Bustling car rental service for spring travel at the beginning of the year

On the 4th day of Tet, Ms. Phan Thu Hien's family in Dien Chau district planned to visit her maternal home in Thanh Chuong district. After many hours of contacting car rental agencies with and without drivers, Ms. Hien was able to find a 5-seat car for the trip with a rental price of 700,000 VND/day.

Ms. Hien said: If on normal days, my family rents a car for long-distance travel, the price ranges from 400,000 - 500,000 VND, now the price has increased quite high. However, that is also reasonable because during Tet, the demand for renting cars for Tet is very high, finding a car at this time is already lucky.

A variety of car models to serve people's car rental needs during Tet. Photo: Nguyen Chau

Not only Ms. Hien’s family, but the need to rent a car to go out for Tet is very popular. Especially during Tet this year, the weather is colder than previous years, traveling long distances by motorbike will affect health, especially for families with small children.

According to research, self-driving and chauffeur-driven car rental services are also in a "sold out" state during this year's Tet holiday. If in 2021 and 2022, due to the impact of the Covid-19 epidemic, the demand for car rental during Tet decreased sharply, this year, most cars from popular to high-end are chosen by people to rent for convenient travel in the first days of Spring.

Mr. Nguyen Van Tung, owner of a car rental facility in Vinh City, said: "My facility has 20 cars of all kinds. Since December 15, people have contacted me to rent them during Tet. Of which, 5 cars are rented by the week, the rest are rented by the day. As of the morning of the 4th, all the cars in the garage have been rented."

All cars are cleaned after being returned for future rental. Photo: Nguyen Chau

According to a survey, car rental prices during Tet in Vinh City and other districts are fluctuating from 700,000 - 3 million VND/car/day, depending on the car model and number of seats. This price has increased by about 30% compared to normal days. Although the price has increased, most of the cars have been rented out during Tet.

Mr. Hoang Van Minh, owner of a car rental facility, said: The demand for car rental during the Lunar New Year of Quy Mao increased 3-4 times compared to normal days. However, this year is different because due to the difficult economic situation and limited personal finances, customers tend to prioritize choosing small cars (5-7 seats) with the lowest price, meeting the usage goals, then the preference criteria. For luxury and large cars, although they are also rented, most customers rent by the day or by the hour, not for many days like previous years.

Currently, the mandatory conditions for those renting a car are to have a driver's license, citizen identification card and valuable collateral. In Vinh City, people renting a car often leave their documents and motorbike as collateral. If they do not have a motorbike, they will have to deposit about 10 - 20 million VND, depending on the value of the car. Customers who have completed the car rental procedure must commit to returning the car in its original condition.

Demand for car rentals increases sharply during Tet. Photo: Nguyen Chau

In particular, car renters must carefully study the terms when signing a car rental contract, especially the deposit policy, fuel costs and late payment fees. In addition, renters should choose a car with integrated insurance benefits for users./.

Nguyen Chau