A Guide to Special Equipment for Car Rentals

Special Equipment for car rentals is extra products that are offered by the rental company for an extra fee. These would be things like Child Safety Seats, GPS units, DVD Players and Ski Racks. As well, there are special equipment options for renters with disabilities ,that have no extra cost associated.

CHILD SAFETY SEATS

These are offered in three basic sizes and range from $10 to $15 per day.

Some rental car companies have no weekly rate or maximum rate for the car seat rental, while some offer a weekly or maximum rate, per rental. Make sure to calculate the total cost of your saftey seat and not just look at the per day price.

There are three main categories of child seats.

Rear facing infant carrier or child/infant seat - (2-20 lbs or 2.27-9.07 kilos). Up to 1 year old

Front facing infant/toddler seat - (20-40 lbs or 9.07-18.16 kilos). Over 1 year old

Booster seat - (40-80 lbs or 18.16-36.32 kilos). Up to 8 years old

Child safety seat laws vary by state and province.

The most common types of car seats carried by car rental companies are Evenflo and Graco.

Note: For liability reasons, the car rental companies will not install the car seat for you. If you need it, they will provide you with installation instructions for this special equipment.

Note: you must follow the law for the state,province or territory that you have rented the car and are driving in, not the state,province or territory that you reside in, if different.

Click here, for information on Child Safety Seat Laws in the United States

Click here, for information on Child Safety Seat Laws in Canada

GPS UNITS

GPS Units are offered as special equipment at several car rental companies. The common models are Garmin and Neverlost and range from $8.95 – $12.95 per day (no weekly rates or maximum rates here!).

A GPS unit identifies exactly where you are at any time, and shows and tells you how to get wherever you want to go. They use the Global Positioning System (GPS) – and provide accurate, turn-by-turn voice and text directions.

GPS unit rentals can get quite expensive, depending on the length of your rental. In my opinion, they are incredible! I have one and would never leave home without it! Consider the cost of renting one vs. buying your own. If you have a short car rental and are looking into buying a GPS unit, rent one and see if you like it.

SKI RACK RENTALS

Ski Racks are available at many car rental locations that have proximity to ski destinations. They are sometimes limited to certain size vehicles and range in price and availability from city to city and company to company.

TOLL PASS OPTIONS

The majority of car rental companies now provide some sort of toll pass option for your rental. These options will allow the renter to go directly through electronic toll payment lanes. For more information on Toll Pass Options, click here.

DVD PLAYERS

DVD Player rentals used to be hard to find. They are becoming more available for rental due to increased customer demand. Your best bet is to check with the particular location that you wish to rent from to see if a DVD player is available for your rental.

SATELLITE TV'S

Avis Budget Group of Parsippany will offer rental car customers AT&T satellite TV service later this year, probably late spring to early summer. The unit uses a receiver and compact, low-profile external antenna to provide 22 satellite television channels and 20 satellite radio channels to a rear seat entertainment unit.

Avis and Budget have announced plans to make the service available in rental cars at some locations for $9 a day or $63 a week.

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