Renting a Car in the US with a Jalisco driver's license

Has anyone done this in the past year or so? I've done it the other way around with no problems, but given the virtriol in the US, was just wondering if it's possible and if so, is there some kind of surcharge for using an out of country license? (This rental would be done in Virginia, if that makes any difference.)

And if you were successful, which rental car company did you use?

thanks!

Had no difficulty in Orlando this December.

I've rented cars in California, Louisiana, WA, TX and VA with no trouble. I use Budget Car Rental which gives you a substantional discount if you use their on line site to secure your car. There is a box you check if you are a resident of Mexico. When I picked up the car, I just showed them my Mexican dirvers licenses and off I went.

How much is daily rental car auto insurance now? I'm pretty sure my Mexican auto insurance will not cover NOB.

Jim W wrote:How much is daily rental car auto insurance now? I'm pretty sure my Mexican auto insurance will not cover NOB.

Car insurance on rentals varies by state. I know California rates and the insurance is often more per day than the car rental.

They also ask if you want CDR (Collision Damage Waiver) and that adds up.

As I recall, if you use an AMEX card, you are covered to some degree by AMEX, but the car rental will still/often put a hold on $200 or more on your credit card. Sometimes, this can take a couple of weeks to drop-off. In the meantime, your available balance is reduced.

Hope this helps.

Speaking of AMEX coverage: you may want to investigate signing up for AMEX Premium Rental Car Insurance. Once signed up, they automatically cover your rental for a period of no more than 42 days for $24.95 per period. This coverage covers CDW, Personal Accident, Theft, etc.
https://www295.americanexpress.com/premium/car-rental-insurance-coverage/home.do

We were informed by Budget that only if the Mexican license was in English
not Mexican could we use it. So we asked for a manager and he informed us
the Mexican license couldn't be in Mexican. Actually this is solved by using
an international drivers license which is just your license translated into the
language of the country you go to. I should point out that it is illegal for US
folks to use an international license in the U.S. Google " International
drivers license" for details. We gave up with Budget and went somewhere
where they had a brain.

Z

We have rented car in Europe and in the States without problems with the Mexican License.
We only had a problem once in France with a small local company as they did not rent to people who had not gotten their license for more than 4 years. It was not a national;ity issue but the fact we couuld not prove we had been driving for more than 4 years...
I do not know if that company did this to exclude recent permit holders or not to rent to foreigners or if they did not think..The Australians in front of us were turned down for the same reasons, nothing to do with nationality.

How about Mexican Spanish rather than Mexican By the way the way I read it .it is in Spanish, the manager of Budget sounded like an ignoramus. Sounds they would not have rented to other foreigners either unlless they were from Anglosaxon countries..

Brigitte

I know that this is about renting a car in the U.S....but I wanted to say that you can rent a car in Canada with a Mexican Driver's License without any problem. I used Enterprise Rent a Car there...not just once but twice a year for seven years...each time for two weeks.

Thanks for all the input. I was asking for a friend and will relay all the information to her.

Zedinmexico wrote: only if the Mexican license was in English
not Mexican could we use it. So we asked for a manager and he informed us
the Mexican license couldn't be in Mexican.

Z

What about if the license was in American or Canadian?

seisdedos wrote:

Zedinmexico wrote: only if the Mexican license was in English
not Mexican could we use it. So we asked for a manager and he informed us
the Mexican license couldn't be in Mexican.

Z

What about if the license was in American or Canadian?

TFF Seis

Jim W wrote:

seisdedos wrote:

Zedinmexico wrote: only if the Mexican license was in English
not Mexican could we use it. So we asked for a manager and he informed us
the Mexican license couldn't be in Mexican.

Z

What about if the license was in American or Canadian?

TFF Seis

I was told once in Madrid by a lady that I spoke Mexican?....and in San Jose, CR, several people said I spoke àndale...where in the hell is that country?

Rented a car in the US with my Mexican driver's license. Also used my credit card to pay for the rental so the insurance from the credit card counted as insurance for the car--no regular US insurance needed.

No problem with any of the majors I have used, EXCEPT, once in a while I have to show my passport as Mexican DL's do not show birth dates or age.
And it wasn't because I looked too young but the rental guy sure did.

slainte39 wrote:No problem with any of the majors I have used, EXCEPT, once in a while I have to show my passport as Mexican DL's do not show birth dates or age.
And it wasn't because I looked too young but the rental guy sure did.

Slainte, probably to make sure you could legally transport the Tequila....Ya Think ?

hound dog wrote:We have rented car in Europe and in the States without problems with the Mexican License.
We only had a problem once in France with a small local company as they did not rent to people who had not gotten their license for more than 4 years. It was not a national;ity issue but the fact we couuld not prove we had been driving for more than 4 years...
I do not know if that company did this to exclude recent permit holders or not to rent to foreigners or if they did not think..The Australians in front of us were turned down for the same reasons, nothing to do with nationality.

Brigitte

This is a problem that also popped up for me, one time, so what I do now is carry a laminated copy of my previous 4 yr. license with me just for rental agencies (not the traffic police, for sure). Never that problem in the US though, only in the EU.

Jim W wrote:

slainte39 wrote:No problem with any of the majors I have used, EXCEPT, once in a while I have to show my passport as Mexican DL's do not show birth dates or age.
And it wasn't because I looked too young but the rental guy sure did.

Slainte, probably to make sure you could legally transport the Tequila....Ya Think ?

They have never counted the liter I ingest just before crossing...that's a freebie as far as customs is concerned.