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Car Guru asked:


It has been a huge month for us all here at DriveAway Holidays. We kicked July off in style at the annual AFTA National Travel Industry Awards. Always a good night, this year was even more exciting than last as we were hoping to walk off (or drive away with) an award for the third year in a row which is exactly what we did! It was a tense wait, with DriveAway being nominated in one of the last categories to be announced – which may explain the amount of wine being drunk by staff members at the table… But our wait finally came to an end when hosts Larry and Kylie from the Morning Show announced us as winners of the Best Car Rental Wholesaler category. Dan, our MD, gave an Oscar worthy speech and the award was promptly passed around the table for photo ops. A great night all round and another award to add to the DriveAway collection

General consensus among the ladies….it wasn’t as good as last year…but only because last year’s host was the gorgeous Tom Williams! Maybe next year! After celebrating being NTIA’s Best Car Rental Wholesaler 2008, DriveAway Holidays had more cause for celebration this month with our 20th Birthday on 25 July 2008. There was much excitement amongst staff with lots of birthday cake (from www.sweetdreamscakes.com.au), iPod giveaways to our Reservations team and of course, for older staff members, the joy in saying “It’s our 20th birthday” (it’s been a long time since some of us could claim that!). Since the doors opened for DriveAway Holidays 20 years ago in Manly, NSW (now North Sydney, NSW)

-We have become the leader in car rental, car leasing and self-drive holidays.

-We have grown from 2 to over 90 staff.

-We now work with over 20 rental suppliers with access to rates at over 4000 locations worldwide. Of course, we couldn’t have done any of it without the support of our customers, staff past and present, suppliers, partners…so a big thank you to everyone that has helped over the years to make DriveAway the success it is!

Levis Bark asked:


Many of you are familiar with the common television promotion of the talking reptile that pledges to conserve your cash if you buy their cheap car insurance. Yet, is it true that you will save money, or is it a further promotional attempt put on by the glib admen of Madison Ave?

A couple years ago, the insurance industry began offering free online price quotes, Not long after, Insurance websites popped up virtually overnight to get in on the action to promote their own cheap car insurance. The providers accomplish this by showing their rates compared to their competitors and urge you to purchase their brand of cheap car insurance.

Despite the claims, is it practical to believe every insurer is the least expensive? Yet, at least one company has to be more costly, otherwise, all prices would be the same. Well, there must be an answer to how the cheap car insurance strategy is possible.

The number-crunching insurance providers use analytical figures in order to decide a cheap car insurance premium that is appropriate for a certain class of driver, furthermore, every provider has their own set of ‘rules’ for certain types of drivers. The insurance companies are aware certain drivers are more likely to file a claim than others, and by reason they choose to accept or decline certain classes, they are able to afford to cover other higher-risk classes. Therefore, the ability to offer cheap car insurance to one class will differ from company to company.

An illustration would be, lets say Company Z sells 81% of their insurance to low-risk clients. Because they are ‘heavy’ with low risk drivers and the probability of claims is extremely low, they can well-afford to write a portion of high-risk (males 18-25) policies for less than some companies who write only high risk policies. The insurance company will solicit drivers in that high risk demographic to secure their business as a new customer. Even though the amount saved may be less than 15%, the consumer is satisfied that he has received a cheap car insurance rate from a respectable company and the company is glad to have a new customer.

It is improbable an insurance company will disclose their statistics or demography that they use to target a particular class of driver, for that very reason it is important to comparison shop for a cheap car insurance quote. Logging into a few insurance provider’s sites will ultimately lead to a result of a quote that is within your budget. The lizard may save you more than the caveman, however you could be in better hands with a good neighbor, if you just comparison shop to secure a cheap car insurance premium.

Car Guru asked:


An Australian man has just won a settlement in a landmark age discrimination case against an Irish car rental company after being charged an extra fee for being over the age of 70.

Anthony White tried to hire a car in Ireland 2 years ago when he was in his early seventies and was charged a EUR25 fee. He was also told he would not be able to rent a car on his next visit as he would be over 75.

White took his case to Ireland’s Equality Tribunal who ruled in his favour that the policy amounted to age discrimination. Irish Car Rentals Ltd has since changed the rule and says the decision will now be made on a case-by-case basis involving assessments of age, health, driving record and insurance coverage.

A senior driver surcharge is pretty common with car rental companies – you may have read a previous blog here about it (Too Old to Drive A Rental Car?) Some suppliers charge extra if drivers are over a certain age, others have a maximum age limit for renters and some require additional documentation (like Irish Car Rentals are now doing). The surcharge is applied to cover higher insurance premiums as older drivers as seen as higher risk.

Does this case mean we may see an end to senior driver surcharges? Is it age discrimination to charge older drivers more as they are seen to be a higher risk?

In that case, surely it is also age discrimination to charge someone under 25 a young drivers fee since they too are seen as a higher insurance risk and more likely to have an accident?

In the case of Mr. White, he has been driving for 50 years and felt it was unfair to blanket all older drivers.

I do agree with this and think the company’s new policy is fair – it depends on each individual’s circumstances and not their age. Will other car rental companies follow suit? We’ll have to wait and see.

Final thought – one article I found about this was entitled “Old Man wins age discrimination suit against Irish rental car company” – “Old Man”? Surely that is age discrimination in itself?!

PhilipThomas asked:


Auto dealers point is the perfect platform for car dealers to be in touch with current auto market all over the world. It provides the perfect choice for Auto Dealers to manage their inventories, create their own website, and manage vehicle listings to their site and on eBay too for effective selling of their vehicles. ADP has set out various categories of vehicles, which makes every Auto dealer to find the best of his choice offering the most prominent services on web to search and for Buyers select the car, trucks, bikes and boats etc without any hassles.

If you are looking for new and used cars, cheap and luxurious cars, ADP helps to perform various activities to reach them with an ease with its prominent features of managing car details. Managing Auto dealerships from profound platform is very easy now with the help of Auto Dealers Point, where dealers are in constant touch with auto market via cost and selling analysis is promptly evaluated which in turn runs the business on top of dealership network.

Used cars, new car, cheap cars, luxurious cars, etc many other kinds of cars gets designed from here in template formation which helps dealer to perform his business activity in easier way. Plus it helps their visitors together to judge for the best among all on basis of budget estimated by the dealer. Clicking on selected cars provides full up to date information of using, re-using, its features, benefits, warranties, and many other useful tips related to car. ADP solves all your queries and doubts within a second plus can provide you with enormous benefits with its sound features and services.

To provide flexibility with all applications driven is the aim of every car dealer, where ADP helps them to perform such activities with more innovative ways of listing and hosting the cars on site. ADP’s template design feature helps the dealer to present the best design in object and flash form with every viewing presentation of car, to provide the perfect idea to every car lovers online, In fact ADP builds a new website for such dealer, who can make the business out of this.

A choice of smart dealer is to deal online, and for dealing smartly Auto Dealer Point connects you to the right place. This system of managing keeps dealer to deal at reduced cost plus increases the efficiency of production with latest versions of lead maintaining from one platform.

Thus, ADP takes every car dealer on top for performing dealership activities with an ease and effectual way.

Hamid hameed asked:


e=”font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman";”>eles Auto Show is one of the major auto shows around the orld. I addition to more than 1,000 cars, trucks and SUVs on display, he Green Car of the Year award was presented in the Show this year.

The 2008 Green Car of the Year award went to the Volkswagen Jetta TDI, or the first time a diesel-powered car has won this award since its inception in 2005.

The diesel-powered Jetta TDI is now compliant with emission regulations in all 50 states. Its 2.0-liter turbocharged direct injection (TDI) engine produces 140 horsepower and an impressive 236 lb-ft of torque. For added utility, the Jetta TDI is also available as a SportWagen.

The Jetta TDI was chosen by a jury of environmental and automotive experts from a field of five finalists that included the BMW 335d, Ford Fusion Hybrid, Saturn Vue 2 Mode Hybrid and smart fortwo.

The jury is composed of nine jurors including Carl Pope, executive director of the Sierra Club; Frances Beinecke, president of the Natural Resources Defense Council; Jean-Michel Cousteau, president of the Ocean Futures Society; automotive expert and Tonight Show host Jay Leno; automotive icon Carroll Shelby; and four Green Car Journal editors.

The Green Car of the Year award was created by Green Car Journal to highlight ecological innovation in new cars. Previous winners include the Chevrolet Tahoe Hybrid, Toyota Camry Hybrid and Mercury Mariner Hybrid.

Car Guru asked:


I had just got back from my own holiday to Bali when I arrived at work and they announced I was off to New Zealand with three of my colleagues. What a way to come back from one holiday and find out your going on another!

The trip started with a slight hiccup. Our flight was delayed, which is the last thing you need when you’re at the airport after a busy morning at work, which also meant we would be late in picking up our rental car. We then had to call work and asked them to call New Zealand to make sure the depot knew we would be late. One of the benefits of working for a car rental wholesaler!

About an hour later, we finally left and we were up in the air. It was a smooth flight and we arrived in Christchurch about 11pm. After collecting our bags, we went straight to the Hertz desk to be met by a friendly employee who was more than helpful.

After the formalities of signing the rental agreement and getting the keys, we were then given a local map of the south island and a city map of Christchurch. The employee even highlighted how we were to get to our hotel in the centre of Christchurch.

The car was in the car park, so away we went to find the car. We thought she said it was behind the police station and we were looking for quite a while, until it dawned on me that she had actually said pay station; we had misunderstood her kiwi accent!

We eventually got to the hire car and it was a premium wagon with automatic transmission and it was nearly brand new, similar to a Ford Territory wagon. It came with heating, air-conditioning, radio, electric windows and heaps of room enough to relax while being one of the passengers in the car.

We decided to use our Seymor GPS which we nicknamed “Moaning Myrtle”. We waited for the satellites to load on the Seymor GPS and then we were off to our hotel in Christchurch. It was cold and dark but we trusted our Seymor GPS and arrived stress free to the Rydges Hotel.

For the next week the Seymor GPS and rental car were our life savers. It got us to all the destinations and sightseeing attractions and even got us from Christchurch to Queenstown in one piece.

I would recommend hiring a car and taking the trusty Seymor GPS with you next time you go on a driving holiday.

DriveAway Holidays offer GPS rental and car hire in New Zealand.

Car Guru asked:


Q. Why take a ‘driving holiday’?

A. A drive holiday gives you the freedom and flexibility to decide on where you travel and what you see and do. You are in charge of how much time you wish to spend at a particular attraction. You have the independence to move around as much or as little as you like. A drive holiday allows you to discover so much more as a car will allow you to drive through the little villages in out of the way places.

Q. How is car rental charged?

A. Car rental is based on 24 hour periods and charged accordingly. If you pick up a car at 9am on Thursday and return at 9am the following day, this is one 24 hour period and therefore a one day booking.

Q. Is it cheaper to pre-book my car rental or should I book when I arrive?

A. Pre-booking will save you money almost every time! With a wholesaler like DriveAway Holidays, you receive the benefit of our purchasing power. Our prices with the major car rental suppliers are considerably lower than walking in off the street in a foreign country to rent a car. In addition you are pre-paying in Australian dollars so the risk of fluctuations in the currency are reduced.

Q. How does a prepaid rental work?

A. The booking is made in advance, paid for and a voucher is issued. The voucher is then used as payment when you go to pick up the car from the supplier.

Q. What additional extras will I have to pay?

A.  It depends on what the rental covers. DriveAway Holidays in most cases include all mandatory charges, like road taxes or airport surcharges. Many optional charges are applicable such as young or additional drivers, Insurance Excess Reduction or extra equipment like child seats. Be sure to check out rate inclusions – first when you are choosing your vehicle online and when you have made your booking (the inclusions will be on your voucher)

Q. What happens when I pick up the car?

A. Present the rental voucher, a valid drivers license and a credit card for a security deposit. Any additional charges will be explained as well as the conditions of the rental. A signature will be required to accept or decline additional charges and to acknowledge that the rental conditions are understood.

Q. What does the supplier do with the renters credit card?

A. It varies depending on the supplier – they may freeze a specific amount as a deposit, an imprint may be taken as a deposit or an amount may be charged to cover the security deposit and then refunded on the return of the vehicle. In some instances the bond can be paid in cash – check with the supplier/broker when you book.

Q. Will there be fuel in the vehicle?

A. Yes, there should be enough to get you on your way. Different companies have different policies regarding fuel – most will supply a full tank and require the car to be returned with a full tank of fuel, otherwise the renter is charged the difference. Some companies provide minimum fuel and is to returned as the renter wishes.

Q. What is a Pre-Paid Fuel Option?

A. Most car rental companies provide a full tank of fuel and will charge you for re-fuelling the vehicle if it is not returned with a full tank. By accepting a Pre-paid fuel option you are agreeing to pay a pre-determined price for fuel regardless of whether you return the vehicle with a full, partially full or empty tank. This means you won’t need to search for a petrol station before you return the car, but there is no refund for any fuel remaining in the tank.

Q. Should I check out the condition of the rental car before driving away?

A. Yes, it is a good idea to check the vehicle before you leave the depot. Any damage or unusual dents/scratches should be noted on the contract before leaving.

Look out for our 2nd part of car rental FAQs!

Andrew Bicknell asked:


It’s hard to deny that the price of buying a new car is always on the rise, making purchasing a car akin to buying a house. At least getting a loan for one is as much as a home equity loan in many cases. One way to get around paying such high prices for a new automobile is to find a repo car sales auction and get one for a fraction of the dealer sticker price.

This makes sense if you think about where most auto-dealerships get their used cars; repossessed and seized car auctions. By buying cars well below blue book value your local used car dealer then turns around and sells these cars to the public at or above blue book value. For years the car dealers were the middle men between vehicle auctions and the car buying public. That has changed with the proliferation of online car auction sites.

So where are all these cars being auctioned off come from? Many of them are bank repossessions where their customer can no longer make the payment on their loan and the bank takes the car back. The bank then puts the car, truck, or SUV up for auction with the idea of making back the amount that was left on the loan but not much else. This is the reason that you can find such good deal at repo car auctions.

There are several advantages to buying you next car at an auction instead of visiting your local dealership.

There is usually a large selection of quality cars, trucks, and SUVs to choose from. You will find every make and model as well. Again, many of these vehicles are new or 1 to 2 years old and are in excellent shape. Just because they were repossessed does not mean that they were not taken care of before hand.

You can also find significant savings on your next vehicle purchase, which is what makes these auctions so enticing for new car buyers. In many cases the winning bid will be thousands less then you would pay for the same car at a used car dealer.

Instant gratification in the fact that you got the car you wanted for a great price. Not only that you also get to drive it home with the title in the glove box. You will be expected to make full payment but once the deal is done you own the car free and clear.

If you are in the market for a new vehicle then repo car sales can be a great way to get the car you want for a great price. Take advantage of what car dealers have known for years, there isn’t a better place to buy cars at big discounts then an auto auction.

Car Guru asked:


With the environment such a hot topic around the world and especially in the transport industry, there are companies that are embracing new environmentally friendly technology. Hybrid Cars and ever increasingly fuel efficient diesel cars are becoming more available to mainstream motorists. I used to work for a corporate travel company and many of the major corporations were requesting the inclusion of Hybrid cars in their contracts. This was more to do with increasing business opportunities by being seen to be green as opposed to wanting to be green!

The question arises when people travel and want to maintain their commitment to the green cause. Car Rental companies will be the ones providing these vehicles… or will they?

I have chosen (for the Australia traveller) major car companies that you can book ‘green cars’ with. Working for DriveAway Holidays here in Australia, the most common request is for diesel cars. This is driven out of cost concerns and also the occasional environmental concern. (Shouldn’t it be the other way around??)

First off the rank is Avis Rental Cars.

In Australia, the group L car will give you a Toyota Hybrid. This car is the favorite for the car rental companies due to it being built by Toyota.

In the UK, there doesn’t appear to be any green cars, although there may be diesel cars on fleet, Avis don’t make them easy to find.

In the USA, like Australia, the Toyota Hybrid under group XG is available.

Second off the cab rank is Hertz Rental Cars.

In Australia, like Avis, the Toyota Hybrid is the car of choice. Book a group G and you will get this car.

In the UK, Hertz has a range of fuel efficient diesels on fleet but no hybrids. This seems to be a common factor in the UK. Being an expat, I know that Toyota car prices in the UK are reasonably expensive compared to other european manufactured vehicles

In the USA, Hertz has a range of Hybrids, although on some of the cars, I couldn’t tell if they were Hybrid or not.

Now, all credit to Hertz as they do promote their green cars as part of their Green Fleet. Avis don’t appear to market their green cars in any way, which is a shame.

Third on the cab rank is Europcar Rental Cars.

Again, unlike Hertz, they appear not to promote their green fleet. Looking at their Australia Fleet guide, they have the regular passenger vehicles such as Small, Medium, Large, Prestige, Minivans, Sport, 4WD. Europcar list the green car as part of there regular fleet, however, it does have it’s unique identifier (IHAR) in Australia.

In the UK, Europcar doesn’t appear to have any green offerings. Maybe it’s something you can request at pick up. Personally, if I could book a green car over the internet, I would do so with a company that offered that service.

In the USA, I chose LAX as Europcar have a limited presence. There were no cars I could find that looked green.

To Europcar’s defence, in other parts of Europe where they are particularly strong, one is able to guarantee a diesel for an extra few euros per day.

In this brief look, Hertz appears to be the only car rental company that is actively promoting green cars. Avis & Europcar seem to be a bit hap hazard in their approach to a green fleet. Whilst it may be a case of logistics and a supply issue, there is no reason why they couldn’t promote their green cars.

I am sure that in 12 months time, the situation will be that every car rental company will be actively marketing green cars. The consumer can currently offset their CO2 emissions in the various transport sectors and I am sure that the car rental industry will follow suit in the near future.

The Environment is a marketers dream and I do think that some of the car rental companies have missed the boat so far. Hopefully their marketing departments will wake up and smell the cleaner air..

Glady Reign asked:


The Japanese car company of Nissan has become very successful in creating a global market, though this did not happen overnight. Nissan vehicles were formerly marketed under the Datsun brand name. Nissan has become very successful that the company has been placed in one of the top three Asian rivals to compete with the “big three” of the US automakers. Presently, Nissan is the third largest Japanese car manufacturer in the world. The company gained this status with its production of high quality Nissan car parts installed in each and every vehicle model Nissan introduces into the market.

One of these is the popular Nissan VQ engine. The V6 engine is one of the many Nissan car parts that received recognition in the car industry. In fact, it has been featured as one of Ward’s 10 Best Engines for 12 straight years, since the award was first given. The new generation VQ series engine premiered on the 2007 Infiniti G35 and the 2007 Nissan 350Z. It’s been said that a larger 3.7 VQ engine will be used in the G37 coupe and there is a possibility that a twin turbocharged version will be used on the Skyline. The Nissan name was actually first used in the 1930s as records show. It was an abbreviated form for Nippon Sangyo.

Producing top performing Nissan car parts was the company’s goal as shown in their constant search for the latest cutting-edge automotive technology. This ultimately prepared the company for its plans to enter the global automotive market. By the time 1958 came around, Nissan was already introducing cars in the U.S. market, starting from the first time the company showed its vehicles at the 1959 Los Angeles auto show. The company then formed a U.S. subsidiary, Nissan Motor Corporation in U.S.A. By 1989. Continuous improvement on Nissan car parts—making these parts more durable, longer lasting and infinitely better than other car parts—helped establish the company’s name in the US market.