Rental car advice- What to choose for safety?

jama

New member
Hi! I am trying to figure out what type of rental car to get for an upcoming trip out of state. We found great prices via Costco on a full-size sedan but do you think an intermediate SUV would be safer? (For full size sedan it says ford fusion or similar, for intermediate SUV it says Rav 4 or similar). Since I don't know which model any of the options would be for sure, how do I choose? I want to try to choose the safest option. Would an SUV or minivan definitely be safer? We drive an Odyssey at home. Kids will both be in booster seats. Thanks for any advice!!
 
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jjordan

Moderator
I don't think there is any way you can know, honestly. As you said, you choose a class of vehicle and not a particular make/model. Maybe one thing you could try is to choose a rental company that allows you to choose from any vehicle in the class once you are picking up the car (e.g. "go ahead and pick any car in row 7b"). I'm not sure offhand which companies those are, but I know they exist! And then call the company and ask what their common car makes/models are. Research before you go for the safest one or two of those, and then once you get there, hope that one of those is available!

Perhaps someone will have more solid advice for you, though! :)
 
I'd guess the safest vehicle for you is probably the one you are most comfortable driving -- that is, if you always drive an Odyssey, you'll be safest driving that because you won't be as distracted by everything being different. But if you're comfortable driving a sedan, a full-size sedan should be plenty safe and have less rollover risk than an SUV.

I always recommend studying up before you go, esp. if you'll be driving -- study some maps, print out your route from the rental car place to your destination and look over it before your drive (if we're flying, I check it before we land) -- doesn't matter so much how relatively safe the car itself is if you're busy messing with the GPS while trying to drive.
 

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