Self Drive Car Rental from Bangalore

With a camping trip and a long drive in plans ahead, it was time to check out the self-drive options available in Bangalore. Unlike the USA, where renting out a car is a breeze, the market for self-rentals is not mature in India. This is partly due to the wide availability of car rentals with drivers. That comes with compromise to privacy and also feels like adding on a person to your family vacation.

With positive reviews at forums such as TeamBHP, I choose www.drivecarclub.com and www.autoriders.net as my options. The choice of vehicle was either a minivan or a SUV. Both their websites had all the information pertaining to the rental process. On enquiry, Carclub had a prompt response saying that they didn't have vehicles in the requested category but that they would offer a Chevy Optra. Autoriders were prompt in their replies too and they offered a Mahindra Xylo. We confirmed with them and requested that the car be dropped and picked up from our home, for an extra charge. (Rs. 350 each way).
   
On the day of the delivery, we were to give the deposit of Rs.25,000 (it varied vehicle category wise) in cash and also pay for the rental in advance. We had requested the vehicle be delivered at 9 am and the vehicle arrived at 9:45 am. The paperwork didn't consume much time and we were given a copy of all documents pertaining to the car.

Self drive rental cars have a Black License Plate with Yellow letter and thus they stand out. Upon crossing the Karnataka state border to the state of Tamilnadu, we had to halt at the RTO office just before Hosur. Lots of parked trucks parked on the side of the highway is the cue to the RTO office. It look us half an hour to wait and pay the road taxes(Rs.350) to the state of Tamilnadu, which had a validity of one week. At the end of our trip, we paid for the extra charges that we had incurred and our deposit was returned back in cash.

Renting a self-drive car from Autoriders from their Bangalore office was sure a straight forward process and their staff pleasant to deal with. My wish is for self-drive rental car agencies at major train stations..With help from GPS and Google Maps and the patience to brave the chaos of Indian road, trains and self-driven cars would be a wonderful way to see the real India at one's own pace..