Minnesota Car Rental: convertible

January 23, 2009 10:35 AM

Where can I rent a convertible this summer in the twin cities? We're hoping to rent a convertible for 3 or 4 days in July for our wedding. Nothing super special or specific, just a fun car to have available before and after the wedding and to drive off from the ceremony in. None of the standard car rental places seem to have convertibles available on-line.
posted by pithy comment to Travel & Transportation around Minnesota (10 answers total)

Then pick up the phone and ask .... (the "standard car rental places" do have them).
posted by devbrain at 10:45 AM on January 23, 2009

Response by poster: We're working that angle. So far responses are "sold out" or "They are not available"
posted by pithy comment at 10:52 AM on January 23, 2009

Then pick up the phone and ask .... (the "standard car rental places" do have them).
posted by devbrain

I've found more and more lately that car rental companies (Avis, Dollar, Hertz), when you call and ask, are using the same exact website that you just used for a search, which is obnoxious. Maybe see if you can talk to a manager or some other higher up who knows how to bring a car to the location. They should be able to do this for you since you have so much advance notice.
posted by Grither at 11:01 AM on January 23, 2009

One thing I've found is that the airport locations of car rental agencies often have a wider selection of cars than downtown locations. If you're renting for a few days, it might be worth the trek to the airport. I've rented convertibles before, and each time I either had to pick it up at the airport or the car had to be driven from the airport by an employee.

Alternatively, instead of calling the local number of rental places, call the 1-800 national line and describe what you want. They may be able to tell you how to rent a non-standard car.
posted by flipper at 11:27 AM on January 23, 2009

Are you leaving the state? I tried renting a convertible for a Southwest jaunt (northern NM to AZ) 2 years ago and I was told I could not drive it out of the state due to some weird regulation (which I suspect was made up).
posted by Asbestos McPinto at 11:42 AM on January 23, 2009

Have you tried contacting any car dealerships? It's worth a shot, perhaps.

My husband and I wanted to do the exact same thing last May - get a convertible in the Cities to drive up to Duluth for our honeymoon. He tried and tried and didn't have any success. I don't know what angles he all took, though. I will ask him and post more tonight if it's relevant.
posted by bristolcat at 11:56 AM on January 23, 2009

Also, maybe a friend of a friend has a classic convertible - or any convertible. Some friends got married a couple years back and borrowed a pink Caddy convertible from another friend. It was nifty.
posted by sadiehawkinstein at 12:28 PM on January 23, 2009

Join Hertz Gold and then request one.
posted by Zambrano at 12:56 PM on January 23, 2009

This is probably a seasonal thing. There are never going to be convertibles available in Minneapolis in winter. Call them up and talk to someone and ask them about summertime.
posted by sanka at 2:44 PM on January 23, 2009

Just out of curiosity, I tried searching Enterprise with Milwaukee and Chicago zip codes. I couldn't get the 'convertible' class to show up there, either, once I got into the actual reservation process. It's always there when you start, goes away once you select a location.

Tried San Diego, thinking maybe it was a climate thing--same thing happened.

Thrifty seems to promote Chrysler PT Cruiser and Sebring convertibles. Once again, the option disappeared once you click through a screen or two ("Not available. Would you like this Dodge Minivan instead?").

I know that Enterprise had convertibles in San Jose three years ago--I was in one.

Sadly, climbing the phone tree may be required, like other people have said.

One thing not mentioned yet: limo services might be worth contacting.
posted by gimonca at 5:36 AM on August 24, 2009