Suggestions for car rentals in Edinburgh

[Alan H]

Check with your credit card company, too. They may only have damage ins but doesn't hurt to ask.

We have two credit cards. The one I used to make the reservation...because it was made in the US, is my "usual" credit card, which is a CITI Simplicity card. This card offers "secondary" auto rental insurance in the USA and its territories and possessions. "Secondary" insurance is basically.. "You have to max out your primary insurance policy and when they won't pay any more, we'll pay some more". The thing is, you have to have a primary insurance policy, first.

The exact same thing applies for the Venture Mastercard that we got specifically for the trip because it doesn't have overseas transaction fees. The Schwab account that Joan got because we can use their card at Scottish ATM's also offers "secondary" insurance. UPSHOT? If you have a fancy credit card with a #35 monthly fee, then you might have some primary coverage. If you have a "no annual fee" card, then don't hold your breath.

IT SO HAPPENS that in the UK, since 1988, it's illegal to drive on the roads without a minimum Liability insurance policy. Therefore, all rental cars in the UK have a minimum liability coverage included in the rental fee. It's not a lot, though, it's just barely over the required minimum, by law.

But it's SOMETHING.

NOTE..everybody... I'm not talking about damage coverage. Oops, you smacked into the wall and busted up the fender? That's CDW.. Collision Damage Waiver insurance, which has an "Excess"..which is UK-speak for "Deductible". The "Excess" at Enterprise is about 600 pounds or $1,000 unless you purchase "Excess Reduction Insurance" which reduces that Excess to 100 pounds or about $167 in the current exchange rate.

Most of you who are writing in this thread are writing about collision or damage insurance. I'm talking about covering my hindquarters when there's an accident in an intersection and some multi-millionnaire gets his toe squashed and sues me for incomprehensible amounts of money, not to mention the cost of the hospital stay, four MRI's, three medical specialists and lifetime supply of bandaids. This is LIABILITY INSURANCE....that's different.

[Ron Abbott]

I've driven rental cars in many different countries.
Some left hand drive, some right hand drive and I've also driven right hand drive cars in countries where they drive on the right rather than the left.....hmm....that sounds a bit confusing.

However, I've never had a problem after I've driven for maybe a day or so.
Biggest nightmares have been in Los Angeles and getting off the Peripherique in Paris.

The UK (as is the case in a number of other countries), manual transmission is more popular than automatic, although I think automatics are getting more popular. If you are renting, the costs for an automatic will normally be more expensive that renting a manual transmission vehicle of the same/similar type/model/size.

However when in countries or cities which I am not used to and don't know my way around, I would rather pay the extra for an automatic as it's one less thing to have to do!

The rental car companies also have different types of insurance cover on offer. As mentioned in a previous thread, I normally use payonarrival.com which has been taken over by worldwide reservations but if hiring the vehicle for more than 13 days, they gave you free insurance for a second driver and certain other coverage. I can't recall what they all were but it was a good deal.

In the past I have also taken out annual insurance for rental cars. There are some companies which specialise in this. Haven't done it for maybe four or five years but it used to cost 50 GBP per year. It basically insured the insurance!
It provided coverage for driving a rental car for up to one month on any one single trip.

I don't know if this is the same thing or not, as I haven't looked into it.....but this might give you an idea:-

http://www.insurance4carhire.com/

As for driving in Scotland, once you are outside the cities, driving is easy. The one track roads with passing places can take a bit of getting used to and if you have time limitations.....be careful as a journey can take longer than you might think it will!

Parking in Edinburgh, especially in the summer months can be a right pain. However, I've normally managed to get a space in the multi-storey car park at the bottom of Castle Terrace.

Driving in the centre of the city can also be a right pain....for a while even the locals were unsure of the road system one day to the next due to the construction works for the tram. Each time I return to Edinburgh the road system/markings around the west end/George Street/Charlotte Square etc have changed.

[ForresterModern]

Hey Alan, a lot of my advice is over on your other thread so I will not repeat it here. Car rental company---stick with a bigger company if you want the safety of being able to exchange a defective car anywhere in the country as opposed to just at the big airports. I have had three cars in three different countries that I needed to swap out because of problems, and once had to call road service to make a temporary fix to help me limp the 50 miles to Inverness to get to the nearest Hertz car rental place to allow me to swap the car out after blowing two tires on a bad pothole at road's edge thanks to a road hogging lorrie coming the other way. Hertz, Enterprise, Sixt, Europcar are the biggies over there. Be prepared to be stuffed into what feels like a well appointed former bean can with windows as what we consider midsize is a luxury vehicle there, a "minivan" is something like a Mazda 5 (usually a Peugeot or Citroen for some reason), a standard car is a Ford Focus, a compact is a Honda Fit or Chevy Spark. Be prepared for some car brands you have never heard of and into which you may be stuck--not a lot of choice when you get there. And they do not hold late or early hours, so if your pick up or drop off is on off hours you may have some problems to deal with. Another reason to work with a big vendor. Pack light as there will not likely be lots of room for luggage.
Watch the roundabouts and turns at intersections---we outlanders do not have our minds tuned to left hand road driving and it is very easy when trying to figure out where you are going, reading the roadsigns, navigating which lane to be in for what turnout, and trying to shift with your left hand, to forget that in the UK you need the right-left-right rule, not the left-right left rule when pulling out. Avoid the big cities with the rental car as it seems you have planned to do at least in Edinburgh. (say "hi" to Corstorphine for me, the seat of my family, although only the dovecoat from the old castle remains.)
Although there are a few "highways" virtually every road in the country outside of the greater metro areas is going to be two lane at best, 1.25 lane at worst. Park tight to the curb and push in your mirrors to give more room for others to pass on narrow city streets. Parking charges can be tricky, but at least the signage is in something resembling English. Do not assume that just because there is no meter in front of your spot that you do not have to pay for parking, look for where the central payment machine is, pay for the time you expect to be there plus some extra, and put the chit on your dashboard for the bobbies to verify. Paying an overseas parking ticket can be a royal pain that is best avoided. Make sure you know whether you have a gasoline or diesel engine car before you go looking to tank up. Diesels are almost as common as gas models over there.
Anywhere you go, anyplace you buy something, you should never have to lose sight of your credit card as a security measure. Most places, even restaurants will swipe your card at your table in front of you and hand it back immediately.
Look into an umbrella liability policy from the insurance company you use here in the states. I paid about $150 a year for a 2 million dollar personal umbrella liability policy that allows me to drop my homeowners and car insurance liabilities to the minimum and saves me a few bucks. Just make sure it is good internationally or it will do you no good on your trip.

Best if not using a Garmin or TomTom GPS unit that speaks to you to let your co-pilot navigate and tell you when and where to turn and how far the next route change is going to be. Too many tourists pulled half off the road with their faces buried in maps out and about the countryside.

Enjoy your trip. And compete well. You will be intrigued by how different highland games are there than here. But you should compete well.