Which car to rent ?

Hello,

We will make a 10 day trip in south of Moroccco by end of April, with our 3 kids aged 3 to 6. I'm hesitating on which car to rent, the choice being VW Passat, Toyota Prado, or Peugeot 407.

I'm interested in the Toyota Prado because I have the feeling this one would be the safest option, given the dangerosity of driving in Morocco. Any thoughts on this ? And does someone know if 3 baby-seats fit well into the Toyota ?

Thanks for your advises

I don't know how you will be making these arrangements for car rental. While all rental companies post the model car on their sites - the fine print always indicates it will be the model of similar. This means they cannot guarantee what model car you receive at pick-up. All they guarantee is the class of car and features it has. So I wouldn't put too much effort into deciding the precise model of car. You may be disappointed in the end...

Hope this helps in your planning. Sounds like you have a great trip for you and your children!

http://www.minitraveler.ca

Thanks Minitraveller.

I posted that question on other forums and given the number of different answers I came more or less to that same conclusion :-)

I have a Toyota Yaris, a much smaller car and I fit three in the back of it. We also had plenty of space in our old Land Cruiser and presently with our Lexus too and I see that the Prada is similar. I would go with that, if you can manage it.

My issue was the tether hooks. You don't say where you're from but I have American seats and I wanted to be sure our car seats could be tethered to the seat (really improves the performance of a seat in a crash). Toyotas were one of the few who standardly had them. They often confuse them with Isofix, which is not at all the same thing.

Just a reminder to NOT rent the car seats from the rental car company. They are often in really sorry shape and might not protect your child in an accident. Storing and cleaning car seats are often sore points with rental car companies, as well as the issue surrounding whether they will even have suitable seats available at your rental location.

Bring your own car seats and when you fly, don't check the car seats as luggage. Use them on board if possible (exception though if the oldest is in a booster). Checked car seats are too easily lost and broken by the airlines. This is the standard advice from Car Seat Techs and those of us who have had really bad experiences with rental car company seats and airlines losing luggage.

Have a good trip!

Thanks for this last feedback.

It was indeed my intention to rent the car seats from the car rental company, knowing that I will go with AVIS or Hertz, so I was thinking this should be fine with such big companies.

But then I image that taking my own 3 child seats with me in the plane (as hand luggage ???) and then carrying them with me during the whole trip must be a real pain. We will not rent the car during the whole trip.

One other option would be to buy the child seats on place. Migh actually be cheaper then rental over a week.

You have an idea there. A booster for the oldest child could easily be purchased.

No, Avis and Hertz can be just as bad as any of the others. Too many horror stories about car seats missing parts, dirty, expired, etc. There is probably no regulations for this in Morocco.

You might want to look into getting a Rider Safe Travel Vest for the younger two. These are small and easy to pack. They do get the nod from Car Seat Techs. I'm not sure which countries they are sold in but you could then use them at home for car pooling or babysitters after your trip. There's no side protection but they'll work in any car with a tether OR shoulder belt.

http://www.safetrafficsystem.com/

The Cosco Scenera is a good seat, if you live in N. America. You can use it on board or gate-check it in a bag (don't check it as luggage). At $40-50 U.S. it's probably covers a few days' rental costs, without the risk. Very light and easy to carry. With two parents, taking one car seat shouldn't be too much of a problem.

You may want to go over to Car Seat.org. They have a couple of forums where you can ask this.