Car rental STT vs STJ

[Travelhappy]

I know this has been debated on here before, and I've read some of the posts. I think I like the sound of renting on STT to avoid hauling luggage on the ferries and taking cabs in STT and STJ, and to be able to buy supplies on STT and then have the car for departure day exploring if there's time. But what really will happen if a breakdown or other malfunction with the car happens on STJ? Has anyone experienced this, and how did you and the car company resolve the problem? I e-mailed Dependable for a rental quote, and they never got back to me. I wonder if it was because I had said we'd be taking the car to STJ. I appreciate any and all advice on car rental on STT and STJ. I need to rent ASAP--our trip is this May! Thanks!

[mathayom]

That's exactly it. You'd have to wait hours for someone from STT to come over and help. Plus, some STJ agencies in town have guaranteed parking!

Here's a good synopsis:

http://answers.villafish.com/story.php? ... r_St-_John

[California Girl]

Not that I've ever rented from Dependable, but I believe they don't have any issues with you taking a car to STJ. Sometimes people don't get back to you as quickly as you might expect because they live on "island time". How long ago did you try to contact them? It might not hurt to follow-up with a phone call. These days it doesn't cost too much to call STT

And mathayom has an excellent point about parking. Parking is scarce in Cruz Bay, but most rental companies on STJ will allow you to park in their lot when you come into town.

[Travelhappy]

Thanks for the replies. Cal girl, I think I e-mailed Dependable around a week ago, but I sent the e-mail through the Web site link. Maybe somehow they didn't get it or my e-mail address was not entered properly or something. I will try to contact them again. You have good points about the parking in town. That's a definite plus with the STJ rental.

[Teresa_Rae]

We prefer to rent on STT, and have never rented on STJ, for some of the reasons you mentioned. We like to pack our luggage at the airport and go and we like to grocery shop on STT where the prices are lower and there is a better selection.

Perhaps the number one reason we rent on STT is the money savings for the rental (both for the rental itself and the car ferry is less expensive than a cab/people ferry/baggage fees if you have 2 people or more). But we’ve also never had a vehicle breakdown, and we go in the off-season when finding parking in Cruz Bay isn’t as difficult.

There are pros and cons on both sides for sure. I’ll continue to rent on STT unless parking in Cruz Bay becomes such a problem that we need to rent on STJ….but if it gets that bad in the off-season, we might need to find a different place to vacation anyway (yikes, I hope that never happens!).

[Travelhappy]

Teresa, do you think I'd have a problem finding parking in Cruz Bay in May? Or is that not "off-season" enough?

[jgf711]

We are going next week and we rented from Dependable. Had a similar experience with email so I called to ask questions and book. I was told we would have a 2007 Jeep Wrangler so I'm pretty happy about that. No problem taking the jeep to St. John where we are staying.

[RickG]

Give Dependable a call. Last week and this week are there busiest of the year. We dropped off our vehicle on Saturday and it was going back out in 10 minutes. They will do quotes via email, but you need to call to reserve. The best time to call them is before 11AM.

By the way, the 4 Door Wranglers are so popular that they ordered more of the 2009s. They should arrive in October or November.

Cheers, RickG

[Travelhappy]

I did call Dependable and got quotes. I asked about taking the car to St. John, and the woman on the phone said we can but "at our own risk." And then she went on to explain that we would be responsible for getting the car back to St. Thomas at our cost if a mechanical problem happens. Seems like a good and reliable company, but I just don't know if I like the risk factor involved. What do others think about this?