TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin car rentals

Where can get a car that fits 5 people with a decent rate?

Hertz has 5 passenger vehicles.

Check your normal provider or one of the sponsors of this board. If they don't have them, them may have a contact who can deliver the required vehicle. If you are one of their "regulars", you might get a better deal than booking it yourself.

We all have our "guy" ! As of last year, we changed to Sax Car rental. The main reason was that they bring the car to the airport, do the paperwork on site and same with the return!!! No more of this, "well we have to go back to the yard" . Prices were GREAT, newer cars of all makes and models!! Lovely owners and staff, we are booked again in a few weeks!! I give them a 4 stars!!
https://www.saxcarrental.com/about-sax-car-rental-rent-a-car-sint-maarten-st-martin.php

That's the same thing Kenny's does but Lesley or his wife meet you. The car is in the lot and s/he escorts you to it, fills out the paperwork and off you go. When you are ready to leave you return the car to the airport parking ot, place the keys in the designated spot and walk into the terminal. Lesley is such a great guy to do business with. I don't need or want the shiniest, newest car on the island. I am happy with a dependable car that looks more like a resident's car than a tourist.

Many residents have shinny new cars. Its easy to pick out a rental car even with a French plate.

I have seen this topic posted a zillion times.
I have rented a car every year once or twice a year for 35+ years.
Never had a problem with car access in the past 30 of those years. Yes, early days sometimes they did not have enough cars.
Fill out paperwork @ airport, fill out paperwork 1/2 mile from airport. No difference.
I guess some folks have had bad experiences.

We’ve definitely found ourselves first waiting for the shuttle and then waiting at an office to do more waiting while the paperwork was filled out. This year we took a taxi to the hotel and then had Leslie bring our car the next day. We were able to do a smaller car because we didn’t need room for bags. And it took some stress out of the arrival. The previous year our flight was badly delayed and actually showed up as cancelled in the tracking. Landed on SXM and our rental company was no where to be found. Sure we were able to make a last minute arrangement, but it was less than ideal. I should note we have two small kids so our transit is more difficult than average.

We rented from Hertz last year, got a really good deal on a very nice car considering that the daily liability insurance premium is included in the rental cost. This year I've sent them two emails for a quote/reservation but have not received a reply. Our trip is not until late January, maybe it's too early but a reply would be nice. Anyone else run into this issue?

Check your spam. I have always received a quick reply from them in the past.

Thanks SXMScubaman! Mystery solved, I should have dug a little deeper in my junk drawer.

Glad I could help.

IMHO, If I'm paying for a car rental, it had better be nice as my car at home!

Not me!! I would much rather have a car with a few dents and dings on it, so long as the a/c works!!

Yup...I have no need of a pretty car in SXM. I just need one that has everything in working order

French plates, as well as Dutch plates, identify the car as a rental.

So! After 46 years of at least annual trips (and quite often multiple trips as well....) one thing I've discovered about renting a car in SXM. The absolute last thing I want is a brand spanking new, shiny, sparkling and dent-free pristine rental car to have to be concerned about over the course of our vacation. For sure, I don't want a junker - and our agency would never give us one like that - but we've driven the island roads, some to places I still can't believe we've driven to, and I don't want to be the one to put the first dent or ding in a new car. And I surely don't want to have to explain to Lesley how it might have happened.......

To each his own, for sure, but I'll happily take the occasional dent and ding of the lovingly used model and know that I'm worry-free as far as damaging a brand new one. We are always very careful about how we drive, and generally where we drive, too, but sometimes the roads are just plain BAD and 'stuff' happens. Last November the heavy rains and road flooding was a classic example......

Many years ago, we were in Marigot on the corner near La Vie en Rose and observed a huge dump truck, after making several attempts to safely enter a street - driving over - yes, literally over - the front end of a poorly parked rental car that was parked in a no parking area right under the sign that designated it as such, and blocking the turn into the road. We were actually tempted to stick around and see how the renter reacted but decided against it, as did the driver of the dump truck. This was one time when I said, "Not my problem, not my issue!" but I'm willing to bet it wasn't pretty when the renter got back.

I am with you. A/C, automatic and can actually get up and hills without turning off the a/c. Ok, might have to downshift, but that is workable. Dents, scratches, etc. the more the merrier.

Car we have now has a BUSTED tail light (only partially broken), NO I DID NOT DO IT! It was busted when we got it. AC is great the it goes up and down the hills without problem. No problem with all the bumps, scratches, dents, etc. -- whole check out page basically circled the entire car!

That's our only need---that it makes it up hills!

When we were last there in 2016, our rental was so dinged, one of the locals at the Petit Casino asked me if we were locals! Could care less what it looks like as long as it runs and has ac! Claude does know how to take care of us!!!!!!!!