Need 7 Seater Car Rental - Best Car & Rental Place

[stament]

Hi,

I'm going to need a 7 seater car for 5 adults, and two small children. As we'll all be arriving with our suitcases, I wondered which 7 seater people would recommend as having the most room. I know of he Fortuner and wondered if there were any other similar common rental cars available? I don't want to pay a premium for a luxury vehicle (Merc,etc) and am just interested in the best for the price.

The rental would likely be for a week to ten days and it would be useful if I could drive it to Chiang Mai and drop it off there. Would welcome any suggestions from people on this forum - perhaps people who own Fortuners or other seaters as well as recommended car rental firms. I have looked at rentalcars.com which was recommended on another thread.

Many thanks

[koo]

Just book a minivan with driver.

It basically takes 9 passengers, so seating with 7 gives everyone some extra space inside. Renting only the van in Thailand has a premium, while normally the renter/driver would have nothing else to do, so the price difference is minimal.

[stament]

I'd prefer to drive myself and don't want to invite a driver on our holiday. Would seem a bit weird........

[roamer]

In July I rented a Toyota Ventury from Sixt. 8/9 seater but with the back row folded down for baggage it becomes a 7 seater, and a very comfortable one, the two middle row seats are very comfortable "Captain" seats. With 4 adults and two kids it was a very comfortable way of touring Thailand. I had it for 12 days and it worked out at an extremely reasonable 1550B a day, rate varies slightly according to your license I think, mine was on a UK license and of course rental period.. Good service and when I returned the car they weren't going over it with a fine tooth comb for minute scratches. It's an auto transmission and note that the D3 position and D are on the same slot and you have to move the stick across, maybe just me but always thought autos went only up and down...took me 300 km to work that out . They also have the Fortuna but the Ventury gave me the extra space I needed for baggage. They do one-way rental for no extra charge if it's over a week I think but we needed to return to Bangkok via road anyway.

Note also to get that price you have to book via the Sixt Thailand website http://www.sixtthailand.com/ as doing it through the international site will bring back a quote much more expensive.

Good luck.

Btw. Have previously done this with a driver and the guy was fine but I found it more convenient to drive myself. Also have a Nokia Lumia with with the free off line sat nav maps for Thailand which worked a treat including lots of hotel suggestions, points of interest etc.

Edited September 8, 2013 by roamer

[harrry]

I'd prefer to drive myself and don't want to invite a driver on our holiday. Would seem a bit weird........

It could be ver useful to do so. In Bangkok especially parking is impossible and someone to drop you off and pick you up after parking elswhere is useful. A good one may save you money on food or know the best places to go as long as you convince him that you do not need commission places. A huge tip is not necessay if you treat him nicely he will respond. It may to be fair to tip him though some places will only pay him about 200baht a day. Offer him the choice of staying in a cheap hotel or paying the same for him to sleep in his van will also be apreciated.

Edited September 8, 2013 by harrry

[stament]

In July I rented a Toyota Ventury from Sixt. 8/9 seater but with the back row folded down for baggage it becomes a 7 seater, and a very comfortable one, the two middle row seats are very comfortable "Captain" seats. With 4 adults and two kids it was a very comfortable way of touring Thailand. I had it for 12 days and it worked out at an extremely reasonable 1550B a day, rate varies slightly according to your license I think, mine was on a UK license and of course rental period.. Good service and when I returned the car they weren't going over it with a fine tooth comb for minute scratches. It's an auto transmission and note that the D3 position and D are on the same slot and you have to move the stick across, maybe just me but always thought autos went only up and down...took me 300 km to work that out . They also have the Fortuna but the Ventury gave me the extra space I needed for baggage. They do one-way rental for no extra charge if it's over a week I think but we needed to return to Bangkok via road anyway.

Note also to get that price you have to book via the Sixt Thailand website http://www.sixtthailand.com/ as doing it through the international site will bring back a quote much more expensive.

Good luck.

Btw. Have previously done this with a driver and the guy was fine but I found it more convenient to drive myself. Also have a Nokia Lumia with with the free off line sat nav maps for Thailand which worked a treat including lots of hotel suggestions, points of interest etc.

Great post, much appreciated and thanks for the tip on costs. I think I'll definitely do this ;-)

I'd prefer to drive myself and don't want to invite a driver on our holiday. Would seem a bit weird........

It could be ver useful to do so. In Bangkok especially parking is impossible and someone to drop you off and pick you up after parking elswhere is useful. A good one may save you money on food or know the best places to go as long as you convince him that you do not need commission places. A huge tip is not necessay if you treat him nicely he will respond. It may to be fair to tip him though some places will only pay him about 200baht a day. Offer him the choice of staying in a cheap hotel or paying the same for him to sleep in his van will also be apreciated.

Thanks for the tip. I don't have an issue with paying someone or treating them well. Indeed I always think if you treat people well they will be good to you. My issue is that I prefer to be on my own on hols (with my family). If I was staying in BKK I wouldn't consider a hired car just get a taxi. But you make a good point if I did want to drive in BKK and also offer good advice to other forum members who might want a driver.

[stament]

In July I rented a Toyota Ventury from Sixt. 8/9 seater but with the back row folded down for baggage it becomes a 7 seater, and a very comfortable one, the two middle row seats are very comfortable "Captain" seats. With 4 adults and two kids it was a very comfortable way of touring Thailand. I had it for 12 days and it worked out at an extremely reasonable 1550B a day, rate varies slightly according to your license I think, mine was on a UK license and of course rental period.. Good service and when I returned the car they weren't going over it with a fine tooth comb for minute scratches. It's an auto transmission and note that the D3 position and D are on the same slot and you have to move the stick across, maybe just me but always thought autos went only up and down...took me 300 km to work that out . They also have the Fortuna but the Ventury gave me the extra space I needed for baggage. They do one-way rental for no extra charge if it's over a week I think but we needed to return to Bangkok via road anyway.

Note also to get that price you have to book via the Sixt Thailand website http://www.sixtthailand.com/ as doing it through the international site will bring back a quote much more expensive.

Good luck.

Btw. Have previously done this with a driver and the guy was fine but I found it more convenient to drive myself. Also have a Nokia Lumia with with the free off line sat nav maps for Thailand which worked a treat including lots of hotel suggestions, points of interest etc.

Great post, much appreciated and thanks for the tip on costs. I think I'll definitely do this ;-)

I'd prefer to drive myself and don't want to invite a driver on our holiday. Would seem a bit weird........

It could be ver useful to do so. In Bangkok especially parking is impossible and someone to drop you off and pick you up after parking elswhere is useful. A good one may save you money on food or know the best places to go as long as you convince him that you do not need commission places. A huge tip is not necessay if you treat him nicely he will respond. It may to be fair to tip him though some places will only pay him about 200baht a day. Offer him the choice of staying in a cheap hotel or paying the same for him to sleep in his van will also be apreciated.

Thanks for the tip. I don't have an issue with paying someone or treating them well. Indeed I always think if you treat people well they will be good to you. My issue is that I prefer to be on my own on hols (with my family). If I was staying in BKK I wouldn't consider a hired car just get a taxi. But you make a good point if I did want to drive in BKK and also offer good advice to other forum members who might want a driver.

[roamer]

You're welcome. Hope it works out for you. Btw, anyone looking for any type of car rental can do worse than checking out the link I gave above. On average I reckon their rates are about 30% cheaper than thairentacar who I used to use, you can pick up something like a Honda Brio for 600 THB a day or a Mini Cooper for 3300