Best Cars to Rent When Visiting Palm Springs

For visitors to Palm Springs, the multitude of things to do and see in and around the Coachella Valley means it can be best to rent a car to get around. With basic rates usually under $50 a day (excluding fees, insurance, and optional coverage) it can be a budget-friendly way to see the city and surrounding areas like Joshua Tree or Idyllwild. The wide range of car rental vehicles in Palm Springs, from a $17,000 Kia Rio ($39 a day) to a $300,000 Bentley Bentayga ($900 a day), means regardless of your budget, they have something waiting for you.

Some things to consider: Do you want a gasoline car, a hybrid or an EV? Do you want a convertible? The snow of Idyllwild or Big Bear is less than two hours from Palm Springs, do you want an SUV or Jeep for mountain driving? Joshua Tree is about an hour from Palm Springs and you can sleep in your vehicle at designated campsites. One of the world's great driving roads, SR 74, the Palms to Pines Scenic Byway is also close-by, which is wonderful to drive in a Corvette.

What can you rent from the big companies?

When it comes to vehicle options, the major rental car companies offer some cool options in Palm Springs, some pun intended. Aside from the boring cars, you will see models from Lexus, Genesis, Infiniti, BMW, Cadillac, and more. You'll also see premium vehicles like convertibles, Jeeps, Corvettes and sports models like Chevrolet SS and Dodge Hemi. More and more of the major car rental companies now offer EV options. At PSP, Hertz has a large fleet of Tesla models in its rental fleet.

Exotic Collection by Enterprise

The top-of-the-line Exotic Collection from Enterprise is available at PSP and with advance notice, they will even deliver vehicles from LAX and surrounding locations to Palm Springs for you. With options from Lamborghini, Ferrari, Bentley, Aston Martin and Rolls-Royce they have a great selection of supercars and ultra luxury vehicles. Luxe EV options like the Porsche Taycan, Telsa Model S, and Jaguar I-PACE are also available.

The luxury experience from Go Rentals

While you can get luxury vehicles from the big companies at PSP, for a serious luxury experience cross the tarmac (figuratively) and use Go Rentals. Go Rentals caters to visitors coming in via private jet and located at one of the airport's FBOs.

With Go Rentals, you can drive a Bentley Bentyaga SUV or GTC convertible. If Porsche is more your style, they have 911 Cabriolets, Panameras if you need more room and Cayennes if you want an SUV. For EVs, they have Tesla Model S and Model Y and big Suburbans or an Cadillac Escalade EXT. They specialize in VIP travelers and will handle all the arrangements whether you're arriving by private jet or Southwest.

Getting there

Palm Springs is served by the soon-to-expand PSP Palm Springs International Airport, which is still and great public airport to fly in and fly out of. PSP has a two FBOs, Signature Flight Support and Atlantic Aviation, both located at the airport. The rental car counters at PSP are inside the passenger terminal at the luggage carousels and the rental car parking lot and rental return area are directly adjacent to the terminal.

Travel writer Freddy Sherman is based in Palm Springs and travels the world in search of the best life has to offer. With articles appearing on Yahoo!, Insider, CNN, and Business Traveler, he covers
luxury lifestyle, travel, and automotive subjects. Check out his popular travel and automotive YouTube channel.