Rent a BRZ or FR-S in the US?
 

Hey guys,

I'm going to spend a week in CA, USA due to a business trip and will need a car. I was checking all the known rentals (Hertz, Alamo, etc.) but none of the cars there would make me entirely happy. So I was thinking - while my orange beauty is waiting for me in my garage in Germany, I could drive a FR-S or BRZ around in the US.

Does anyone know, if I could rent somwhere in San Francisco the FT86 for a week? Preferably from a corporation like Hertz, or maybe even from a Subaru/Scion dealer directly.

This came up a few weeks ago, short answer is no.

Long answer is Toyota does offer rentals but I don't know of anyone who's gone through the process and whether or not the FR-S is offered is a bit of a gamble, you'll have to go hunting.

http://www.toyota.com/rental/?siteid...msGeneralBroad

Alternatively there's this:

https://relayrides.com/

Never used it but I will in the future. IMHO drive something different that you wouldn't get the chance to or that you would never buy, in SoCal there's a supercharged Miata listed, that would probably be a hoot.

Edit:
https://relayrides.com/car-rental/sa...stingray/62981

This seems like a great way to have some random person destroy your car.

Actually, I think if your car is not modded (aka you don't have a lot of your personal time put into it) this is pretty good especially if insurance appraises the car well. If your clutch is on its way out or your synchros are on their way out then what's a little abuse going to do? The per hour dollar amount that people are willing to pay for a "special" car is probably more than enough to make up for any wear and tear.

I work in car rental and I would never loan any of my cars for some random person to rent. Mechanical abuse is actually the least of my concern. Rather my concern will be the state of the interior as I like my car clean...most people don't give a crap about cleanliness in cars, the very high chance the car will no longer be accident free, and the fact that your car could be used as an accessory to crime...a responsibility I don't want to deal with.

Looking at the pricing, there are some cars that seem fairly priced like the GTI, SLK, 5-series and Mini coupe which are $40/day or less. There was one that was absolutely silly though, $89/day for a Fiat 500 Abarth...even without my employee discount I can rent a Audi A4/BMW 320i/C300/G37X for less than that, and these are cars that cost twice the amount of that Fiat.

I have used Relay Rides to rent an Elise for several days. It is very straightforward and easy.

If you are still looking, you can rent an FR-S from this outfit still...

http://clubsportiva.com/exotic-car-rentals


Should be a discount price for multiple-day rentals.