California Miata Hire

pluto · Postby **pluto** » Wed Sep 10, 2014 9:23 am

Planning to drive coastal California in November and was considering my hire car options. Hoping to do it in style... Can anyone please help out with any Mx5/Miata hire links, contacts or tips?

Rolley · Postby **Rolley** » Wed Sep 10, 2014 10:13 am

Last time I was over there 2009 but I searched high and low for MX hire and came up with nothing.
Ended up in a Hertz convertible mustang for a couple of weeks. No MX but still an awesome way to get around.
We went from LA to Vegas with a short stint on Route 66, Death Valley then up to Yosemite National Park, across to SanFran and finally back down Highway 1 to LA.

Highway 1 in a convertible is the only way to do it...
Make sure you put aside a few pennies to check out Hurst Castle. That place blew my mind. http://www.hearstcastle.org/

Check out Hertz Fun Collection if you come up stumps on the Miata.

If you find one let us all know about it! I'm back over there next year and not sure weather to go the new Mustang or try something different.

pluto · Postby **pluto** » Wed Sep 10, 2014 3:16 pm

Thx Rolley. I have pursued some leads so far, but with no joy. So, I may just consider the Mustang option. Cheers

bensale · Postby **bensale** » Wed Sep 10, 2014 3:35 pm

I'm sitting at the airport in LA after a week over here for the ND launch and MX-5 25th anniversary event.

I got a 5 litre V8 Mustang GT coupe as my rental and to be honest I can highly recommend it. It's stupid fast (412 hp) and when fuel is so cheap who cares how much it uses.. It also feels kind of right in the US, particularly when I drove it on the Bullitt roads in San Fran.

They don't really handle.... But on the way back I drove an awesome mix of roads from Monterey to LA a journalist from Road & Track game me and it even handled some seriously twisty roads pretty well (although having got used to being on the wrong side of the car was a critical part)

pluto · Postby **pluto** » Wed Sep 10, 2014 3:59 pm

Thx Bensale. From which company did you acquire the 'Stang? I'm working my way through various websites, tending to favour the Corvette, but generally the sites are dopey and frustrating!!

bensale · Postby **bensale** » Wed Sep 10, 2014 4:39 pm

Hertz, they have huge variety at their LAX location.
A corvette would be good too. Try and get a V8, it definitely adds to the experience! I know all the rental Mustang convertibles are 6s.

Gladiator · Postby **Gladiator** » Wed Sep 10, 2014 5:09 pm

Think about buying one & selling again before you come home. A mate of mine did that. He was there for 6 weeks though (Don't know how long you're going for). They bought a Caddy (4 adults travelling together) for about 6 grand between them & sold it cheap at about $3500 for a quick sale.

May not be for you, but it's something to think about.

pluto · Postby **pluto** » Wed Sep 10, 2014 7:10 pm

Yeah, Gladiator, I was thinking of going the same way, but now only there for 10 days. Originally considered buying a classic old Mustang or 'Vette, drive it, then ship it home. But $$$ didn't quite work...

mazmad · Postby **mazmad** » Thu Sep 11, 2014 6:02 am

I was just chatting with someone at work yesterday about the scale of everything in the US...including cars. I am not sure driving on their roads (lot of concrete freeways) in a Miata with all the 'trucks' and oversize 4wds around would be fun.

I drove south of LA a few years ago in a Mustang, pretty fun.