Miami car hire

Hello, me again looking for some more advice for our Florida trip next month. Not sure if this is the right part of the forum so admin please feel free to move... I've noted from lurking on the site for quite a while that a lot of people have experience of Miami/Florida and tips are often shared,
We are booking a hire car (from MIA) for 12 days, we would love a Ford Mustang if possible. I've booked one through Holiday Autos, which is then through Dollar Car Rental. I've since read really bad reviews about Dollar, so was wondering if anyone had any experience of hiring a Mustang, plus any particular recommendations. My booking is fully cancellable at this stage so could easily move to another provider. Also wondering how likely it is we would get a Mustang...... any advice so appreciated as I am getting nervous about all the rip off stories...

I personally haven't used Dollar so can't comment about their service, however I have rented from Alamo twice recently and if their system is the same - you'll be able to choose the actual car you want. You'll have selected a category (e.g. compact, midsize, fullsize, etc), and are then presented with a range of cars that are part of that category. You can open them up, sit in them, get a feel, etc, and then to the exit to get it checked out.

Again, I have no idea if Dollar use the same system. I've always booked with Alamo via Virgin Holidays.

Hi
Used dollar from Miami a couple of years ago, as with all rentals getting the car you actually want rather than a "similar", is a game of chance, Dollar for that rental did not provide a range of cars, it really was what was sitting in the garage at the time.
Have used Budget and they did find the car I wanted and moved it to the airport for me but of course there was a significant wait and charge, I was on my own so no problem.
I used Sixt last year and was given a much greater choice of cars than previously with Dollar (but at a price, did get an SL at a discount - sort of). I have stayed with Sixt, for my last trip in June and my next one in October.
An issue that you might like to consider are the tolling costs, all in the area are toll by plate, cash is not an option, so if you are going to use the toll roads, factor which company to use https://www.sunpass.com/rentalcar, might be enlightening. I avoid them but you might not have that option.
Hope you get your Mustang and have a great holiday.

Hi.

As with SlimpyJones and Solarm I haven't used Dollar so can't comment on their service. The type of car that you have booked is probably "Mustang or similar" so you could end up with a Camaro or Chrysler 200 etc - it will depend on the stock on the day. When we used Alamo in 2015 we had a choice of Mustangs or Camaro's, and chose the Camaro. Whatever you get to pick one thing to remember is that the boot in these type of cars are TINY - especially if a convertible - we ended up with a suitcase on the back seat which was ok for us as we were only driving to a hotel.

In my experience car rental companies have two or three brands, for example Hertz Group comprises of Hertz, Dollar and Thrifty, Enterprise Group is Enterprise and Alamo. You tend to find the newer cars at the "top" brand e.g. Hertz and Enterprise, with slightly older cars in the next tier down, and so on. For example our Camaro last year had a few dings and scratches in the body work and was probably three to six months old, whilst our Dodge Charger from Hertz this year was probably no older than three months and only had 4,611 miles on the clock when we picked it up. It did have some scuffs on the bodywork though.

Hertz have the option to select a specific type of car at a premium, but that didn't work for us this year when we booked a Camaro SS, I'm sure others might also offer this but I haven't looked into them.

I have used Alamo several times, but not from Miami.
I think only once did I get the actual car I asked for and it was usually the, 'or similar'

However one occasion when I'd a full size luxury at Savannah (quite a small airport) both the Caddies in their fleet had been in accidents and they offered me a Nissan Murano or a minibus.
I took the Murano but politely objected saying it was supposed to be a luxury holiday for a special anniversary and within three days they'd got me a Cadillac SRX and delivered to Hilton Head where we were staying.
It is a large 4x4 and I loved it. After that holiday we came home and sold the Jaguar and bought a Jeep.

Every holiday since I've asked for a Jeep but never got one. Had a Ford Edge which was OK,
then next year upgraded to an Infinity QX60, a big luxury SUV,
then another upgrade to the QX80, a monster sized SUV with 5.6 litres
This year I sort of got the car I wanted, a Chrysler 300c, but I'd actually booked a bog standard 300 and had to upgrade yet again. I am a sucker for the upgrade.

So my point after all the rambling, is that you may well not get the mustang first off but every chance they may change it for you as soon as they get one in.

Dick D

Hi last year we hired at MIA through ALAMO, and it was fairly painless except from the hard sell at the desk wanting you to upgrade 'as your car would not be large enough for your luggage' - be prepared to say NO. As mentioned when you go to the parking garage they are all lined up and you just select the car you want. We hired direct with Alamo.

It is a bit of a trek, we usually stay at a hotel the night, they usually all have free transportation, and collect the car the next morning. To collect your car you exit the terminal and have to go on a monorail to the car hire area, then go down in the lift to the garage. Its well signposted.

With Alamo you only get charged for the days you actually go through the tolls. I have just checked and we paid just under £6 for one day when travelling over to the gulf coast. May be a little bit more this year due to exchange rate not so good.

Hope you get the car you want - have a great trip.

We always use Alamo as they are one of the cheapest car hire firms for the SunPass transponder that you need for the cashless tolls in and around Miami. You might be able to do online check in with Alamo (I know you can at MCO), which means you can go straight to the car garage and bypass the counter and any hard sell.