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Utah Salt Lake City SLC Airport AWD rental

murphysf

Ski Well, Be Well.
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Aug 5, 2017
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438
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SF Bay Area
Hello

Looking for some recommendations for rental agencies our of Salt Lake City airport for an AWD rental.

Two adults and two kids (ages 8 & 10).

Will have 3 sets of skis, an adult pair and a 130 and 140 so would most likely need a ski rack.

Thanks!!
 

ADKmel

Skiing the powder
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Jan 6, 2016
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Southern Adirondacks NY
I have been given a 2WD at SLC and then I asked for their emergency # since I was driving up LLC and 2WD won't cut it they'd have to come tow me out. They found me a AWD :) BEWARE- some companies will hold you hostage and try to UPSell you a AWD car. SUV's are generally AWD.

I have rented from many different companies. I did FOX it's off site, lower price but a long wait for the car and the car had a cracked windshield, no window cleaner and had transmission issues- suddenly would lose power on highways. yikes.. Now I stick to main companies right at the terminal
 

Wade

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In the 20 or so trips I’ve done to AltaBird, I’ve generally used one of Hertz / National / Enterprise, and just booked a class of car that I knew would have AWD / 4WD. Mostly, this has meant I’ve rented a full size SUV, pickup truck, or intermediate SUV. I guess there is some chance I could have been assigned a 2WD version of an intermediate SUV on one of the few occasions I’ve rented one, but it has never happened.

I generally just rent full size SUVs (Tahoe, Suburban, Expedition etc) now especially when traveling with my family. Aside from the 4WD, there’s also plenty of room for the 4 of us plus luggage including skis inside without having to worry about racks.

They can be expensive to rent if you’re booking last minute or can’t access any decent rate codes, but I’ve generally had good luck with that just booking as soon as I know there’s even a chance I’m going, and canceling if it doesn’t work out. I don’t think I’ve ever paid more than $100 per day all in and usually much less than that.
 

Dave Marshak

All Time World Champion
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Nov 17, 2015
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None of the national rental companies will guarantee an AWD no matter you rent. Read the reservation, it's always "Outback or similar" and "similar" doesn't include AWD. I got stuck with the only RWD 4Runner I ever saw last winter in Denver, but that was a small Enterprise store in town, not the airport. At the airport there's usually enough cars that you can trade up to AWD if they don't assign you one right away. Also I have Hertz gold status so I can choose any car, and I always check for good tires and AWD if I rent at the airport.

Still, the only way to guarantee that you'll get an AWD is to rent from a local company. We've had good experiences doing that in SCL, and it's usually cheaper as well.

dm
 

mdf

entering the Big Couloir
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I've mentioned this before, but I discovered the big car companies have a surprising number of 2WD SUVs.
One time my reservation wasn't processed ahead of time, so the person behind the counter did it in real time. She told me they had 3 small SUVs, and asked which I wanted. "They are all AWD, right?" "Uh, no, let me look it up."
Turned out only one of the three was AWD.
So now I know to check before I take the car.

(That does tell you AWD vs 2WD is in their computer system, even though they aren't going to let you take advantage in normal circumstances.)
 

Bankingguy

Bankingguy
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Aug 30, 2019
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Georgia
I've had the same concerns over the years. The best way I've found is to rent through Turo -a peer to peer car sharing service. I was apprehensive the first time I used it but have had great experiences over a number of rentals. I like knowing the exact car I'm going to get. And it is a ton cheaper than reserving an SUV that is guaranteed to have AWD (like a suburban).

You can rent anything from a practically new Range Rover to a old, cheap SUV. My favorite rental was a 10 year old Nissan Xterra with a manual transmission - I paid like $35-40 a day and loved it.

You'll be nervous the first time but Turo has been great for us.
 

Bankingguy

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I forgot to add that Silvercar is another option. They are in 20-25 locations, including SLC. They have an all audi quattro rental fleet. Not sure how their pricing is but you'd be assured AWD.
 

Bankingguy

Bankingguy
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Aug 30, 2019
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24
Location
Georgia
I've had the same concerns over the years. The best way I've found is to rent through Turo -a peer to peer car sharing service. I was apprehensive the first time I used it but have had great experiences over a number of rentals. I like knowing the exact car I'm going to get. And it is a ton cheaper than reserving an SUV that is guaranteed to have AWD (like a suburban).

You can rent anything from a practically new Range Rover to a old, cheap SUV. My favorite rental was a 10 year old Nissan Xterra with a manual transmission - I paid like $35-40 a day and loved it.

You'll be nervous the first time but Turo has been great for us.


If you go on the Turo website, enter your destination and dates. Then go to Filters and select AWD. That way you don't have to scroll through cars that are RWD or FWD.
 

Rostapher

All Praise Ullr
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Nov 12, 2018
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279
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SoCal - Inland Empire
I had an awful time renting from Avis in SLC. :nono:

I was renting a “Yukon or similar” and was “promised” 4WD, ski rack & “snow tires” and was given an Expedition (right size at least) with 2WD, no rack and “all season” tires. After a lot of back & forth, time wasted and trying to upsale me to a Suburban with 4WD for an EXTRA $100/day:geek: they finally “found” a 4WD Expedition. No rack & still “all season” tires of course, but it was a slight improvement.

We would have never made it up the last 1/2 mile of snow covered road at Alta if I hadn’t persisted and gotten a 4WD vehicle. Even in 4WD Low we were still slipping some.

I’m not renting from Avis again & like @Bankingguy I’m going to be using Turo this season and going to skip the rental car desk. You talk directly to the owner & choose the exact car you want. Plus it is usually cheaper.
 

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