Is it cheaper to book car or rv rental or just turn up on the day? Vancouver Canada

I hope people are respectful and return their car on time.
We had a vehicle booked from our city far in advance, for a long trip; garbage was taken out, fridge cleaned out, all electronics disconnected, etc. Went to the rental agency and they did not have our vehicle, as the people just decided not to return it on time. I had pre-paid the hotel for the night, 1000 km. down the road....

Touch wood, it's never happened to us, and we've rented dozens of cars.

Rather, it could have happened ... a few times we have had a pleasant upgrade - a couple of times to something spectacular. Could they not substitute your booked car with something else they had ... seems extraordinary they did not.

Well, the thing was that we were renting a van. A family trip, 3 older kids and a large dog....We had two cars but didn't want to drive both of them across the country. They did offer some large SUV, but we didn't want that, we had a Subaru outback of our own.

We got the van a day later, and we realized why they were so popular! Great with a dog.

I see ... yes ... a specific van is a different issue indeed.

We've never rented one, either here in Australasia, Europe, or North America ... although we borrowed a Toyota Hiace in NZ for six weeks once, and it was okay in good weather (hopeless and uncomfortable in rain).

We were sitting enjoying the sunshine last September, in the carpark of Sulfur Mountain in Banff. We were chatting to a nice German guy whose wife and daughters were hiking the mountain.

He was cleaning out the RV - a mid-size rig from CruiseAmerica - and for a very long time he entertained us with his list of what was wrong with it, what he had been through to try and rectify things, his dim view of the rental company office in Vancouver, and his equally glum view of Canada and Canadians generally. He gave us some cake.

We were thankful for our zippy little Ford Focus, at the end of the day.

Yes, the Germans seem to love renting those things. I like "zippy" as well. I was shocked at the prices in Banff when we came out that way with our three kids the first time (I had been many times myself) over 15 years ago: the prices were at levels for the large number of Japanese and German tourists. As a Canadian family it was unaffordable to camp, in our own national parks. Thus have never wanted to do it again.

I didn't know what a Toyota Hiace was, we don't have them here, but I googled it. Very large, the type of thing that they had for sports teams when we lived in the UK.

Minivans became the thing for families in North America a couple of decades ago. My husband and I always thought we were too cool for such a vehicle, lol. Too suburbia. But I also didn't like that the safety standards on them were not as stringent as on passenger vehicles (except for Toyota, I believe) so we just bought a car big enough to fit all of us. When we rented one that time we were surprised how comfortable it was and so perfect for three kids and a dog. It was to be the last time we took a driving trip with the entire family.

Sound like Rover has had some good trips.

Just one correction ... a Toyota Hiace is a tiny little thing ... just big enough for a double bed and some storage.

Quite common in Australasia (not just for travellers), never seen in North America.

Here is a typical one.

I agree, the base Hiace (with which I was familiar in Asia) is a small delivery van.

Perhaps Bcmum found the Granvia (known as the Hiace in Europe) which is a bit bigger.

I just googled images of it earlier. There are different versions, but even the one you posted seemed pretty big to me. Depends what you are comparing it to!

No bcmum, I can attest that it's tiny - just a bed (convertible to a table + seats), maybe a cupboard and space for a small stove. There is no big version of a Hiace - they are just small multi-purpose vans (delivery, people-movie such as a maxi-taxi, and of course, for travellers).

There is a sliding side door, and a rear hatch door. On a lot of rental models, the roof is raised about 350mm - if this is permanent it's called a HiTop, and if it is pushed up by the user, it's called a PopTop. The advantage of this is considerable - you can actually stand in the van without having to stoop.

Here is a good example of a HiTop.

That van is very cute! I would think it could be quite popular in Canada, exactly how it is in the photo. My husband would love one of those to drive and drive and drive....

You can still see VW vans driving around here the odd time. We actually saw one yesterday---my daughter said something about hippies and are they from Quebec? Yup, turned into a parking spot and yes the license plate was from Quebec. They like to come out here to BC and pick fruit.

According to Wikipedia, the Toyota HiAce was first launched in 1967, and has since been available in a wide range of configurations, including minivan (MPV) and minibus, van, pick-up, taxi, and ambulance.