Car Hire in Islamabad.

zafar2002 · Jul 9th, 2007, 01:05 AM

I am going to Pak in October with family of 5 of us. Does anyone knows which Car hire company is with good reputation, also what are charges if you hire for 20+ days?

Any experienes if you have car accident or damage to car, does their insurance covers it or they start asking you money for it to repair. Any input will be welcomed. Thanks.

WitchDr · Jul 11th, 2007, 03:15 AM

EuroCar/Avis/Hertz are all there in Islamabad. It will be expensive to hire a car for 20+ days. I would say in the range of +1000 USD. The deals for a month are better.

Avis was trying to charge me Pak Rs. 11000 (USD 180) for a one way trip from Lahore airport to Islamabad).

desifriend · Jul 19th, 2007, 06:06 PM

I rented a car from Eurocars in Islamabad (they also runs Metro Radio Cabs for what it's worth), for about $300/week. I believe that they will give you a cut in price if you rent for multiple weeks. I rented for one week and then added another week and thus paid a bit more.

As for wrecks and insurance-- well I rented a Toyota Corolla and hit a Pakistani Army truck head on in the mountain road coming down from Murree! Ouch. I had to pay 10 percent of their estimated costs, which was very low compared with US costs. I forget the exact amount, but it was approximately $50 or so.

desifriend · Jul 19th, 2007, 11:41 PM

I just realized that I didn't answer part of your question about insurance. When I rented the car from Eurocars, they automatically included insurance (which in Islamabad you need) and you pay a kind of co-pay of 10 percent of their costs if the vehicle needs to be repaired. If you do get in a wreck you have the option of just getting the car fixed yourself, and since labor is inexpensive relative to the US, your repair costs would be surprisingly and significantly less than you might imagine. I am speculating about the following, but I doubt that the car insurance that your non-Pakistani credit card might normally carry would work in Pakistan. And remember, you gotta drive on the left hand side, so it's useful to get an automatic, since on mountain roads you continually have to pass slower moving trucks and it's not natural to do so with a manual using your left hand.

classified · Jul 20th, 2007, 04:37 PM

I think it would be cheaper and safer to hire someone with a Toyota Custom minibus.
You get the room and A\C go where you want and not have to worry about parking or directions.
It will be cheaper than the Hire+insurance+stress.

I always hire a driver with a car, cost around 1200rs + fuel + food per day thats about £10.
A minibus will cost double I expect.

Anyway enjoy your trip

oh, and haggle like hell!! your the golden goose for 20 days to those guys.

Shaulabar · Jul 22nd, 2007, 08:10 PM

So classified, where do you go to hire a driver with a car? Just spread the word, or is there a reliable place to go to?

Afro-Sheen · Jul 30th, 2007, 10:44 AM

How about Rawalpindi? Are the prices any different to get a car hire in Rawalpindi for about 2 weeks? I am interested in any standard/decent automatic car. Also as some rentals here do, do they include unlimited mileage or is there a limit?

zafar2002 · Sep 2nd, 2007, 07:51 PM

thanks for the detailed replies guys. I have booked my seats with my three kids and wife on 19th of Oct and coming back 12th of Nov. Pray for me that I have a good tour.

I am not sure if I should be able to get cheaper prices from Rawalpindi. I will check it out.

Someone else asked the question about unlimited mileage? is it limited or unlimited?

Shak killS · Sep 13th, 2007, 04:27 PM

you can hire on monthly basis from many private local rent a car dealers, that will be work out cheaper for you. avis/budget etc may have more higher prices and per day rates. rwp should be cheaper as its trend all over pakistan, more posh area higher the prices.