Our hire car comparison is based upon two companies – Avis and Budget, and their luxury class hire vehicles on offer that suit a family. Sure, you can hire Porsches, BMW convertibles and low-slung Mercedes sports models at the Gold Coast – and what fun they are! But where are you going to put the kids? Never-mind all the baggage that comes with them!

So, our luxury Gold Coast hire car review is that of two large sedan luxury vehicles – a Holden Statesman Caprice and a Chrysler 300C. These model hire cars are big enough to carry at least two large suitcases, and all the carry-ons, plus fit baby and toddler booster seats too, if you need them. Also, the really good news is that hire cars are relatively cheap in Queensland – so why not splash out and spoil yourself with one of these luxurious vehicles.

The best hire car company – Avis versus Budget

We used a different Gold Coast airport hire company for each car hire – Avis for the Caprice and Budget for the Chrysler. Whilst essentially these two are sister companies which operate back-to-back, they do differ significantly. Both companies delivered spotlessly clean, well maintained and modern vehicles. There are also shared benefits between these two companies. For example, when returning cars, you may leave your car in either’s car park, and their shared car-park is directly opposite the airport terminal – as close as hire cars get at Coolangatta Airport.

Hire car booking price

I booked both cars online. Both websites were easy to use. Price-wise, Avis was a little more expensive than Budget, particularly as we got closer to the booking period when prices dropped marginally. In the end, Avis’ hire price was about $40 more for the same rental period of two weeks. In addition, Budget had a promotion which saved a further $40, so Budget came in at $80 cheaper than Avis over the two week hire period.

Service & ease of pick-up

Avis – At our pick up point, Coolangatta (Gold Coast) airport, the Avis desk was larger and busier than Budget. Staff were professional and friendly. They had more staff on hand than Budget. Upon enquiry, they offered to help me with the bags to the car.Avis had a digital registration system, making pick up faster.

Budget – The Budget staff were very friendly and facilitating. I was offered the option to change cars for no extra charge if the Chrysler wasn’t suitable (from Chrysler to Caprice), despite the fact the Caprice was a more expensive hire rate. Budget did take longer to get us on the road due to a less streamlined process – paper forms rather than electronic. Budget also do a physical walk around car inspection with you before and after hiring, but Avis don’t. So their pick-up process is a little slower.

At the end of the car hire period when it was time to drop both cars back to the airport, Avis dropped the ball and let us park and take the keys back into the arrivals area desk, whereas Budget nabbed us in the carpark so that we could just hand over the keys to them in the carpark and go directly to departures. Budget also voluntarily helped us to carry all of our bags into the airport terminal.

The winner car hire company – Budget

Overall, both companies were friendly and helpful, and their vehicles were in excellent order, however I would choose Budget over Avis next time – simply due to cheaper price and better service.

A comparison of two deluxe premium Gold Coast hire cars

Some small communication issues

Both cars which we hired and drove around the Gold Coast for two weeks were top-class luxury vehicles. Both were full-size sedans with leather interiors, keyless start and automatic everything, including sun roofs. Both shared the same hire car “tier” – that is, they both belonged to the same quality-level range.

The only problems we had with the cars for the entire hire periods were keyless entry issues. Whilst both cars had a keyless start system, the Caprice keyless start wasn’t as advanced as the Chrysler’s. Half the time it was necessary to insert the remote unit into the car before it could recognise it. The first time we got into the car it took me a full five minutes just to work out how to keyless start the car (by inserting the remote into the arm rest console – I ended up Google -ing the answer in the airport car park!). We had no issues with the Caprice other than.

There was also a keyless start issue with the Chrysler. Chrysler 300Cs auto unlock the doors less than a minute after you’ve locked them if you don’t get away from the vehicle’s wireless remote range. Problem is, if you don’t know this, it seems as though the car won’t stay locked! Unfortunately, Budget staff were as clueless about this feature as I was, and assuming it was a fault, they offered us a vehicle swap. I asked them to look into the matter further, and a Budget mechanic was consulted who said – “Oh yeah, this keeps happening!”

The moral to this story – hire car companies should perhaps take five minutes to explain the ins and outs of the basic operations of their vehicles before you drive out of the car park!

Our Avis premium hire car option – The Holden Statesman Caprice

The Statesman Caprice was a deluxe hire vehicle, but in a subtle way. You could slip around town in a Caprice without standing out, due to a similar body shape and colour to most late-model Commodores.

Hopping in, the interior was leather, comfortable and elegant. The auto seat moves back for you to get comfy, and resets itself upon ignition start.

It had a space-ship type dashboard with a large computerised information screen – bigger and more optioned than the Chrysler. I found that I only used the most basic of controls. These high-tech computer panels are just too complex for me to learn just for a couple of weeks! I found the kilometres per hour digital windscreen projection a great safety feature.

The car drove beautifully. Large to manoeuver, but that was to be expected given its size. Rather loud inside – the engine size makes it a noisy one.

Other features included front and rear bumper (and rear-view mirror) distance-proximity detection which was more sensitive and had more points of contact than the Chrysler. There were reading lights in the back for the kids, and built-in DVD players behind the front seats too, however my kids had iPads, so these weren’t utilised.

The Caprice has an absolutely palatial-sized boot – far bigger than the Chrysler – you could fit three large suitcases in there easily.

Here are some photos of the Statesman Caprice

Our Budget premium hire car option – The Chrysler 300C

From first glance at the Chrysler 300C, you know this is a prestige vehicle. From its glossy black paint to it’s bling-bling grill, the Chrysler 300C is what you would call “lairy” – but in a good way! You feel a bit like a star driving around in it, because people look at it – it looks posh!

The interior is a little smaller than the Caprice, or feels that way. Black leather and a bright blue dash light set up give this car a sophisticated look and feel.

The manoeuvrability of the car is not quite as good as the Caprice, being a longer front end to turn.

Quieter to run than the Caprice, this car travels smoothly and the brakes are almost overpoweringly responsive. So much, that when I got off the plane and back to my own car at the end of our trip, for a little while I thought my brakes were a bit soft!

Whilst the parking touch-warning system isn’t as good as the Caprice’s, there is a rear camera to assist with reversing, and this is excellent. Another fun-feature is steering wheel and seat warmers in both the back and front – cosy! Even in Queensland, I enjoyed using these to take the chill off.

The boot was disappointingly small – it seems most of the space was given to the front end, leaving barely enough room for two large suitcases.

Here are some photos of the Chrysler 300c

The luxury-class hire car winner – Statesman Caprice

Whilst the Caprice car doesn’t win on show-off outer aesthetics, it does feel more luxurious on the inside, and was my favourite of the two. The boot size was a major feature of the Caprice, as it meant we could get all of our luggage in the boot and out of the way for both airport journeys, or shopping or whatever. Ultra-convenient. However the Caprice was also a little more expensive per day – around $100 difference over the two weeks.

The kids thought they might have to prise my star-fished body off the Caprice when it was time to go home – and they were almost right about that! This is a great hire car choice if you feel like you deserve to be spoiled – and yes, you do!

That said, I really did enjoy driving the Chrysler – the kids were split on their opinions too – this was a case of two great cars. If you hire either one, you’re going to be a satisfied customer.

Have you used a good hire-car company, or hired a great (or not-so-great) hire car? Tell us in the comments below…

All prices in this article are correct at September 2016

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Here at Let’s go Mum! we’re all about travel value for money for families!

So I’m excited to tell you that we have partnered with Redspot Care Hire to offer our readers a 5% discount!

Redspot is an Australian car rental company with locations Australia wide offering an all-inclusive rate that none of our competitors can beat!

This discount:

• Offer includes taxes, fees, unlimited Kilometres^ and a $0 damage liability*
• Rate available on all car class types

To get your 5% off, just click this link – enjoy your discount!

The post Discount car hire for our readers! appeared first on Let's go Mum.

On our recent fun park trip to the Gold Coast I decided that a hire car would be the best choice for our holiday transport needs. Unfortunately, I also fell for the oldest “cheap rent a car” con in the book…

A hire car is great to pick up and go wherever – airport transfers, theme parks, dinner, a bit of spontaneous sight-seeing. Another big plus is that you have somewhere to leave your cases on your last day after you have checked-out, other than the hotel. (You can read our Jupiters Hotel review here) However in hindsight, trying to cut costs by using a cheap, small-company hire car from Coolangatta airport was probably NOT the wisest choice!

Rental car quick tip – Check that your hotel has free self-car parking available – if not, check for any parking charges or fees either on the street or in the hotel car park. Valet parking can cost an extra $10 or $20 a day on average

When planning our trips, I usually do a web search for whatever I am about to book with the word “Forum” tacked on. This often brings up genuine traveller opinion results, and cuts out a lot of the biased company ads. I searched for cut price car hire in Coolangatta, and read a few posts – but obviously, not enough! As I had left booking to the last minute, I rushed in without researching properly – travel-fail!

During my quick Googling, I had found a travel Forum conversation thread about a group of cheaper car rentals available from Coolangatta airport – slightly older cars at significantly cheaper rates when compared to the large car rental companies.

The car rental website looked encouragingly professional, and was convincingly worded. The total car rental price seemed to work out to around $10-$15 a day cheaper than the big-boys, so I booked a medium-sized car with them for the next day.

Rental car quick tip – don’t pay for a navigator in your hire car if you own an iPhone – you already have a built-in navigator on your phone that is just as good, and talks you through your journey – familiarise yourself with it before you leave!

I had to enter my credit card details to secure the booking, and although the website said I would not be charged until I picked up the car, it also referred to cancellation charges – and upon submitting the booking, gave me a disclaimer notification that they couldn’t confirm if they would have a vehicle available for me. Double jeopardy – I had given them my credit card details, and would be charged if a cancellation ensued, however there was no guarantee that there would be a car waiting for us!

Left with no further options, early next morning we headed off on our holiday, and arrived in Coolangatta with me slightly worried if we would have a rental car there for us, or not.

The smaller car rental companies at Coolangatta airport are all located in the “Second Tier” carpark, which is located about 8 minutes walk from the main terminal. Before you book your car, this is stated on our chosen company’s website as “directly in front of the terminal 2” – sounds close, doesn’t it? Nup! Terminal 2 is actually what appears to be a disused terminal, down the road from the main terminal – hence the unhappy walk. In my carefree single-traveller days, this wouldn’t present a problem, but with luggage and kids, this is an unwelcome complication. My mother’s words “You get what you pay for!” echoing in my ears, we set off, with the kids asking where we were going, and chorusing, “Let’s get a taxi, Mum!”

The walk is well sign-posted, level and paved, however with no sign of staff, I somehow missed a crucial temporary sign (was it there when I passed by?), and we ended up at the wrong end of the carpark with me scratching my head. This situation was right up there with losing the car at Darling Harbour (I still get traumatic flashbacks on that one!). I ended up phoning the rental company for guidance, and we were redirected back to find not an office, but a small designated area with a few rental company cars parked together. At the sight of a company representative operating out the back of a van, I began to hear faint alarm bells…

Thankfully, there was a car there waiting for us, and although my instincts said “No!”, my already tired feet and whingey kids said “Yes!”. A large contract was produced, and it was pointed out to me that I would be charged excess administration fees of up to $100 for anything under the sun going wrong, including speeding and red light camera fines, missed toll fees and wearing the wrong-coloured nail polish (okay, maybe I made up the last one – but you get my meaning). None of this was mentioned on the website, of course.

Insurance was a further saga – if I didn’t purchase the extra insurance options, the $3,000 accident excess would be frozen on my credit card for ‘approximately’ the next 7 days. At this point, I recalled another post on that same Googled travel Forum about one of these very Coolangatta Tier 2 car park rental companies – complaining about having trouble getting the amount “unfrozen” from their credit card. I conceded defeat, and paid a further $80 full insurance to cover most accidents and bring the excess down to a more reasonable $375, instead of $3,000. I also paid an extra $4.40 per day for Booster seat hire for my under-seven year old (Queensland child car seat law).

Rental car quick tip – if you are renting for several days, it may work out cheaper to bring or buy a basic booster cushion from Kmart or Big W store first – just make sure that it complies with your state or country of holiday laws, and you know how to fit it. Usually, car seats and booster seats can be carried on-board flights for free.

Too many scratches and irregularities to ever remember were pointed out to me on the car, and I signed on the dotted lines and was given the keys to the broken – oh how I missed this for finding a strange car in a car park – central locking system.

The car itself was fine. Sure, it was a little dated, but this didn’t bother me – or wouldn’t have, if it had saved me a decent amount of rental $$ in compensation. It ran well, was reasonably fuel efficient and did the job nicely, freeing us up to visit where we wanted to, when we wanted to.

Whilst driving on the Gold Coast can be a bit pushy and hectic, there is an excellent highway that runs direct from the well-signposted theme parks to the airport, and parking is free and easily accessible at most places.

So as a budget-conscious parent, was going for the cheap rental car worth the trouble of the older car, and the long walk with luggage and two tired kids?

Well actually, no – in the end I would recommend going with the bigger, more reliable and trust-worthy car rental companies – Hertz, Budget and Europcar – at least in the case of Coolangatta Airport. Pay the money, know what you are getting – and where you are going to find it.

As for me, I’ll put this rental down to experience 🙂

All prices are correct at July 2014

You can read all of our Gold Coast holiday reviews, including the Big 3 theme parks and accommodation reviews here

Have you had a good or bad hire car experience? Tell us in the comments below!

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