[Kairalee]

you caught me there..., but lets take ladakh just as an example of a terrain where some of us would not want to take our rides.

[lloydofcochin]

^^

I was just sharing the info. I do remember reading a Travelogue in another forum where in the guy had to leave a Hertz rented Ikon in Leh due to this Yellow board issue

I agree that this is certainly a very good option for people, esp those from South or Sedan owners to have their share of thrills up North in the Himalayas.

OT - I'm planning to drive my Palio there later this year

[swiftnfurious]

Originally Posted by Kairalee

hemanth-I dont think anyone on this forum will take offence to debates. Freedom to express thoughts is what a forum is always about, so what you mentioned above is great if we drive our own vehicles on good roads or not so good roads.
I want to drive around Ladakh and not be taken around by a irritated and bored driver. Unfortunately since I live in Bangalore, driving all the way from here is not an easy option.
So in the best of both worlds, I leave my truck in bangalore and fly into Delhi then take the hired SUV into Ladakh, albeit pay a little more than what I would if I drove my own car. But in the bargain, my 4x2 truck wont have to take the harsh terrain and will be preserved for the touring (on good or not very good roads) experiences that it was originally bought for.

+1. Everyone has the opinion to make their points here - why would anyone take offence to it unless you are being rude / abusive?

Yes, if the roads are good and smooth like butter, there is no point in hiring these cars especially if you own your own car. But if the terrain is as BAD as Leh / Ladakh or if my 2WD cant even go there, then these options kick in with a lot of sense.

Originally Posted by lloydofcochin

^^

This may not be a good option for people who wants to drive around in Ladakh.

The Leh Taxi union does not allow out of state Yellow board vehicles to ply in the Ladakh tourist circuit. So those who are driving to Ladakh have to leave the vehicle in Leh and has to take a Taxi for visiting the places there

What non-sense is this? Whats it - a MAFIA or something? I have never heard of such a thing anywhere else!

[arun_kun]

Seriously? Wont these vehicles not allowed in Leh. I was seriously thinking about it.

[MileCruncher]

Originally Posted by swiftnfurious

What non-sense is this? Whats it - a MAFIA or something? I have never heard of such a thing anywhere else!

Yes, its true! As a matter of fact, even Srinagar / Manali Taxi's do a drop and return.

I had once rented a Baleno from AVIS about 4 years back in Delhi on self drive. This is my one and only self drive rental experience in India and here is how it went:

1. Booked online with a particular upgrade code to get a one car class upgrade. It was IIRC about 1600/Day
2. Driver had come to the Airport to pick me up and took me to Radisson which was their office.
3. I had made payment online but had to pay 75K as deposit on the car. This was done by creating a manual charge slip and blocking the amount on the Credit Card.
4. Car was given with tank full and was a pretty well maintained vehicle with low mileage.
5. I had the car for 4 days and had taken it to Nainital. Here comes the tricky part. Being Taxi Plate, the cars have National Tourist Taxi Permit but while crossing state borders, you'll need to pay entry tax. In UP you have daily and monthly entry tax rate, so if you are for only a short period, you can pay for that many number of days. But some states have only monthly entry tax rates so whether you are for 1 hour or 30 days, you got to pay the whole amount. Even though I was in Uttarakhand for only 12 hours, I had to shell out about Rs.1200 (IIRC) for the entry tax. Since I was on a official visit, I had billed it to company but paying on personal account can pinch sometimes.
6. Later on while searching the Glove Box, I had found a valid entry permit slip for that period taken may be by a previous renter.
7. I had inadvertently brushed the fender of the car and the bumper clip had come off apart from grazing marks on the alloys. So while returning the car, I was charged Rs2k as damage repair cost (I had charged that to company too ).

Over all it was a good experience and if "NEED BE" I'll rent out from them again.

Cheers

[lloydofcochin]

Originally Posted by swiftnfurious

What non-sense is this? Whats it - a MAFIA or something? I have never heard of such a thing anywhere else!

Originally Posted by arun_kun

Seriously? Wont these vehicles not allowed in Leh. I was seriously thinking about it.

Sadly that is the truth

It is being done to protect the livelihood of the Ladakhi drivers since they can only work for 6-7 months a year and has to sustain themselves with that earnings to live through the harsh winter sitting home idle.

[MileCruncher]

Originally Posted by lloydofcochin

Sadly that is the truth

It is being done to protect the livelihood of the Ladakhi drivers since they can only work for 6-7 months a year and has to sustain themselves with that earnings to live through the harsh winter sitting home idle.

Actually the Leh Taxi Union Vehicles are much better maintained than most other hire vehicles across the country, mind it!

But I don't think self drive vehicles should have a problem as these vehicles have yellow number on black plate instead of the normal black on yellow plates for taxi's and commercial vehicle!

[KumaravelS]

Originally Posted by aniketi

All these vehicles have commercial number plates and are registered for self drive. All cars are comprehensively insured and have a valid Rent a Cab license
.

An indirect question! can we rent a yellow board cab, and do a self drive with our personal license? Is that legal?
Is that different for yellow on black vs black on yellow?

[craackpot]

Originally Posted by lloydofcochin

^^

This may not be a good option for people who wants to drive around in Ladakh.

The Leh Taxi union does not allow out of state Yellow board vehicles to ply in the Ladakh tourist circuit. So those who are driving to Ladakh have to leave the vehicle in Leh and has to take a Taxi for visiting the places there

Originally Posted by arun_kun

Seriously? Wont these vehicles not allowed in Leh. I was seriously thinking about it.

Originally Posted by swiftnfurious

+1. Everyone has the opinion to make their points here - why would anyone take offence to it unless you are being rude / abusive?

Yes, if the roads are good and smooth like butter, there is no point in hiring these cars especially if you own your own car. But if the terrain is as BAD as Leh / Ladakh or if my 2WD cant even go there, then these options kick in with a lot of sense.




What non-sense is this? Whats it - a MAFIA or something? I have never heard of such a thing anywhere else!

Hi,

I would like to make a clarification. While it is true that out of state taxis will not be allowed to ply along the inner circuit in ladakh, self driven vehicles like the ones from avis will indeed be allowed to roam around.

These SUV's from AVIS come with not the regular yellow boards with white text embossed we see on taxis, instead they have black number plates with the registration embossed in yellow colours. These vehicles are indeed allowed to ply without any trouble anywhere along the inner circuit in ladakh. So feel free to get them and drive around, its pure fun

We had rented 2 self driven endeavours from Ecorentacar in Defence colony, delhi in Sept 2009 and drove to every nook and corner of ladakh for two weeks and none of the taxi people caused us trouble.

So chill and go ahead hiring them, it will be one hell of an experience

[ashphil]

Great! Am from Chennai and have been planning a trip to leh along with family and friends. Driving thru those Himalayan heights sans a driver sounds fascinating! So we have the option of renting vehicles from AVIS and Ecorentacar. Any other options?
Thanks ,
Ashok

[Skyline GT-R]

I always thought the real fun is in driving your own car. Whether you are driving from South, West, East does not matter.

If everything goes according to plan I will be driving form Trivandrum to Leh in June, in my 800.

[craackpot]

Originally Posted by ashphil

Great! Am from Chennai and have been planning a trip to leh along with family and friends. Driving thru those Himalayan heights sans a driver sounds fascinating! So we have the option of renting vehicles from AVIS and Ecorentacar. Any other options?
Thanks ,
Ashok

We had enquired a few options back then, don't remember all of them. But among all of them ecorentacar was the most cordial and pleasure to deal with. They provide their fleet of cars to corporates as well as five star hotels in NCR. Our endeavour was in fact pulled out of the Crowne Plaza fleet.

We also had a minor mishap with the vehicle during the trip, but they were cordial enough and did not charge obscene amounts. Overall a pleasure to do business with

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[Kairalee]

Originally Posted by craackpot

Hi,

I would like to make a clarification. While it is true that out of state taxis will not be allowed to ply along the inner circuit in ladakh, self driven vehicles like the ones from avis will indeed be allowed to roam around.

These SUV's from AVIS come with not the regular yellow boards with white text embossed we see on taxis, instead they have black number plates with the registration embossed in yellow colours. These vehicles are indeed allowed to ply without any trouble anywhere along the inner circuit in ladakh. So feel free to get them and drive around, its pure fun

We had rented 2 self driven endeavours from Ecorentacar in Defence colony, delhi in Sept 2009 and drove to every nook and corner of ladakh for two weeks and none of the taxi people caused us trouble.

So chill and go ahead hiring them, it will be one hell of an experience

This is so very re-assuring. I guess now many of us will get geared up for a Ladakh expedition.

Thanks for the clarification my friend, youve taken away a huge load off my back...maybe many backs in fact

[markmytravel]

I didn't really knew it was so easily possible to get a self-driven rental in India. This is a very decent price especially if you are sharing and for those who don't own a car and normally hire them for trips. It comes at the same cost almost with the pleasure of driving it yourself especiallly those office outings can be more fun now

[pgsagar]

Safari and Pajero at same rate? That's wonderfull considering the fact that a Pajero costs more than twice a Safari.