Renting a car in a Mexico can be a scary thing. First there’s the worry of road conditions, rules, and parking that you’re not used to. Then there’s the rental process — Do you need a collision and damage waiver? Do you need supplemental liability? Are you going to get ripped off?
It can be bit confusing to figure out what to do, but we made the plunge and rented a car in Merida for our Uxmal day trip.
After a bunch of research and scouring forums, here’s what we learned to help with your car rental experience.
Pro tip: Not a fan of renting cars? You can also Uber around easily within Merida.
Merida has a ton of car rental companies
There are a bunch of car rental agencies at the airport as well as off-airport locations. A quick Kayak search gives you dozens of locations to choose from. The major clusters of car rental agencies include:
- Merida Airport
- Fiesta Americana
- Central Merida
You’ll find the brands that you’re familiar with like Hertz (my favorite), Avis, and National, as well as lots of local companies too.
Booking online is easy
Mexico is a big hotspot during the super busy Christmas to New Year’s season. We made a car rental reservation 1-2 days before we needed it on December 26th and didn’t have an issue finding a reasonable rate online.
You can try Kayak or CarRentals to easily compare prices and filter based on automatic/manual and more options.
Pro tip: Use AutoSlash to find the cheapest rate since they automatically monitor prices for you for free.
Beware of the required mandatory liability insurance
Car rental companies love to sell their high-margin insurance policies. At Budget, we were pushed the Collision and Damage Waiver (CDW) and also Supplemental Liability Insurance.
I always decline the extra insurance because it’s covered by my credit card (most credit cards have this benefit). But the Supplemental Liability Insurance was mandatory and legally required. Not sure why they called it “supplemental” though. The irony.
Check the fine print in your car rental quote or agreement so there aren’t any surprises. Here’s our original quote from Budget:
With the mandatory insurance, the price jumped from $37 USD to $67 USD for a 1 day rental. Double the price, but I wasn’t sure we could get a better price elsewhere.
Allocate 45 minutes for rental paperwork
Although the big car rental brands are in Merida, they are all franchise locations, and don’t operate with big brand speed or technology infrastructure. Our rental process at Budget included:
- Signature of rental agreement (ask for an English version)
- Payment and deposit charges (lots of signatures happen here)
- Driver license photocopying (more signatures)
- Visual inspection of the car (where you walk around the car and mark all the existing dents and dings)
Don’t expect a quick rental experience and plan ahead so you’re not crunched for time. We were the only renters when we checked in and it took 45 minutes from start to finish.
Driving and parking is oh-so easy
In Merida, the roads are clearly marked and in great condition. Some pedestrians, but not like Manhattan (no bikers or Seamless delivery guys to look out for).
Google Maps and GPS works perfectly if you have a data plan on your phone (totally worth it).
Free street parking is easy to find, although you may need to parallel park. Gas stations are abundant and full-service.
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