Car Hire in Tasmania

we were in Tassie couple months ago for 2 weeks and hired car - best value we found was with Europcar, lowest prices, no frills, no hidden extras, great and helpful staff. Third party coverage cheaper than hire car insurance generally - you need to check as depends on your own driving record / age etc re 3rd party insurance (we used an extension on our existing car insurance for our own car); we just had a stock small car and drive everywhere in it including Cradle Mountain and dirt roads around Pieman River and Svagae River no problems, no need for 4 wheel drive.

Getting insurance from your own insurer sounds like a good idea but many credit card companies also offer to cover the excess if you use their card which is free (check the specific details of the policy though - I have two different cards which allegedly offer this service and one only covers overseas car hire while the other only covers Australia car hire). Bear in mind though that it you take up this service, the excess will be a charge on your card unless and until the credit card company refunds it in line with the policy so if you have a low limit on your card it could end up frozen.

I rented a Hertz car last time in Tassie and was happy with the service. The windscreen cracked but I wasn't charged any extra (I'm not sure about the normality of such a thing). I purchased their insurance to keep it simple. It was a small lavender Nissan Micra and we took it to Cradle Mtn. The rental agreement said we had to stay on sealed roads which was not a problem for us, it would be a different issue if you wanted to go on gravel roads.

In addition re insurance, when you book rental online it will give you an option to take up insurance this is usually cheaper than paying for insurance when you collect car.

or is third-party insurance generally considered a better value?

It's not 'better value' to rely only on this, which is mandatory, it's how much you assess risk. So if you have an accident, or scratch the car, or suffer a damaged windscreen in any way, and no matter who caused the damage or how it occurred, without the additional insurance cover you will pay for the repairs. Is this worth the savings of not taking out comprehensive insurance?

However, have a look at your travel insurance. To may already have coverage for a rental car in that. Or if you are a resident of Australia, look at domestic travel insurance. Some travel insurance firms offer separate components for car rental that will work out much more cheaply that the cover offered by the car rental company.

Hi Aleks

I've used Hertz and Jucy Rental before and the prices are pretty even. I think it's a matter of finding a car variety that you are comfortable with. Jucy also has the option of renting some pretty funky camper vans if you're interested in saving money on accommodation and sharing a van with your friends.

As with car insurance, how much you 'should' pay is relative to your assessment of the risk of having an incident and your confidence in your driving ability. Most insurance policies will not cover damage done to the roof should you accidentally roll the car. Ultimately it comes down to whether you want to risk paying $2,000 in the future, or to pay an extra $70 now (not exact figures but usually paying for a lower/no premium is substantially cheaper than the premium). I find that it gives you better peace of mind if you just go with the minimal premium/no premium option.

You can find Jucy's details here: http://jucy.com.au

My pick for Tasmanian car rental would be Lo Cost Autorental, they gave a good car with excellent price and great service.

Also drove unpaved with it (carefully not to get any dust/gank buildup) and didn't have to pay any extra.

You will certainly save by purchasing a standalone excess policy, instead of opting for the rental depot upsell. I recently bought a policy with carhireexcess.com.au but there are a few companies out there like Hiccup.com.au and Tripcover that sell it too. Collison waiver fees sold by car rental companies are really expensive, and these guys sell the same thing but for way cheaper. And they don't have loads of exclusions like having to pay for tyre or water damage. Don't give the hire cars any more blo*dy money!

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