Renting a car on CA side to drive across entire US side

[Delicia 1]

When my husband is finally approved (sometime in umm Stardate 7.32.2532) we will have to rent a car in Toronto to drive to Phoenix because I am certainly not going to drive both ways. Anyway, read that you cannot drive a Canadian rental vehicle across the border, so fine, I figure you rent one to take you to the POE and then rent another for the U.S. leg of the trip. Does that mean you have to cab or walk or hitchhike or jog from the drop off point of the Canadian car to the POE then cab, walk, run, etc from the POE to the pick up point of the U.S. car rental place?

Me = boggled

[payxibka 10,045]

Sounds about right....

[TheATeam 0]

Yup, that's how you would have to do it! We looked into that too, but it just can't be done in any sort of realistic way. Or at least that's what we figured! It's also pretty expensive. SO silly! It would end up being cheaper to drive both ways, so we're flying and just getting rid of all my stuff.

[Delicia 1]

We have another dog to transport from Toronto to Phoenix, so hence the driving. If we drove both ways, would pretty much be me driving solo 3 days just to turn around and drive back with husband + dog. Sounds no fun at all.

[thermophile 0]

I've looked into doing the same thing. Seems pretty much impossible, at least in the West - would have rented in Calgary, driven to the border, then hitchhiked or magically transported myself several hundred miles to get to the next city to rent a US car. If you figure out a way to do it, please let me know.

[Delicia 1]

Yeah, Detroit/Windsor might be the answer. At least I would think you could drop off at Windsor and pick up in Detroit, but its just that small distance from rental place to POE that is a bit numbing.

[eau_xplain 2]

Check if they have Enterprise car rental near the border. Their motto is "we'll pick you up". See if you can work it out that they pick you up near the border crossing. They also have Enterprise-Canada so maybe you can work out a deal for both sides of the border?

Edited March 12, 2008 by eau_xplain

[Earmuffs 1]

I dont know about one way, but I have been in a rental from canada to the US.

[shawna7 4]

I have rented a car in buffalo and driven to Toronto..BUT when I was considering renting from toronto and driving to the states..I couldn't find a rental company that was ok with the car crossing the border(very strange if you ask me) I gave pretty quick.. what about a grey hound to cross the border? they allow dogs right?

[Delicia 1]

Ok that might solve the problem! I can fly to Detroit, pick up U.S. rental, drive into Ontario and onto Toronto, pick up hubby + dog, and just turn around. Perhaps that is the solution.

[Kathryn41 3,205]

Delicia,

My then fiance flew to Detroit from Atlanta, rented a van from Enterprise at the airport in Detroit, drove across the border to where I lived (about an hour's drive), loaded up me, my cats and a week's worth of stuff, then we crossed back into the US, drove to south of Atlanta and returned the van to the local Enterprise office. I would definitely suggest renting your van or vehicle in the US - Buffalo or Lewiston NY might be closer for you than Detroit - then crossing the border into Canada to pick up your husband and the dog and do the one way rental dropping the vehicle off in Phoenix. Check the various airports for their rental information - you can book on line (he did) and have all of the arrangements in place for your arrival. There was an additional fee for the one way trip but it wasn't high.

[EmilyandJason 0]

I'm guessing this applies to Uhaul too. Thanks for posting this Delicia. It hadn't even occurred to me that I wasn't going to be able to rent a Uhaul, load it up and drive over the border.

I guess I could get hubby to rent one on the US side, drive it up and then head down? This will cost a lot more ...

[SapphireDreams 71]

See I thought I read that someone here had rented a UHaul one way? I think it was Liz?

[EmilyandJason 0]

I just did a bit of research and I think you can drive it one way, but not round trip. Which makes no sense, but works for me.

I'll just call Uhaul later and ask. I have plenty of time to dispose of my junk anyway if it turns out I can't rent a truck.

[Flames9_RN 358]

I just did a bit of research and I think you can drive it one way, but not round trip. Which makes no sense, but works for me.

I'll just call Uhaul later and ask. I have plenty of time to dispose of my junk anyway if it turns out I can't rent a truck.

I rented a Uhaul 1 way!! from NS to DC!! Not all of Uhaul trucks can cross the border, but I belive most can. One just has to tel them where ur destination is!! My uhaul experience was fine!! truck was in good order. My only problem was that I ordered mine from a smal town Uhaul dealer! he could not 100% promis me a truck until like a week prior!! But he did promise he would goto Halifax if needed and get me a truck!! So I think if u were in a bigger city you would be fine! As well keep in mind, many people have had problems with uhaul, the 2 main ones bring 1) unreliable trucks--mechanically wise, and 2) truck not there when you go to pick it up!! So one should try and find a U haul dealer that has a good fleet and appears honest. One can check out the rates at uhaul.com I think for me my total bill was around $900. my truck only got around 10 mpg, but i was doing like 70 mph,lol