When the price of petrol goes up, everything goes up. The price-hikers can argue and justify all they like, but the consumer generally pays more for less. The car hire industry, however, is one area where prices have remained fairly constant over the past four years.
When you hire a car, you pay for petrol anyway, so logically the fuel prices shouldn’t affect the hire rates. But when you consider that car prices have risen by around 11% a year, and the cost of car insurance has escalated alarmingly, the car rental companies have done rather well to peg their prices. International car rental groups have cut rates to the bone to outdo local competitors, and when it comes to supply and demand, there’s nothing better for the demander than some healthy competition in the supply department. The use of anti-theft devices and the implementation of IT systems have reduced costs and improved efficiency within the industry. Also, significant growth in the international inbound travel market and local tourism, as well as successes within the local film industry (high-volume vehicle hirers), are factors that have contributed to maintaining car hire rates at a reasonable level.
Car hire companies know that the cash-strapped consumer will be shopping around, and this is arguably the main reason for the stability in rental rates. Consumers can now afford to make demands, and the car hire companies are bending over backwards to oblige. Most offer discounted packages, either on long-term hire or off-season “weekend specials”. Insurance excesses are, well, excessive, usually around 10% of the vehicle’s value, but you can pay a higher insurance rate to waive the excess.
If you collect the vehicle in one place and drop it off in another, there’s a “one way fee” levied, anywhere between R150 and R200. This generally applies to distances of more than 100km; if you collect a car in Durban and leave it in Pietermaritzburg the one way fee won’t be charged.
We contacted a few car hire companies and asked for their rates on the cheapest cars available. Some companies offered specials depending on the day of the week, most offered discounts to repeat or fleet hirers, and United Vehicle Services claims that it will meet or beat any price.
The comparisons, listed in the table below, were calculated for Mr Average Consumer who would travel 600km in a three-day period during the week, excluding airport taxes and one way fees, including the standard 90% insurance cover.
The amount you pay for additional mileage can add up alarmingly. Depending on your needs, it could work out cheaper to pay a higher rate that allows unlimited mileage, even if it means handing the car back a day earlier than you’ve paid for. Avis’s unlimited mileage rate only applies to rentals of four days and more, Hertz’s apply for a minimum of seven-days, and although Imperial offers more free mileage in other (more expensive) car categories, it doesn’t offer unlimited mileage in any of them.
For inexpensive city use it could pay to get smart. The funky little Mercedes-Benz built smart is fun to drive, and it is really all you need to get around from one business meeting to the next. Top speed is around 140kph, with fuel consumption of less than six litres per 100km. The little two-seaters are really cool, and you get 350km free a day. Budget has 200 smarts exclusive to its fleet; the city-coupé Pulse is only available in the major Gauteng metro centres, and the cabrio Passion is available in Cape Town and Durban.
Sadly for those with no image issues, who’d happily settle for any old wheels just to get from A to B, companies such as Rent-a-Heap or Rent-a-Wreck, who used to hire out cheap, unpredictable and often unreliable rattletraps seem to have disappeared.
At the other end of the fashion statement scale there’s always the Limo. If your wallet is a bottomless pit, or if a really special occasion warrants it, you can splash out on the ultimate in self-indulgence and hire a chauffeur-driven stretch Lincoln from Executive Image for R425 an hour. The minimum booking is two hours, with discounted day-rates on application.
The car hire companies aren’t exactly suffering by pegging their prices, since affordable rates usually attract more customers. “When it comes to the size of the market, or the rental days sold,” says Tony Langley, MD of Budget Rent a Car, “there has been an average increase of 13% a year, from 4 472-million in 1999 to 6 201-million in 2002”. An easier way of putting it is compared to 20 days a month in 1999, hire cars are rented out in 2002 for 22 days a month.
Rental rates (for 2002)
- Economic Car Hire (Port Elizabeth and Durban)
Car: Corsa or Uno
Daily rate including 90% insurance cover:R150
Free km per day: 150
Rate per extra km:R0,65
Total hire cost:R547,50
- Budget Rent a Car
Car: smart
Daily rate including 90% insurance cover:R190
Free km per day: 350
Rate per extra km: R2
Total hire cost: R570
- Budget Rent a Car
Car: Chico
Daily Rate including 90% insurance cover: R220
Free km per day: 150
Rate per extra km: R1,33
Total hire cost: R859,50
- United Vehicle Services
Car: Tazz, Corolla, Polo or Sentra
Daily rate including 90% insurance cover: R230
Free km per day: unlimited
Total hire cost: R690
- Avis Car Rental
Car: Chico
Daily rate including 90% insurance cover: R175
Free km per day: 150
Rate per extra km: R1,29
Total hire cost: R718,50
- Tempest Car Hire
Car: Corsa or Tazz
Daily rate including 90% insurance cover: R216
Free km per day: 125
Rate per extra km: R1,37
Total hire cost: R956,25
- Imperial Car Rental
Car: Corsa
Daily rate including 90% insurance cover: R226
Free km per day: 100
Rate per extra km: R0,97
Total hire cost: R969
- Hertz Rent a Car
Car: Corsa or Chico
Daily rate including 90% insurance cover: R262
Free km per day: 100
Rate per extra km: R1,31
Total hire cost: R1179