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9 minutes ago, Mostlylost said:

Have done it many times. Never a problem anywhere in the world including USA. Buying insurance or not is your option. It is illegal to require you to purchase it in every state in the USA  that I am aware of. Your credit card usually has the collision included. 

What abou liability insurance, which is required in many states?

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31 minutes ago, Mostlylost said:

The rental car companies have a liability bond. A copy is usually in the vehicle and also in the rental agreement. When you buy a policy from them it is 100% profit.

Thanks.  I wasn't aware of that.  I did some checking and found it is only minimum liability coverage and that car rental companies are not required to carry it in California.

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i rented a car in the united states with a Mexican drivers license, they would not rent to me without a International drivers licenses.

international license had to state that i had a US passport

 

if you have a us address and  AAA will give a international drivers license  a small feei

..

had to order it from Mexico city, expensive.

 

 

but i was able to rent a car in the US. on the thfree trips that year to US, international livense expir in ayear

 

be careful i was given wrong info by car rentals companies, finally talked to head manger of car rental location, and was told what i needed.

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51 minutes ago, traderspoc said:

i rented a car in the united states with a Mexican drivers license, they would not rent to me without a International drivers licenses.

international license had to state that i had a US passport

 

if you have a us address and  AAA will give a international drivers license  a small feei

..

had to order it from Mexico city, expensive.

 

 

but i was able to rent a car in the US. on the thfree trips that year to US, international livense expir in ayear

 

be careful i was given wrong info by car rentals companies, finally talked to head manger of car rental location, and was told what i needed.

There are International agreements regarding the use of Foreign drivers licenses. The requirement for an International drivers license to rent a car may be in conflict with those agreements.

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Just go on Expedia or Priceline and rent the car. You have to have a credit card to rent a car in the US. Call the number on the back of the card and ask about car rental insurance benefits. Most cards in the 21st Century provide full coverage for up to 14 days and in some cases 30 days. If your rental is for more days than the card provides benefits, tell them that and they will break the contract into 2 parts to provide full coverage.

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When we rely on the Credit Card Co's 'insurance', it raises several problems:

All of our CC companies require that we pay all the bills first,  then submit all the bills to them,    and  then  they decide how much to reimburse, sometimes 3 months later.

That system can make sense in the USA,  but it can land us in jail,  with   no food & no water   for 2 - 4 days & nights in Mexico.

If you don't have the cash to pay at the accident site for all potential liabilities,   car repairs,   damages to houses, lamp posts etc    plus all likely medical expenses for anyone injured, then the Mexican police put the drivers (both guilty & innocent parties)  in jail for up to 72 hours, until

1.  They complete their investigations .
or
2.  Someone comes up with the cash to cover all expected liabilities & medical expenses  ... plus up to $4 million in pesos for accidental deaths.
or
3.  Our Mexican insurance adjustor simply arranges to fiscally bond us  out of jail.

Credit card companies do not send adjusters out to the scene of our accidents,  so we are left to the whims of the police peritos.

That another reason why relying on the Credit Card company (especially US & Canadian CC companies),  is not what some experienced travelers choose,   especially those who prefer no nights in Mexican jail, without food or water. 

Mexican rules are that  your friends or family brings you food & water when in temporary detention (jail) for 2-4 nights.

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That is not my experience in Mex. When I put the rental on the CC, and had damage to the car upon return, the rental company put the repair charges on the same CC and all I did was fax the paperwork of the rental agreement and the damage repair estimate to the CC company and they took care of it.

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We just went through this earlier this year. We don't have any US auto policy covering our car. We did the reservation and paid for the rental with a US credit card and we have valid US driver's licenses. Visa does provide what amounts to comprehensive and collision insurance but NOT liability which is required everywhere in the US. I don't think any credit card provides liability coverage and to get the comp/col we had to decline and sign off on the rental car company coverage. They will ask you for the name of your liability company and if your US policy doesn't cover rental cars or like in our case we had no insurance in the US at all, we had to purchase the liability. The insurance policy you will find in all rental car glove compartments is a liability policy only for employees or agents of the rental company for the purpose of driving the vehicle on company business. It will not cover the renter's liability if he injures somebody or damages another car during an accident. I did ask if I could have rented the car with a Mexican license and was told yes. Alan

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Renting a car in the US with a Mexican drivers license and a credit card without the insurance clause.

Did exactly that a year ago in Dallas, Texas - drove to somewhere in New Mexico and return.  Took car out Friday and returned in on Monday.  Basically a weekend.  As I recall the cost was 646 USD, insurance being the large portion of it.

 

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2 hours ago, tomgates said:

That is not my experience in Mex. When I put the rental on the CC, and had damage to the car upon return, the rental company put the repair charges on the same CC and all I did was fax the paperwork of the rental agreement and the damage repair estimate to the CC company and they took care of it.

Cool...

Did the police come to the scene of your accident?

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On 12/13/2016 at 7:04 AM, traderspoc said:

i rented a car in the united states with a Mexican drivers license, they would not rent to me without a International drivers licenses.

international license had to state that i had a US passport

 

if you have a us address and  AAA will give a international drivers license  a small feei

..

had to order it from Mexico city, expensive.

 

 

but i was able to rent a car in the US. on the thfree trips that year to US, international livense expir in ayear

 

be careful i was given wrong info by car rentals companies, finally talked to head manger of car rental location, and was told what i needed.

Very rare. Agent needs retraining.  I have rented from 5 or 6 different national chains. Never had a problem.

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We have lived in MX full time for 18 years and only have MX driver's license. We have used Budget.com for 12 years to rent cars in the U.S.  No problems. You can purchase the type of insurance you want during the online rental process. The only stipulation with a MX license, you can't take the rental car out of the U.S. ( ie can't drive into Canada or MX with it).  Most locations are at airports. Look for discount code on their site for advanced purchase.

If you have a car insured in MX, check with your agent as some companies cover you while in the U.S.

Hope this helps...

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Europeans when they come to the US don't put up with the insurance con because they to go to websites in their home countries that offer everything included. You can do the same from Mexico.  Checkout rentalcars.com

 

 

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