Marin Car Rentals Accessible Via San Francisco Public Transport

May 20, 2009 12:55 PM

I'm thinking of flying into San Francisco (SFO), renting a car, driving up the coast, and flying home from Portland. I'll spend a few days in the city before heading north. I want to avoid renting the car either at the airport or in the city. (This is a fun trip. Driving in San Francisco is never fun for me.) I've rented before from a small Hertz shop within walking distance of the ferry landing in Sausalito. Are there other rental car shops within equally easy reach from public transportation or a cab from the city into Marin?
posted by justcorbly to travel & transportation (15 comments total)

Most car rentals require you to return the car where you got it.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 12:59 PM on May 20

No, most of the major car rental agencies have one-way rentals, but you can only return them to certain locations (usually airports). I've rented a car in San Diego and returned it in San Francisco with no money penalty, but on the other hand I had to pay through the nose to rent in Washington, DC and return in Pittsburgh (because it's a pain for them to get the car back to DC).

That doesn't answer your question, sorry, but it does clarify the first comment.
posted by arco at 1:01 PM on May 20

You can rent a car and return it at a different location, but you will be charged an additional fee. Also, just an FYI, but I have driven the coastal route between SF and Portland, and it is longer than you'd think. Allow a solid two days of driving time. It can also be very wet/gray/foggy.
posted by mosk at 1:05 PM on May 20

Seconding that, for a fun drive, not a slog, Porland to SF via highway 1 (coastal route) is probably better as a two day trip. It can be done in one day, but you will basically drive all day, sunup to sundown.

Generally you pay a lot more to fly into one city, and home from another. Same with rental cars, you will pay a ton to drop it off somewhere different than where you pick it up.

Price things out returning the car to San Francisco and return flight from there as well. One can easily drive from Portland to SF in 8-10 hours via major highways, and doing so may save you several hundred dollars, maybe close to a thousand for two people. I would drive that in one shot, perhaps quicker than the above time, or two people could trade off, but its definitely do-able in a single day.
posted by Antidisestablishmentarianist at 1:16 PM on May 20

Er you are initially driving San Francisco to Portland, my trip started from the north.
posted by Antidisestablishmentarianist at 1:19 PM on May 20

Most car rental companies will only allow one-way rentals to both begin and end at major airport locations. You may end up having to start at SFO. But don't worry, if you just want to get through SF, this route (SFO-380-280-19th Ave-Park Presidio-GGB) is a total piece of cake.
posted by zsazsa at 1:24 PM on May 20

Psst. All those answers up there are about driving times or the merits of one-way rentals. User is looking for rental agencies accessible via public transit that are outside of SF.

I don't know about Marin, but there are several within walking distance of UC Berkeley, which would be easily accessible by BART. From Berkeley, you could drive straight down University to the highway, and then take 580 to 101 and head north.
posted by mudpuppie at 1:31 PM on May 20

And here's a Hertz in Sausalito that's about a 1/2-mile walk from the ferry terminal.
posted by mudpuppie at 1:34 PM on May 20

Right outside of baggage claim at SFO are blue pylons marked MARIN AIRPORTER on the passenger pick-up lanes, take one of those buses up to Larkspur or downtown San Rafael and take a cab to a car rental spot about 3 miles away (in SR).

I know this does not answer the can I drive it back north to return it part of the question, but the Airporter bus is going to be the easiest, cheapest, and possibly fastest way out of SF and into Marin.
posted by goml at 1:35 PM on May 20

There is a ferry up to Vallejo, and there are two Enterprise locations that look to be less than five blocks from the drop off site. I don't think this would be better than the location you have in Sausalito, unless the longer ferry ride would be fun for you.

Most car rental companies will only allow one-way rentals to both begin and end at major airport locations.
In 2006, I rented one way from Avis and picked the car up in San Francisco, not at the airport, and returned it to LAX.

If you do find they require airport-to-airport, maybe a one way rental from Sacramento to Portland?
posted by soelo at 1:35 PM on May 20

There are two rental car companies walking distance from the San Rafael bus terminal. You can take the bus there from SF or take the ferry to Larkspur, then get on the bus to SR. Also, I suspect that the Marin Airporter will drop you there.

You should really rent at the airport though. The drive up 19th ave (linked above) is really not bad.
posted by Four Flavors at 2:48 PM on May 20

Thanks guys for all the help.

I'm thinking a week or more for the trip, avoiding interstates and as much of the 101 as possible. I've been told that going south-to-north is preferrable over north-to-south (less nerve wracking in parts).

I've never had any problems renting in one location and dropping off elsewhwere. Yes, it costs more.

August is the likely timeframe, 'cause that seems to be the driest along the coast.

Yes, flights into one city and back from another cost more, but not that much more, I've found. Still, most airlines are offering $130 roundtrips from my airport (Raleigh-Durham) to SFO through August. I would not consider driving from Portland to SFO in a mad one-day dash; the cost of an overnight stay would be come close to balancing the multiple-city ticket cost, which is looking to be $300-$400.

Zsazsa: Thanks for that route through the city. I'll consider it.

Gini: Thanks for the Marin Transporter info.

BTW, that Sausalito Hertz shop is a convenient place to rent a car for a daytrip north through Sonoma, Napa, or whatever. Saves driving in the city in the morning and avoids bridge traffic in the evening. Take the ferry, turn right on the main drag, and the place is on your left about 5 blocks up. Then, turn left out of the shop on the same street and you're on the 101 in a couple of minutes.
posted by justcorbly at 4:49 PM on May 20

There's an Enterprise in Strawberry (Mill Valley) right off 101 (east side). There is a Golden Gate Transit stop (transfer point actually) right there. pdf route map
posted by radioamy at 6:01 PM on May 20

I don't know what the flight price would be like, but you might consider flying into Oakland airport and renting the car there. Its very suburban.
posted by wuzandfuzz at 8:24 PM on May 20

Ditto that you could take BART to Berkeley. There are a number of rental places downtown there.
posted by salvia at 11:45 PM on May 20