How Not to Get in Trouble When Renting a Car Overseas
It's important that you have confidence in your driving skills the moment you sit behind the wheel. This is why enrolling in professional tuition is very important before you're handed the car keys. You also have to pass before you should pay cash for cars in Newcastle or Brisbane, so your money won't be wasted. Imagine if you don't get your licence and the car is already delivered. Would you just drool over it while it sits in the garage?
When driving overseas, however, confidence won't be enough to get you from point A to B. If you want to avoid the pitfalls, you should also follow the local rules as well as these tips:
Be sure to plan ahead
Visiting Australia or New Zealand? If you want to rent a car during your month-long stay, you should make arrangements in advance. Don't just pick a hire company at random, because you won't know if you're getting the best deal. What are the odds that the terms might not be to your liking or that there are hidden charges. To avoid nasty surprises, take time to do your homework. Work out the total cost by studying the rates, extra charges and contract terms, and then make comparisons. Better yet, hire one from a trusted car rental service provider.
Get the right insurance
You'd be surprised at the number of extra insurance that goes with a rental. These include additional liability insurance, collision damage waiver, loss damage waiver, carefree personal protection, super theft protection, and many others. If you simply accept what the hire company provides, you'd be paying more than what you expect. This is why you should choose which add ons to buy, if you do get one. Generally, your car insurance would suffice, as long as it provides coverage abroad. Otherwise, get the extra that provides the best form of protection.
Familiarise the local road rules
Knowledge is power and, in this case, it is your safety net. Just think, if you didn't do your homework, would your buying transaction of cash for cars in Newcastle, or somewhere else, pull through without a hitch? The same idea applies when renting and driving a vehicle overseas. You should gather as much information about the road rules to avoid violating any of them. The most basic includes driving on the left-hand side of the road, sticking on or below the speed limit, not overtaking other cars where there are double yellow lines, and wearing seat belts.
On a final note, drive according to the conditions of the road. Outback driving means there will be less traffic, which isn't entirely good news. Because when your car breaks down, help would take a while and far in between. In New Zealand, roads may be short, but not that easy to manoeuvre, as they're often hilly, narrow and winding. This involves slow and careful driving.
Armed with this knowledge, you'll know which car rental category to hire and how to use it the right way.
