Self Drive Car rentals in India- A complete Guide
Updated March 19th, 2014:
Added Zoomcars and refined Hertz section, downgraded Avis.
The concept of self drive is slowly picking up momentum in India. Unlike west, manpower is pretty cheap here and coupled with the facts that driving in India is best left to professional drivers, the idea of self drive car rentals doesn’t seem to have really taken off. While in every street you’ll find couple of travel agencies offering Sumos, Qualis and Indicas for rent, the number of car rental agencies who dare to give their machines on self drive is very very few. Also, driving is not considered a respectable job and drivers are treated at par with watchmen, cleaner and such other unskilled or semi skilled jobs. Many of us do not have an idea what self drive is and if that option is really available in India.
I took my first self drive rental way back in 2008 (Skoda Octavia from Carzonrent- My trip experience). And thereafter have rented close to 50+ cars from various agencies in different cities. Based on this experience and general observation and knowledge, I am listing some notes which will be useful to travelers considering self drive options in India.
Quick Navigation: Advantages of Self Drive* Risks involved in self drive (in India) * Suggestions to those planning to take cars on self drive rentals in India * My feedback on Hertz India (Carzonrent)* Eligibility for taking cars on Self drive * Companies renting cars on self drive in India
Added Zoomcars and refined Hertz section, downgraded Avis.
The concept of self drive is slowly picking up momentum in India. Unlike west, manpower is pretty cheap here and coupled with the facts that driving in India is best left to professional drivers, the idea of self drive car rentals doesn’t seem to have really taken off. While in every street you’ll find couple of travel agencies offering Sumos, Qualis and Indicas for rent, the number of car rental agencies who dare to give their machines on self drive is very very few. Also, driving is not considered a respectable job and drivers are treated at par with watchmen, cleaner and such other unskilled or semi skilled jobs. Many of us do not have an idea what self drive is and if that option is really available in India.
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| BMW 320d from Zoom |
Quick Navigation: Advantages of Self Drive* Risks involved in self drive (in India) * Suggestions to those planning to take cars on self drive rentals in India * My feedback on Hertz India (Carzonrent)* Eligibility for taking cars on Self drive * Companies renting cars on self drive in India
Advantages of Self drive:
1. You get an extra seat
2. If you enjoy driving, it will be better experience driving yourself
3. Some intercity highways are pretty good-one can enjoy driving.
4. It gives privacy
5. In many instances, self drive works out cheaper than regular cab rental- particularly for long drives.
Risks of taking a vehicle on Self drive in India:
1. Liabilities: If anything goes wrong you’ll be answerable, and there're lot of things which can go wrong (vehicle break down, flat tyre, accidents, road blocks, getting lost and so on). In a chauffeur driven rental, you can enjoy the ride while the driver will be responsible for both driving and overall care taking of the vehicle. If the vehicle breaks down you can leave the driver and his vehicle and continue journey in another vehicle. (if possible) With self drive, a small incident can ruin all the fun.
2. Rental companies usually buy the cheapest available variant of a car and the vehicle may not have basic safety facilities or convenience accessories.
4. Driving in India is an art. Besides knowing how to drive you also need a strong mouth. When two vehicles touch each other, irrespective of whos fault it is, one driving the expensive vehicle is held guilty by default. You'll need a strong mouth (and muscle too, sometimes!) to survive an argument.
Is it advisable to take cars on self drive in India?
If you enjoy driving, if you're tempted by the advantages and are comfortable with the risks listed above, then you can try self drive in India. If you're risk averse and wish to play safe, go for regular taxi rental
If you plan to take cars on self drive in India:
1. Take a car made by either Maruti/Tata or Mahindra if going on long trips. These manufacturers have dealers all over India and if something goes wrong finding help will be easy. I am not saying don't take other cars- just be informed that service network for other brands is poor. Shouldn't be an issue if you drive around city only, or when a car is fairly new
2. Insist on a relatively new vehicle which is less than 2-3 years old and that vehicle should have relatively newer tyres. (Most of the cars with Carzonrent and Zoom are pretty new)
3. Take a vehicle with high ground clearance. Most of the Indian roads will be in bad condition and may have unscientifically designed humps. Vehicle with low ground clearance will make driving tough.
4. Driving in India is not as easy as driving in other countries. Attributes for this are many-bad roads, irresponsible follow road users who might make unpredictable movements, lack of road sense, not having proper navigation facilities.
5. Consider keeping an Indian friend as co passenger (preferably one who knows local language and also knows driving)
6. Take rental from a reputed company. Some operators may resort to unethical practices like charging a huge amount even for a negligible scratch, handing over a vehicle which is in bad condition, refusing to reimburse you if you had to spend money replacing a faulty spare, renting out vehicles without genuine documents etc.
7. If you need to rent a vehicle for months, better to buy a second hand car, use it for few months and sell off again. Check with a used car dealer for this.
Eligibility to take cars on Self drive rental in India
1. A driver’s license (India or International, LMV) which is min 2 years old and without any endorsements
2. Age 23+ (it was 25+, recently brought down to 23 by Hertz, with some other operators it is still 25+)
3. A credit card with sufficient credit limit (A security deposit ranging from 30k to 1 lakh could be blocked on your card by Hertz, depending on value of the car). Zoom doesn't charge any deposit and private operators accept cash but insist on original Passport or other documents.
Terms and Conditions you should be aware of:
1. Please check with rental company on limitations on No of kms, if any and additional charges- Zoom's rental includes about 250kms worth fuel per day and a per km charge thereafter, some operators put a max cap of 200 or 300kms a day.
2. Car will be delivered full tank and needs to be returned full tank. Else 15% extra on fuel filled by the company- (This is not applicable in case of zoom, some private operators give empty tank and ask you to return empty).
3. Insurance is provided against theft, accidents and major damages. However renter will have to compensate the car company in case of minor damages (dents, scratches etc) which can’t be claimed under insurance.
4. If there’s a fault with the vehicle and if you replace the spare, car rental company will reimburse the expense (Condition: Not when damage is due to reasons like driver’s negligence, driving on bad roads etc.)
1. You get an extra seat
2. If you enjoy driving, it will be better experience driving yourself
3. Some intercity highways are pretty good-one can enjoy driving.
4. It gives privacy
5. In many instances, self drive works out cheaper than regular cab rental- particularly for long drives.
6. Sometimes cab drivers might be extremely stressed, due to several long trips and not enough rest in between. Some drivers also tend to be rash and negligent. If you’re confident of your driving skills, self drive might give you an advantage over these factors.
7. Automatic cars are also available, if you're not comfortable with Manual transmission.
8. Can be rented on hourly/daily/weekly or even monthly basis- easy booking process on zoomcar & Carzonrent
7. Automatic cars are also available, if you're not comfortable with Manual transmission.
8. Can be rented on hourly/daily/weekly or even monthly basis- easy booking process on zoomcar & Carzonrent
1. Liabilities: If anything goes wrong you’ll be answerable, and there're lot of things which can go wrong (vehicle break down, flat tyre, accidents, road blocks, getting lost and so on). In a chauffeur driven rental, you can enjoy the ride while the driver will be responsible for both driving and overall care taking of the vehicle. If the vehicle breaks down you can leave the driver and his vehicle and continue journey in another vehicle. (if possible) With self drive, a small incident can ruin all the fun.
2. Rental companies usually buy the cheapest available variant of a car and the vehicle may not have basic safety facilities or convenience accessories.
Update: This may not be true always- I find mid to top variants on offer these days. Do check with rental company if you're very particular.
3. As per RTO norms vehicle given on self drive will have yellow numbers on black background. With Hertz sticker and this yellow number plate, rest of the road users take it as a taxi and the driver is taken for granted as an experienced taxi driver. So you may not get the respect of a car owner and since your expertise as driver is taken for granted you won’t get much consideration on the road either.
3. As per RTO norms vehicle given on self drive will have yellow numbers on black background. With Hertz sticker and this yellow number plate, rest of the road users take it as a taxi and the driver is taken for granted as an experienced taxi driver. So you may not get the respect of a car owner and since your expertise as driver is taken for granted you won’t get much consideration on the road either.
4. Driving in India is an art. Besides knowing how to drive you also need a strong mouth. When two vehicles touch each other, irrespective of whos fault it is, one driving the expensive vehicle is held guilty by default. You'll need a strong mouth (and muscle too, sometimes!) to survive an argument.
5. Besides knowing how to drive, you should also know the roads to take and knowledge of local language will be essential if you wish to take help from localities during the journey. (Zoomcars will have tablets for easy navigation and maps on your mobile are fairly accurate these days)
Is it advisable to take cars on self drive in India?
If you enjoy driving, if you're tempted by the advantages and are comfortable with the risks listed above, then you can try self drive in India. If you're risk averse and wish to play safe, go for regular taxi rental
If you plan to take cars on self drive in India:
1. Take a car made by either Maruti/Tata or Mahindra if going on long trips. These manufacturers have dealers all over India and if something goes wrong finding help will be easy. I am not saying don't take other cars- just be informed that service network for other brands is poor. Shouldn't be an issue if you drive around city only, or when a car is fairly new
2. Insist on a relatively new vehicle which is less than 2-3 years old and that vehicle should have relatively newer tyres. (Most of the cars with Carzonrent and Zoom are pretty new)
3. Take a vehicle with high ground clearance. Most of the Indian roads will be in bad condition and may have unscientifically designed humps. Vehicle with low ground clearance will make driving tough.
4. Driving in India is not as easy as driving in other countries. Attributes for this are many-bad roads, irresponsible follow road users who might make unpredictable movements, lack of road sense, not having proper navigation facilities.
5. Consider keeping an Indian friend as co passenger (preferably one who knows local language and also knows driving)
6. Take rental from a reputed company. Some operators may resort to unethical practices like charging a huge amount even for a negligible scratch, handing over a vehicle which is in bad condition, refusing to reimburse you if you had to spend money replacing a faulty spare, renting out vehicles without genuine documents etc.
7. If you need to rent a vehicle for months, better to buy a second hand car, use it for few months and sell off again. Check with a used car dealer for this.
 |
| Ertiga from Carzonrent |
1. A driver’s license (India or International, LMV) which is min 2 years old and without any endorsements
2. Age 23+ (it was 25+, recently brought down to 23 by Hertz, with some other operators it is still 25+)
3. A credit card with sufficient credit limit (A security deposit ranging from 30k to 1 lakh could be blocked on your card by Hertz, depending on value of the car). Zoom doesn't charge any deposit and private operators accept cash but insist on original Passport or other documents.
Terms and Conditions you should be aware of:
1. Please check with rental company on limitations on No of kms, if any and additional charges- Zoom's rental includes about 250kms worth fuel per day and a per km charge thereafter, some operators put a max cap of 200 or 300kms a day.
2. Car will be delivered full tank and needs to be returned full tank. Else 15% extra on fuel filled by the company- (This is not applicable in case of zoom, some private operators give empty tank and ask you to return empty).
3. Insurance is provided against theft, accidents and major damages. However renter will have to compensate the car company in case of minor damages (dents, scratches etc) which can’t be claimed under insurance.
4. If there’s a fault with the vehicle and if you replace the spare, car rental company will reimburse the expense (Condition: Not when damage is due to reasons like driver’s negligence, driving on bad roads etc.)
Check with respective rental agencies for complete list of terms and conditions.
Whom to contact for self drive car rentals in India?
There’re very few companies which give cars on self drive in India. So your choices are fairly limited. Only if the awareness about self drive increases, we can expect more players to come in, bringing in more options and cutting down prices.
Option 1. Zoomcars - Only in Bengaluru as of now, expected to open in other cities soon. Zoom has huge collections of vehicles all around Bangalore. Unlike others, Zoom is a pure play self drive company and this 1 year old start up has been expanding rapidly Read my complete review of ZOom here. You need to sign up in advance- pls use referral code X9PDcd
Option 2: Carzonrent (Hertz India franchisee) is the leading one. Carzonrent has relaunched their self drive initiative with MYLES- now the cars are pretty cheap and options are good. They've cars all over India. Read my Chennai rental experience here
Option 3. Autoriders: Their rates are slightly cheaper than Hertz, but do not have much options. Ford Ikon is the best car they have on self drive, as per their website. They haven't responded to my enquiry since weeks.
Option 4. Eco Rent a car -In and around Delhi
Option 5. Avis -Avis was once my preferred option, but not any more. The options they have and the rate they charge are just not worth it. Their rentals come two times the amount charged by Carzonrent. I've stopped using their services currently. Hopefully they will soon refine their self drive portfolio
Option 6: Individuals: If you can scan local newspapers or web forums, you may come across individuals who have a vehicle or two on offer for self drive. They are usually vehicle owners who may wish to make some extra money out of their cars. Such cars are usually well maintained and really Cheap (Someone in Bangalore was offering Ford Ikon for Rs 3000 for weekend (Friday evening to Monday morning) which is quite cheap- Hertz charges nearly 3 times that amount). Downside here is that the deal is unofficial and often based on mutual trust. Not much clarity exists about insurance, how much you may have to compensate if there's a damage etc. Not much paper work either.
There are other city specific operators- like selfdrive.in in Pune
Finding a self drive car rental in Bangalore-another detailed account
Whom to contact for self drive car rentals in India?
There’re very few companies which give cars on self drive in India. So your choices are fairly limited. Only if the awareness about self drive increases, we can expect more players to come in, bringing in more options and cutting down prices.
Option 1. Zoomcars - Only in Bengaluru as of now, expected to open in other cities soon. Zoom has huge collections of vehicles all around Bangalore. Unlike others, Zoom is a pure play self drive company and this 1 year old start up has been expanding rapidly Read my complete review of ZOom here. You need to sign up in advance- pls use referral code X9PDcd
Option 2: Carzonrent (Hertz India franchisee) is the leading one. Carzonrent has relaunched their self drive initiative with MYLES- now the cars are pretty cheap and options are good. They've cars all over India. Read my Chennai rental experience here
Option 3. Autoriders: Their rates are slightly cheaper than Hertz, but do not have much options. Ford Ikon is the best car they have on self drive, as per their website. They haven't responded to my enquiry since weeks.
Option 4. Eco Rent a car -In and around Delhi
Option 5. Avis -Avis was once my preferred option, but not any more. The options they have and the rate they charge are just not worth it. Their rentals come two times the amount charged by Carzonrent. I've stopped using their services currently. Hopefully they will soon refine their self drive portfolio
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| Avis Ford Endeavor- Now discontinued |
There are other city specific operators- like selfdrive.in in Pune
Finding a self drive car rental in Bangalore-another detailed account
Please feel free to share your ideas/experience/suggestions in this regard.
Related post: Hyderabad-Bengaluru by bus-Comparison of operators * Skoda Octavia self drive experience * Zoomcar Impact on Hertz & Avis * Zoomcar anniversary *
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