vwcorvette
vwcorvette Dork
2/6/14 5:54 p.m.

Wife and I are flying to LA, spending time in San Luis Obispo for a wedding, then flying out of San Francisco this summer. Anybody with experience renting a Vette or other specialty car. Plan is to pick up at LAX, drop off at San Fran. Will go to Petersen Museum, drive a little coastal highway, maybe see Yosemite.

Advice or suggestions?

JohnRW1621
JohnRW1621 UltimaDork
2/6/14 6:19 p.m.

A one way rental (pick up at one airport and drop at another) may greatly increase your price. Check into this to verify.

OldGray320i
OldGray320i Reader
2/6/14 6:35 p.m.

Did it on my honeymoon 23 years ago. Awesome fun, but the wife wasn't to keen on exploring it's capabilities in any fashion.

The morning I took it back to the airport was a quick blast of sheer joy. I got up really early (I never do, not then, not now), jumped right out of bed, in to the car and off I went.

My wife realized that something was amiss with me doing that. When I got back to the hotel (to spend a couple more hours at the beach, mind you...) she said to me "you went out speeding around in that car didn't you." Wha, me? No, speed limits only...

dculberson
dculberson UltraDork
2/7/14 9:28 a.m.

I rented one from Thrifty, I think, in Las Vegas. It was a local rental though so I don't know who rents Vettes one way. Try all the big ones. LA has a lot of exotic car rental specialty places but they all charge an arm and a leg with low mileage limits and high per-mile cost after that. I also expect none of them to offer one-way rentals. The LA Hertz had Corvettes recently, don't know if they still do. Good luck and enjoy it!

I got the damage waiver since it was only $20/day. Seemed worth it for a $65k car.

Joe Severns
Joe Severns Marketing & PR Director
2/7/14 10:07 a.m.

http://exoticcars.enterprise.com/

GTwannaB
GTwannaB Reader
2/7/14 3:24 p.m.

https://www.hertz.com/rentacar/misc/index.jsp?targetPage=corvettezhz.jsp

On road tripping Monterey is worth spending a day or two. Aquarium is real cool, stop by the mission in Carmel, wine tasting in the Carmel Valley is fun too. Stay in Monterey, Carmel, Pacific Grove. Never did 18 Mile Drive, could be fun.

bgkast
bgkast Dork
2/7/14 3:56 p.m.

Go here: http://m.yelp.com/biz/cold-spring-tavern-santa-barbara

This is right next to it:

bmw88rider
bmw88rider Reader
2/7/14 6:21 p.m.

Great vacation. Did it in a Hertz penske Mustang GT. Had a blast. Monterrey is really nice and the aquarium is incredible. I would do the round trip personally just to save on the one way rental. A lot of places don't do the one way with their special cars.

Also check the miles limits. Make sure there isn't a 125 mile a day limit or anything like that.

GTwannaB
GTwannaB Reader
2/8/14 1:11 p.m.

Another thought on mixing up the route. If you want to shoot away from the Ocean at Santa Cruz - Take route 9 going northish, shoot off to 236 for a drive through Big Basin, back to 9 until you hit route 35 Skyline Blvd. Take 35 towards SF. Stop at the junction of 84 and eat at Alice's Restaurant with the bikers. Then keep going until 92.

Possible route

But.... The drive between Santa Cruz and San Francisco on the ocean is really nice and open. So you might want to consider just staying on route 1 on the ocean. Just realize whatever route you choose you will get occasionally stuck behind campers and rental Mustang convertibles, just know it will happen. weekends will be worse.

GTwannaB
GTwannaB Reader
2/8/14 1:30 p.m.

OK a couple of spots to put in the GPS. You can easily blast past all of these without realizing it.

1) Nepenthe Restaurant near Big Sur - obscene views. You are paying for the view not the service.

http://www.nepenthebigsur.com/

Approx coords Latitude - Longitude: 36.222858,-121.759154

2) Partington Cove, quick short hike spot to stretch your legs. This is a trail, but this too short to be considered hiking. Go through the cave to the cove for awesome water spot. It's not really marked, you will just see parked cars.

http://www.hikinginbigsur.com/hikes_partingtoncove.html

Approx Coords Latitude - Longitude: 36.176816,-121.693586

3) Moss Beach Distillery - Half Moon Bay-ish - grab a beer by a firepit overlooking the Pacific. Nothing fancy just a cool spot.

http://www.mossbeachdistillery.com/

Approx Coords Latitude - Longitude: 36.222858,-121.759154

You'll need to log in to post.

Our Preferred Partners
B5vEtA0DBo8jBTj9X8Jm73iUJTpACFjouBEWFXiuLVVPGZODgXXY2CJFpcpR8pXd