This car agency is not only a very bad place to rent your car. It is also a danger to the public's safety due to their negligence and lack of proper preventive maintenance of their vehicles. I will post this same review on as many travel site online as I possibly can, as well as dispute the charges with American Express.