tomgeer Posted April 9, 2012 Share Posted April 9, 2012 The wife and me are going on holiday to the states this year. We're off to San Francisco, then Vegas followed by a week in Los Angeles in June for my 30th, we've been looking at taxi fares and they seem fairly expensive in the LA area. Obviously there will be loads we'll want to go and see whilst out there so we were wondering if it'll work out cheaper to hire a car and drive around instead? Has anyone uk based had experience of driving in L.A? i'm imagining it to be a nightmare (heavy traffic combined with driving on the right hand side of the road). If anyone has been there and experienced it could they tell me how they found it? is it worth it or should we just use taxi's? Thanks guys Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DARETT Posted April 10, 2012 Share Posted April 10, 2012 I drove the Supra out there and found it perfectly fine. I do live in London though so was used to higher volumes of traffic. The signage was straight forward and it's actually easier to drive their at traffic time then over here. Rentals were cheap. They even offer smart cars nowadays if needed. A small deposit is taken from your card (£150) when I was out there, and the daily charge for a decent car was around £60... Avoid the cabs unless the hotel book you a town car. They aren't cheap but better than the taxi's. The hotel booked cars are fixed price which you can agree beforehand, so you won't need to worry about late charges or taxi meters going funny... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thomo8568 Posted April 10, 2012 Share Posted April 10, 2012 Hi Me an the wife did the same trip a few years back, found it easy driving on wrong side, but get a good satnav as its a bit of a pain tring to find your way round some places with one ways. I wouldn't get a car till you are about to leave san Francisco as its not that big a place an you can get to see everything on foot within about a 30min walk. Vagas is ok to drive round, but we only used car a few times as it mainly one long strip so we just walked, or got the bus thats only a fee $. but did use car to go to hover dam and some of the shopping outlets. Car is needed in LA as everything is so spread out. Roads aren't to bad apart from rush hours which are best avoided really. From what I remember taxis were not cheep in LA. but check if you have free parking in hotel. Would be worth just checking some of the main differences with driving as they have some odd rules. Hope this helps Ian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foodfreak Posted April 10, 2012 Share Posted April 10, 2012 hi, we did a similar trip for our honeymoon, hired a car for the week. Starting with 2 nights in San Fransisco ( didn't use the car much, parking can be a nightmare) Drove down the coast road overnighting at santa barbara ( nice but expensive), Then LA for a night (wan't that impressed, altough studied a nice veyron on Rodeo drive) & three nights in vegas. (Red rock and grand canyons are impressive, just like the westerns, But the grand canyon's a long drive) Driving was easy, as Thomo says, get a good sat nav ( remember to change states) also remember you pay for your fuel before you pump first in most places . Hiring a fairly large 4 x 4 was around £500 for the week. hope this helps Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomgeer Posted April 10, 2012 Author Share Posted April 10, 2012 Thanks guys some good advice there, we'll maybe hire one for a few days in LA then Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ozz Posted April 10, 2012 Share Posted April 10, 2012 I drove in Florida last year, very easy - sat nav is a must though and we didn't get one which was stupid. Roads are wide though, no roundabouts and you can turn right on a red light which is cool. I'm currently working in Toronto for two weeks and have really been studying the traffic whilst my girlfriend drives me around (she lives here) and the city is pretty crazy with people swapping lanes all the time, and as with LA the traffic can be insanse. My best advice, though I'm not familiar with LA itself, you prob won't need a car around the city and if using a car to go sightseeing plan your journey so you avoid peak traffic times or its gridlock. And get sat nav! I was advised just to buy one as they are like $50 and they'll prob charge you that with the rental. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomgeer Posted April 11, 2012 Author Share Posted April 11, 2012 I drove in Florida last year, very easy - sat nav is a must though and we didn't get one which was stupid. Roads are wide though, no roundabouts and you can turn right on a red light which is cool. I'm currently working in Toronto for two weeks and have really been studying the traffic whilst my girlfriend drives me around (she lives here) and the city is pretty crazy with people swapping lanes all the time, and as with LA the traffic can be insanse. My best advice, though I'm not familiar with LA itself, you prob won't need a car around the city and if using a car to go sightseeing plan your journey so you avoid peak traffic times or its gridlock. And get sat nav! I was advised just to buy one as they are like $50 and they'll prob charge you that with the rental. Cheers Ozz, theres no way i'd attempt it without a sat nav, I get lost the minute I leave Cumbria Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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