Sunday, August 10, 2008

Where do you rent a car in NYC?

A little over a year ago, I wrote that Enterprise was getting a fleet of green cars. Looks like they haven't yet made it to the Enterprise that I use. Despite my near-obsession with Priuses, here's why I'll still be renting from the same Enterprise this summer.

With a baby, baby gear and various "stuff" in-tow this summer, our trip to Pennsylvania will be in a full-sized car. While I'll be happy for the cruise control, I know I'll have to pay for the luxury at the pump...

Momma Columbia hooks us up with an Entertainment Book coupon, which gives us 10% off. With this discount, let's how much a full size car would cost for the week at NYC Enterprises:

Brooklyn (My alma maters' 11205): $364
Queens (renting from my new job in Elmhurst):$377
Bronx (DW's old stomping grounds): $387
Manhattan (upper west and upper east): $416 (no discount available)

Then again, how does $257 for the same car sound? Here's my NY car rental advice: If you take the 1 train 242nd street, the Enterprise at 230 Mclean Avenue in Yonkers will pick you up at the station and charge nearly half their Manhattan counterparts. They've also dropped us off at the 4 train before, if that's a better train for you. We've been renting there for the past few years, and have found the $2 trip to get there a bargain, even if the time commitment is greater than walking to your local rental place.

Update based on the search above: The same car goes for $282 at LaGuardia, and that includes the airport fee! While the MTA to LaGuardia can be long and frustrating, it still might be worth it. Since the Yonkers enterprise is so small, choice of cars might make this a better option than Yonkers.

If you've rented a car in the city before, where have you gone? Do you pony up the $$ for the local convenience?

2 comments:

Melissa said...

I use zip car, but if you're renting for the week, it really isn't very economical...

Hope your trip went well. :)

Columbia said...

Thanks Bitter! The trip was great, and after all this cost dissecting we ended up getting the car locally. The time savings (before what turned into an 8.5 hour drive with baby) was the smartest thing we did.