Needing rental car help. Fox or Firefly?

[nkereina]

Haven't rented a car in 15+ years and last time we did, it was a pretty simple reservation.

We'll be traveling around Southern California in May. We'd like a compact or mid-size to be picked up on a Friday at the San Diego airport, returning a week later on Saturday at LAX. Prices are currently showing between $500-$700 for the duration. More than I anticipated. Any tips or places I should check for a better deal? I've checked Enterprise with my corportate discount and Orbitz but I'm seeing the same prices.

On another note, both Fox Rental Car and Firefly are showing around $200-$300 for the duration. Any experiences with either? I've not heard of them before and they get mostly bad reviews online, which is telling. Just wondering how they can be so much cheaper....

Thanks all!

 

[paladin]

Have you tried Dollar? I have had good luck with them in the past.

Also, I have had times when I booked way in advance and the price went down as the time got closer. A two week rental went from 800 to 200ish (though this was a couple of years ago).

 

[kerplop]

We rented once from Fox in San Diego and NEVER AGAIN. The car was dirty, dinged up, and one of the seats was ripped in the back. I took pictures of all of it at the time we picked it up, which was good because when we came back they tried to claim that it was us that had done the damage. As soon as I showed the manager my photos, that story quickly changed and they were nice, but only because I was on to them. Apart from that the car was older than any other rental car I'd gotten and I'm still not sure it qualified for the car group we rented under. All in all a MESS.

As for Firefly we have used them once without issue from the same location. They are owned by Hertz, I believe, and I like that if there's a problem I can take it up to a much higher place to get resolution. Not saying either of my reviews are typical of either service, but that's our experience!

 

[KKB]

Never heard of Firefly--but Wikipedia confirms it is owned by Hertz, so I would be comfortable with that.

Have heard MANY BAD reports about Fox on Las Vegas forums on trip advisor so will never use them

Personally I use Dollar or Budget for reasonable prices & reliable name.

 

[smokeyblue]

In past research, I've not heard very good things about either of those companies. I would stick with the big names and ride it out until closer to your departure date for a good deal. We usually get a week long So Cal rental for less than $200 for a full size. The only time we have paid more is when we paid for a convertible and got a upgrade to the Hertz Prestige collection!

So Cal rental cars are the dirtiest I've ever rented. Hertz is the only company that I've rented from with consistently clean vehicles. I would definitely take photos of the car inside and out. Our last car in San Diego must have been driven in the desert because we had sand shooting out the vents. We ended up keeping it because we were visiting/vacationing a little over an hour away from San Diego and didn't want to go back.

 

[nkereina]

Thanks for all the replies! Great info.