car rental cozumel

[lindag]

I have a family trip planned to cozumel and was looking into car rental. It seems that there are extra manditory insurance charges for some companies. I am coming from the US. Can anyone fill me in and lead me to the best deal and car rental company?

[roadon]

Lindag:
Based on my experience in renting a car in Acapulco I suggest you be cautious with the rental. The Budget folks in Acapulco wanted $10 a day extra for the required minimum liability insurance even though the written estimate I got from Budget said it was included. Fortunately I had a reservation with Avis who honored their quote. The whole rental experience with Avis was positive.

You'll also want to consider what extra insurance to take as your own car insurance / visa etc. may provide this coverage (or better coverage) but only if you decline the rental agency insurance. If you don't speak Spanish you'll also want to figure out how you will communicate with the other driver if you do have an accident.

You'll also want to watch out for the police, as I wound up making a $20 "deal" to avoid them taking my license and paying a $80 fine for some type of infraction. The day before our cab driver had to make a $5 "deal" for some other infraction, so it seems that deals are made frequently while driving in some parts of Mexico.

I'd also suggest you take photographs of all sides of the car with the agent pointing to the various scratches, etc. You can use these photographs to show the rental company that the scratches / nicks that they're trying to get you to pay for where already there when you rented the car.

Good luck with your rental.