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I'll be visiting Chile for a few weeks in November and I'll be looking to hire a car for up to three days at a time, first in Punta Arenas and second in Santiago and possibly again in Puerto Montt.

I've been trying to gauge whether it's possible to use local companies, as I'm aware that the international companies (think Europcar, Hertz, Avis etc...) can jack up the prices for international visitors. I'm only wishing to book a standard saloon (sedan) and was wondering if anyone could offer advice? Currently, car hire is looking to be around £50 ($65) per day with international providers. I'll be returning all cars to their original hire location, as this is cheaper, and I'm over 30.

I guess what I want to know is whether it is possible for me (UK citizen) to hire with local companies without much skill in Spanish and whether it would offer significant savings over international providers for short hires?

*** UPDATE - thanks for the advice pnuts. I got quotes from a few local companies ("Letsgochile", "LYS Rentacar", "EMSA") and whilst they vary in price, they are a little cheaper than the average international rental company. Some local companies seem to allow payment in Chilean Pesos only and other offer Pesos and US Dollars. Obviously, I'm not endorsing these companies but to answer my original question, it seems that it is possible and can be cheaper than international companies, depending on your optional extras or how much insurance cover you need.

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  • @pnuts Thanks for the comment - could you point me in the direction of any sites you may be aware of? All I seem to be able to find are price comparison sites (and thinly veiled aggregators) for the big international companies, which go no cheaper than £50 per day.
    – tiit_helimut
    Commented Aug 9, 2016 at 21:25
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    I hadn't realised "Chilean" was a company so thanks for the pointer. I guess I wasn't originally asking for direct company recommendations but whether I'm expecting too much from non-international rental companies. Much appreciated though.
    – tiit_helimut
    Commented Aug 9, 2016 at 22:07
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    @tiit_helimut you might want to post an answer yourself? It is perfectly fine to answer one's own question here.
    – mts
    Commented Sep 16, 2016 at 11:54

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According to a comment from the OP:

I got quotes from a few local companies ("Letsgochile", "LYS Rentacar", "EMSA") and whilst they vary in price, they are a little cheaper than the average international rental company. Some local companies seem to allow payment in Chilean Pesos only and other offer Pesos and US Dollars. Obviously, I'm not endorsing these companies but to answer my original question, it seems that it is possible and can be cheaper than international companies, depending on your optional extras or how much insurance cover you need.

So the answer is: local companies might be cheaper, depending on what extra services you're planning to use.

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  • @pnuts answer updated
    – JonathanReez ♦
    Commented Oct 15, 2016 at 14:35

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