Rent-a-Prius
The Toyota marketing machine is in overdrive these days. While it's promoting the gigantic new Tundra pickup truck that spews plenty of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, it's hard at work polishing its image as the most environmentally-friendly car company on the planet. Toyota is importing more Prius vehicles than ever before and for the first time, it's got enough inventory to sell to fleets as well as use spiffs to get the Prius in as many customers' garages as possible.
The latest "news" is that the major car rental companies in the US (Hertz Global Holdings, Avis Budget Group Inc. and Enterprise Rent-A-Car Co.) are buying fleets of hybrids to reduce their own corporate carbon footprints and satisfy customer demand. It's no chance that the hybrid-of-choice is the Toyota Prius. Thanks to Toyota marketing, the Prius has the highest "green" profile of any hybrid and it is instantly the poster child for hybrid cars.
The Honda Civic Hybrid is as good as the Prius when it comes to carbon dioxide emissions and fuel economy; but Honda lost the image battle when Toyota designed the Prius to be a stand alone model and gave it a futuristic look. When the average consumer thinks of a hybrid car, they instantly identify the Prius. Every other hybrid on the market is nearly invisible as they are merely variants of a more plebian model: Honda Civic Hybrid, Ford Escape Hybrid, Toyota Camry Hybrid, Toyota Highlander Hybrid, Saturn Aura Green Line, Saturn Vue Green Line and Nissan Altima Hybrid. Most people couldn't distinguish the hybrid models from the gasoline models of these mass-market cars. The Prius, however, stands alone.
Even when it comes to Lexus, the Lexus hybrids -- the GS450h, LX400h and LS600h L -- are barely distinguishable from their more common gasoline-only stable mates. Lexus is fixing that "image problem" as it's been announced that Lexus is building a hybrid-only model around the size of its IS sedans. In other words, Lexus is getting its own Prius.
Hertz Green Collection will spend $68 million to add 3,400 Toyota Prius vehicles to its fleet by 2008. Avis Budget is buying 1,000 Prius vehicles that will be available this month at selected locations. Enterprise already has a fleet of more than 3,000 hybrids -- mostly the Prius.
I've always advocated that you should rent a version of your car to test it before you buy it. Of course, that is very difficult when it comes to more expensive luxury, sports and specialty cars. It's easy to find a Toyota Corolla to rent but it's not so easy to find a Scion xB. It's easy to find a Cadillac DTS in rental fleets, but it's not so easy to find a Mercedes S Class or BMW 7-Series. But it is much easier now to find a hybrid -- particularly the Toyota Prius.
So if you are one of the thousands and thousands of Los Angeles residents who want a Prius, I suggest you spend the money to rent one for a weekend to see if it fits your driving needs and lifestyle. But it won't be cheap. In a recent New York Times travel section article, Avis says it rents the Prius for $69 a day in outlets in California, Portland OR, Seattle WA and Washington DC. When I checked online and for the July 4th holiday weekend, I was quoted $100.99/day from LAX. It must cost more to be green in LA.
Hertz didn't seem too interested in besting Avis as its website quoted me $100.99/day for the same time period. Budget, the sister company of Avis, didn't have any hybrids listed on its website. I called Budget and the agent told me they didn't have them yet but that they were "coming soon".
Enterprise is a bit trickier. I know Enterprise rents the Prius here in LA because I've seen them. The Enterprise website doesn't specifically mention hybrids or the Prius so I called Enterprise and the representative told me that the Prius is rented for the same price/category as a Toyota Corolla -- which I think is classified as a compact car. You have to check with the specific Enterprise office about the availability of the Prius and if they have one you can get one. At least it won't cost as much as Avis and Hertz.
In LA and other selected large US cities, we have the option of EV Rentals, the only nationwide rental car company that rents only hybrids. EV Rental's website lists three vehicles: The Prius, Honda Civic Hybrid and Toyota Highlander Hybrid. The Ford Escape Hybrid is also available, but you don't know that until you get a quote for an SUV rental. This week, the Civic is listed at $35.55/day; the Prius is $44.55 and the Highlander or Escape is $71.55/day.
Coming soon, one of our local luxury rental companies plans on offering a Tesla electric vehicle! Of course, it's going to be expensive -- they don't quote daily rates yet -- but that would be one fun car to drive around LA for a day.
I have some words of advice when it comes to renting hybrids. First, the prices are subject to change daily or more often. The best way to find a bargain is to do it online with a discount code, coupon, club card, corporate rate code, etc. I think $100/day is way too expensive for a Toyota Prius; however if you must have one, check around for more reasonable prices, particularly EV Rentals. Further, next time you travel for business, it might be fun and affordable to rent a hybrid at a major city airport. Your company may pay for it or it could be tax-deductible for you. Driving one for a day or longer may give you a feel for just how much or little you like driving these refrigerators -- I know the Prius isn't for me, but it may be just what you are looking for!
