Jon.Bryant
Well-known member
Probably posting in the wrong place, as this is not a trip report, but thought I would share a recent experience from Texas.
I recently spent 3.5 weeks in Texas and rented a car from Sixt. As we wanted to do some primitive camping at Big Bend Ranch and Big Bend, I opted for a high clearance vehicle, and was given a Toyota 4Runner. I mentioned I needed a high clearance vehicle when I made the booking so thought everything would be sweet.
All was good although mileage was diabolical at <25mpg. In Big Bend Ranch there is a graded gravel track through the interior of the park, which was in good condition and had been regraded in mid April. We decided to drive circa 25 miles along this road to the Ranger Station for a shower, deciding to bypass the bird blind which is off a side road 2 miles back from the station. After finishing at the Ranger Station and returning to the car, we were a little panicked to see that we had a flat tyre. We emptied the boot to try and find the jack, and wheel nut wrench etc, but the compartment where the tools should have been was empty - apparently Sixt do not rent out cars with tools! In this isolated location there was no mobile signal and no one seemed to be around, so I started to looks for anyone staying at the bunkhouse and at the ranger accommodation. Fortunately (... well perhaps not given Sixt's response) I found a lady at who phoned the roadside assist number for me. After some chit chat, back and forth, with Sixt trying to work out where the car was, a garage was mobilised, but from a town 4 hours drive away.
Meanwhile two members of the public arrived for a shower (I don't think many other people were at the park, so we were lucky) and asked if they could help. They had a small compressor and a plug kit, and rapidly pumped up the tyre, listened for the leak and then plugged it. The Rangers arrived back at the station and as the plug seemed to be holding, it was agreed that a Ranger would escort me back along the 25 mile road to our primitive camp site and then check on us in the morning (when hopefully roadside assist would have changed the tyre for the spare).
About half an hour after arriving back at the camp site, the Ranger returned to advised that roadside assist were cancelling the call-out at the vehicle was off the paved highway. If it hadn't been for a resourceful an equipped member of the public, we would the have had an undriveable car, with no tools and been abandoned by the hire car company over 25 miles off the main paved highway, with no obvious way of getting the car back to a paved road. Big Bend Ranch is inhospitable desert with few visitors (the adjacent Big Bend park get far more), and we were foolish to venture so far along a graded gravel road without checking our equipment, but I didn't expect that we would have no tools to lower or fit the spare. Possible over dramatising it, but if we had stopped at the bird blind and the tyre had gone flat there, we could have been in real trouble as the location is really off the beaten track.
A Ranger checked on us the next morning and the plug had still held. We were then kindly escorted to a garage circa 15 miles away where the tyre was properly patched - they could not change for the spare, as they did not have the Toyota specific crank lower the spare from under the car. This garage also could not have assisted us at the park, as they were only insured to undertake repairs on their premises!
Checking the rental policy, the insurances limited cover to paved roads. The prohibited use section of the policy was more ambiguous and allowed use on paved roads or private graded roads and driveways - there are private ranch roads in Texas that make 25 miles seem a short distance! As I was on a public graded highway (these must be quite rare) it is unclear if my use was deemed to be prohibited or not. I am pretty annoyed however that Sixt will hire out a gas guzzling 4Runner, which is obviously designed for rough terrain, but with highways tyres, and under a policy which seems restricted to highway use. I think this should be made explicitly clear prior to hiring a high clearance vehicle, which is obviously designed for use off a paved highway. Furthermore I am annoyed that they provide no tools and would in effect abandon a driver to fend for themselves and improvise in a hostile and remote environment.
On reaching Big Bend we were dissuaded by the Rangers there from using the Primitive Campsite at Pine Canyon that we had booked, as we still could not access the spare. This mean considerable extra cost, as we had to book a hotel in Terlingua, as all the campsite on paved roads were fully booked. The Rangers at Big Bend suggested the lack of off road support was a problem common to all hire car companies, but I have not confirmed if this is true.
So, if you are planning to drive on unpaved roads (Texas or not) , be warned and ....
If the answers to questions 1-3 is no, then try to locate a specialist hire company - where I was there was a company called Terlingua Jeep Hire that seemed to cover full off-road use (but at USD255 dollars a day!). Depending on the itinerary and given the expense of a specialist hire, you may therefore wish to hire an off-road car as required and something cheaper for the main highway driving. Alternatively, and probably the least risk option, is to only bird where you can easily walk to from the paved highway!
Regards
Jon Bryant
I recently spent 3.5 weeks in Texas and rented a car from Sixt. As we wanted to do some primitive camping at Big Bend Ranch and Big Bend, I opted for a high clearance vehicle, and was given a Toyota 4Runner. I mentioned I needed a high clearance vehicle when I made the booking so thought everything would be sweet.
All was good although mileage was diabolical at <25mpg. In Big Bend Ranch there is a graded gravel track through the interior of the park, which was in good condition and had been regraded in mid April. We decided to drive circa 25 miles along this road to the Ranger Station for a shower, deciding to bypass the bird blind which is off a side road 2 miles back from the station. After finishing at the Ranger Station and returning to the car, we were a little panicked to see that we had a flat tyre. We emptied the boot to try and find the jack, and wheel nut wrench etc, but the compartment where the tools should have been was empty - apparently Sixt do not rent out cars with tools! In this isolated location there was no mobile signal and no one seemed to be around, so I started to looks for anyone staying at the bunkhouse and at the ranger accommodation. Fortunately (... well perhaps not given Sixt's response) I found a lady at who phoned the roadside assist number for me. After some chit chat, back and forth, with Sixt trying to work out where the car was, a garage was mobilised, but from a town 4 hours drive away.
Meanwhile two members of the public arrived for a shower (I don't think many other people were at the park, so we were lucky) and asked if they could help. They had a small compressor and a plug kit, and rapidly pumped up the tyre, listened for the leak and then plugged it. The Rangers arrived back at the station and as the plug seemed to be holding, it was agreed that a Ranger would escort me back along the 25 mile road to our primitive camp site and then check on us in the morning (when hopefully roadside assist would have changed the tyre for the spare).
About half an hour after arriving back at the camp site, the Ranger returned to advised that roadside assist were cancelling the call-out at the vehicle was off the paved highway. If it hadn't been for a resourceful an equipped member of the public, we would the have had an undriveable car, with no tools and been abandoned by the hire car company over 25 miles off the main paved highway, with no obvious way of getting the car back to a paved road. Big Bend Ranch is inhospitable desert with few visitors (the adjacent Big Bend park get far more), and we were foolish to venture so far along a graded gravel road without checking our equipment, but I didn't expect that we would have no tools to lower or fit the spare. Possible over dramatising it, but if we had stopped at the bird blind and the tyre had gone flat there, we could have been in real trouble as the location is really off the beaten track.
A Ranger checked on us the next morning and the plug had still held. We were then kindly escorted to a garage circa 15 miles away where the tyre was properly patched - they could not change for the spare, as they did not have the Toyota specific crank lower the spare from under the car. This garage also could not have assisted us at the park, as they were only insured to undertake repairs on their premises!
Checking the rental policy, the insurances limited cover to paved roads. The prohibited use section of the policy was more ambiguous and allowed use on paved roads or private graded roads and driveways - there are private ranch roads in Texas that make 25 miles seem a short distance! As I was on a public graded highway (these must be quite rare) it is unclear if my use was deemed to be prohibited or not. I am pretty annoyed however that Sixt will hire out a gas guzzling 4Runner, which is obviously designed for rough terrain, but with highways tyres, and under a policy which seems restricted to highway use. I think this should be made explicitly clear prior to hiring a high clearance vehicle, which is obviously designed for use off a paved highway. Furthermore I am annoyed that they provide no tools and would in effect abandon a driver to fend for themselves and improvise in a hostile and remote environment.
On reaching Big Bend we were dissuaded by the Rangers there from using the Primitive Campsite at Pine Canyon that we had booked, as we still could not access the spare. This mean considerable extra cost, as we had to book a hotel in Terlingua, as all the campsite on paved roads were fully booked. The Rangers at Big Bend suggested the lack of off road support was a problem common to all hire car companies, but I have not confirmed if this is true.
So, if you are planning to drive on unpaved roads (Texas or not) , be warned and ....
- Check in advance whether the vehicle will come with a spare and all tools to change a wheel (assuming you are confident to use them),
- Check in advance that you will be insured for graded, unpaved roads. If not and you have all the necessary tools, then potentially you could drive the car at your own risk, but I would want to know the road condition and the risk of damage to the vehicle, as this could end up being a very expensive choice. Even graded roads can get rutted from over use.
- Check that roadside assistance will attend is you are on an unpaved road.
If the answers to questions 1-3 is no, then try to locate a specialist hire company - where I was there was a company called Terlingua Jeep Hire that seemed to cover full off-road use (but at USD255 dollars a day!). Depending on the itinerary and given the expense of a specialist hire, you may therefore wish to hire an off-road car as required and something cheaper for the main highway driving. Alternatively, and probably the least risk option, is to only bird where you can easily walk to from the paved highway!
Regards
Jon Bryant
