Renting a Car, Perth

We recently went to Perth for a holiday and hired a car from Burswood Car Rentals. I just wanted to tell everyone how great they were. The airport service was quick and hassle free, they were cheap and the staff were lovely.

We booked a Coralla Hatch back car from Bayswater for 5 days for AU$275 with co-share driver and Top Cover reduces damage responsibility to $50.

The car boot is kind of small. It can only fit a hand carry and a big size luggage.

When we book the car online, we requested for a Nav (GPS). However, when we went to collect the car, we were told that all the Nav were rented out and we will not have one. We were very upset as we want to have a stress-free holiday whereby either of us do not need to stare at the map constantly for direction. We were offered a very old road map out of good will. We decided to hang at the counter for a while to see whether anyone will return a Nav. Thank god the wait was not long, we waited for about 10 min and we saw someone walking out of the return car with a Nav.

All bayswater car comes with a "no bird" sticker on the front door. It kind of stand out as a rental car which can be a target for people to break in. (See the yellow sticker). We kept the Nav inside the compartment at every stop as I had a bad experience in San Diego whereby the car was being broken and the thief try to dismantle the Nav. (The Nav for Hertz is permanently fixed to the car dash board.) For this Nav, it is portable.

Overall for the price that we are paying, we have no complain about the car.

My family had to tone down our expectations of travelling long distance. So in terms of petrol, we really did not spent too much. We were given a full tank and though the car that we drove was pretty much a fuel guzzler, we had only used about 3/4 tank.

At the petrol station, there was no pump attendant. So you have to DIY. Also, there was only one grade, so not too much decision that I'd to make. The petrol price, in comparison to my home country, Singapore, is also cheaper by at least 50 cents per litre.

Whenever we rent a car, we hope that if a company promises to deliver "A", he delivers "A". For Budget Car Rental, it was a bit of a challenge becuase we tasted bitter-sweet.

Firstly, the website mentions that we will be offered a Toyota Tarago or equivalent. When we arrived at the airport, we received an equivalent. But that's not the point. When I asked if we can have the Tarago, the counter lady said that they do not have Taragos. Huh? So that is more for reference? That, in my terms, is called mis-representation.

Secondly, we had to wait for 1 hour for the car to be delivered. Why? They did not expect me to arrive from the International Airport and as such, the car is at the domestic airport. The counter lady even have the nerve to ask me to pick up the car from the other airport which was like, 15 minutes drive, and at my own cost.

Anyway, she had no choice but to pick it up for us (C'mon, where's the customer service?)

The car we received was a seven-seater Kia Carnival. It was a pretty comfortable drive albeit a true fuel guzzler because of its size.

We paid A$215 ($43/day) to rent a toyota corrolla hatch for 5days in their Perth office with A$300 refundable deposit.

GPS are charged at $5 per day. They do not have childseat. We rent it from littlehugger fr scarbourge beach rd. it charge $25 for 5days. You can leave the childseat with Bayswater when returning the car. (According to the info given by WA tourist info ctr, the childseat is enforced by law for young child under 6.)

Good value for money!

I would strongly suggest you try another car rental company instead of Bayswater, as i just returned the car today and found out that the car i rented was missing a parcel shelf, which i found hard to believe as i didnt even use the boot. So maybe try another company or make sure you do a 200% inspection to make sure you dont get ripped off like me. Forgot to mention i lost my $300 bond which i am very angry about.

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After getting a few quotations, we have decided to get our rented car at Bayswater Car Rental.

Do note that you need to pay extrea A$50 for driving to Esperance. Additional experience named driver fee is charged at A$10. It is advisible to have more than one driver especially if you are driving long distances.

Do ask for a street directory which will be useful for driving in Perth. For further distances like Esperance, we would suggest that you buy a good map. The road signs are quite clear. You need to confirm the direction or town you are heading for.

There are petrol stations in almost every town. Do pump so petrol where ever you come across one. The further away from the city, the more expensive the petrol prices will be.

Fremantle Visitor Centre offers a possibility to hire cars with special rates, only available when booking direct with them. We decided to rent our car from Hertz, because they had an almost custom made offer for us:
- unlimited km’s
- CDW excess reduced
- all taxes and fees included
- free airport drop off
- their Fremantle office was opened on a Saturday morning.

We had to pay just AUD 56,- per day for a Toyota Corolla.

Be aware: we could drop off our car at Perth International Airport, but there is NO petrol station on the airport. We had to buy our last petrol in one of the suburbs of Perth.

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If u r planning to travel western australia, even if just to margaret river, renting a car is a good idea. The drives in Perth (and i think in australia in general) are beautiful. We rented from M2000 which is supposedly cheap according to my friend who studied in Perth. No problems with them at all. The car was also quite new.

There is a place in which i pass when driving to Fremantle called 'BACKPACKERS CAR RENTALS'. Located in South Freo, Hampton Road (at the intersection of Rockingham Rd & Hampton Rd)

Its been there for ages and has recently has a revamp - now targeting backpackers.

Haven't tried it but i am sure its cheaper than the expensive places!!!!