Rental car "unpaved road" exclusions...what to do?
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- Txhiker42
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Rental car "unpaved road" exclusions...what to do?
What do most flatlanders do when they rent a car at the Denver airport and want to take it on an "unpaved road" to a trailhead? From what I've read, driving on unpaved roads is excluded in all most (if not all) rental contracts. Should I just go for it and hope for the best? I was planning on buying the LDW from the company but I've read that any violation of the rental agreement voids the LDW. Same thing with the coverage you get with AMEX or another credit card. Has anyone had experience with damage to a rental on a road to a trailhead and could share what happened? Are any companies better than the others in looking the way? I usually go with Enterprise.
Specifically, we are hoping the access the Gray's trailhead in mid-September.
Specifically, we are hoping the access the Gray's trailhead in mid-September.
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Re: Rental car "unpaved road" exclusions...what to do?
When I lived in NC and visited CO, I rented a Grand Cherokee at DIA and took it up the Grays/Torreys TH. Not a problem. You should be fine. Now, I would not recommend taking it to some of the other THs, like Lake Como or even up Castle/Conundrum, but for G/T, you should be fine.Txhiker42 wrote:What do most flatlanders do when they rent a car at the Denver airport and want to take it on an "unpaved road" to a trailhead? From what I've read, driving on unpaved roads is excluded in all most (if not all) rental contracts. Should I just go for it and hope for the best? I was planning on buying the LDW from the company but I've read that any violation of the rental agreement voids the LDW. Same thing with the coverage you get with AMEX or another credit card. Has anyone had experience with damage to a rental on a road to a trailhead and could share what happened? Are any companies better than the others in looking the way? I usually go with Enterprise.
Specifically, we are hoping the access the Gray's trailhead in mid-September.
- denvermikey
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Re: Rental car "unpaved road" exclusions...what to do?
Just get an SUV with halfway decent clearance and you should be just fine. There have been Civics, Prius's (Prii?), and all sorts of sedans at the TH before.
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"Because it's there" - George Mallory
"In the end it's not the years in your life that count, it's the life in your years" - Abraham Lincoln
"You only live once but if you do it right, once is enough" - Mae West
"Climb mountains not so the world can see you, but so you can see the world." - David McCullough Jr.
- Voodoo302
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Re: Rental car "unpaved road" exclusions...what to do?
My parents rented a mid-size sedan last year and we took it up the G/T road. They didn't have any issues with the rental company buuuut then again they didn't damage the car (other than some scrapes underneath that I assume went unnoticed). "Caveat auriga" I guess. An SUV is probably a safer bet.
- TravelingMatt
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Re: Rental car "unpaved road" exclusions...what to do?
About all a rental agency can do if you go on a dirt road is deny an LDW claim. So don't buy it, it's worthless for what you want to do anyway!
Before I moved here I rented SUVs and drove them up 4x4 roads all the time. Engineer Pass, upper South Colony (the part that's now closed), the road up to Antero. I took a Sebring convertible most of the way to American Basin. I hit a deer once, buffed it out, they never caught it.
Do you want to live your life the way Hertz tells you to, or the way YOU want to?
Before I moved here I rented SUVs and drove them up 4x4 roads all the time. Engineer Pass, upper South Colony (the part that's now closed), the road up to Antero. I took a Sebring convertible most of the way to American Basin. I hit a deer once, buffed it out, they never caught it.
Do you want to live your life the way Hertz tells you to, or the way YOU want to?
You never know what is enough until you know what is more than enough. -- William Blake
- scalba123
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Re: Rental car "unpaved road" exclusions...what to do?
I've rented SUVs from Hertz and never had a problem with the company. Of course I treat it like my own vehicle and don't attempt anything crazy.
Re: Rental car "unpaved road" exclusions...what to do?
Just keep the shiny side up and they'll never know.
- Tory Wells
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Re: Rental car "unpaved road" exclusions...what to do?
Train harder? Many people start Grays and Torreys from I-70, choosing to hike the road instead of driving it. Doing so adds 6 miles roundtrip.
Another option is hitchhiking. Hikers are generally generous and helpful folk, and most would be willing to give you a ride up and down.
Another option is hitchhiking. Hikers are generally generous and helpful folk, and most would be willing to give you a ride up and down.
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-Steve Gladbach
"We knocked the bastard off." Hillary, 1953
"It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves." Hillary, 2003
Couldn't we all use 50 years of humble growth?
-Steve Gladbach
- speth
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Re: Rental car "unpaved road" exclusions...what to do?
Drive it like you stole it.
Then return it.
Then return it.
All I want is to just have fun, live my life like a son of a gun
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Sarcasm or not, it's not even funny to post something like this. Not at this time. Reported.
Re: Rental car "unpaved road" exclusions...what to do?
get that insurance that the rental companies claim all you have to do is return the license plate and it's covered. Then drive it up Lake Como road and let us all know if they actually honor that claim.
Remember what your knees are for.
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- Hungry Jack
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Re: Rental car "unpaved road" exclusions...what to do?
I suggest a Fiat 500.
please rotate your device
- crossfitter
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Re: Rental car "unpaved road" exclusions...what to do?
Last fall we were behind Surf 'N Turf's friend in an audi on the way into Sneffles (on the 2wd section before it gets rougher). They managed to run over a lone fist-sized rock which kicked up, punctured their oil pan and they had to get an off-road tow plus be towed all the way back to Denver to the nearest dealership. It's a pretty freak accident but weird s**t can happen.
- A mountain is not a checkbox to be ticked
- Alpinism and mountaineering are not restricted to 14,000 foot mountains
- Judgment and experience are the two most important pieces of gear you own
- Being honest to yourself and others about your abilities is a characteristic of experienced climbers
- Courage cannot be bought at REI or carried with you in your rucksack
- Alpinism and mountaineering are not restricted to 14,000 foot mountains
- Judgment and experience are the two most important pieces of gear you own
- Being honest to yourself and others about your abilities is a characteristic of experienced climbers
- Courage cannot be bought at REI or carried with you in your rucksack