By Dan Hensley
March 24, 2008
On our most recent trip to Brasil (Brazil or Brasilen or Brasilia depending upon where you fly from) we rented a Fiat Doblo. We drove almost 3,000km in three weeks.
To understand our frame of reference a few things are important. First we are Americans living in Germany. We have driven in most of central Europe and in the past Mexico, Philippines and Thailand.
Originally on this trip we had planned on traveling the distance between the areas via bus but 2 days before we left we changed our minds and decided to just rent a car. We were traveling with 3 adults and a 2 year old child. The females on the trip thought they had to take everything they might need, plus a few spares. Thank goodness the airline we were flying on limited us to one checked bag each.
As I said, 2 days before we were to fly we decided to rent a vehicle for the entire trip. I got on the internet and started shopping. I first put in that we were Americans and the search only yielded a few choices, of which only one was large enough to carry our stuff. This one was going to cost over US$2000. Since the question form asks what country you are a resident I put in Germany. To our surprise there were a lot more vehicle choices and the prices were much lower. Some were quoted in Euro and others in Pounds. Be careful in getting your quotes that you take into consideration the exchange rates.
It is hard for the agents at the European rental companies to understand the amount of space many Americans need for all the stuff they take along and purchases to bring back. They tried to rent me vehicles that Americans in the US have never seen because they are so small. I ended up finding one that was not available to Americans called a Fiat Doblo, which is a common vehicle in Europe. It is a utility vehicle, used by businesses as a service vehicle. With seats it can carry 7 people, or you can fold up the 2 back seats to take a lot more baggage. Remember we had a 2 year old. We completed the reservation 2 hours before we flew.
Upon arrival in Sao Paulo (GRU) we went to the rental agency. We presented our prepaid voucher. We gave them our passports and International Drivers Licenses. The International Drivers Licenses were issued in Germany as we have a special American license in Germany and need an International License to drive in several European countries. Our voucher cost US$750 which covered 21 days, collusion waiver (insurance) and unlimited kilometers. A real bargain. The Agency charged us US$26 for a second driver and put a US$1200 hold on my credit card for non return or damage not covered by the collusion waiver. The clerk proceeded to give me a lecture (in Portuguese) that drinking or drugs and driving were not covered under the waiver. Of course I do not speak Portuguese but the same warning was on the website where I reserved the car when I had put in the form that I was American. They threw in a car seat for the 2 year old at no cost, something I've never seen in the USA. All said the vehicle pick up was as easy as picking up a vehicle at an American airport. It was night when we arrived in Sao Paulo and leaving the airport and driving in the city was a bit of a challenge, as we had never driven in SP before. Previous times for rentals we picked them up in the city we went to.
We arrived on a Friday night and stayed in SP until Tuesday. Tuesday we drove to Londrina. Some people had told us the roads were unsafe and that we should fly or ride the bus. Actually we found roads equal to or better than the roads in Europe. Some equal the German Autobahn or Italy‘s AutoStrass. The others were similar to the secondary roads in Europe or the US for that matter. The signs of course mostly are the international road signs with the words written in Portuguese. The speed limits are about the same as most of Europe. Remember to have a lot of small bills to pay tolls as there are lot of them. The most common thing about the roads are what Americans call speed bumps, placed in the middle of the highway.
We spent several days in Londrina and a friend went with us to Florianopolis and places in between. We spent a week in areas around Camboriu, Bombnibas, Florianopolis and Brusque. We visited all kinds of places (beaches and shopping) in that area.
After our week there we went to Santos, Ubatuba and Parati (Paraty) for the remainder of our trip. As far as driving it was uneventful. The fun was the rain, mud and mosquitoes.
We returned to GRU without any problems. Return of the vehicle was easy. The only problem was that I missed the sign for the turn-in lot and had to go around twice. We are planning another trip in June. I didn‘t have to pay any of the funds they placed on hold on my credit card.
This is not the first time we rented a vehicle in Brasilen. One previous trip we rented a Meriva in Fortaleza and drove to Recife. That trip was also excellent. The drop off fee was expensive. Another time we rented a Zafira in Florianopolis.
There are a few things to keep in mind when renting a vehicle in Brasilen. It is highly recommended that you have an International Drivers License. For those with US passports they will take a valid US license; however, I am told that if you have an accident or run-in with the law in some places you will have a problem. While driving always carry your passport and driver‘s license as well as the rental agreement. If you happen to live outside the US you may find that that country residency will let you rent vehicles normally not rented to Americans. Remember your US auto insurance does not cover you. I have insurance that covers any vehicle I drive in Europe, North Africa, US and Canada but it does not cover Brazil. If you have an accident it is likely the coverage provided by your credit card (experience from outside the US) will be used.
When refueling the vehicle Brazilians pump the fuel for you. I know that is unusual for most of us. In the US and in Europe most fuel is self service. You have 3 types of fuel: gasolina, alcohol and diesel. Most cars in Brazil are flex fuel meaning gasolina or alcohol. Just for grins gasolina in Portugal is what we call diesel.
Happy motoring! Leave the cities of Rio and SP and enjoy one of the friendliest and prettiest countries in the world.
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