Greetings
I am visiting Georgia for 10 days in October with my girlfriend, and we want to rent a car and drive around the country. Georgia looks amazing, and I’ve been wanting to visit for a long time!
I have reserved a Mitsubishi Pajero (2006) for $250 via localrent.combut when I read their terms and conditions, they seem to have very strict rules:
"If you rent a car on Localrent, you can drive only on paved roads.
It is strictly forbidden to travel by rental car:
* On the routes: the “Akhaltsikhe – Batumi” route through the Goderdzi Pass, “Mestia – Ushguli – Lentekhi”, “Sairme – Abastumani”
* In the regions: Truso, Juta, Vashlovani, Tusheti and Omalo, Shatili, Abkhazia, and South Ossetia."
For me it does not make sense to rent a 4-wheel-drive car if I am not allowed to go on dirt roads. I don’t plan on off-roading in the mountains, but I am guessing that many roads in Georgia are not paved, and I would like to be able to go down a bumpy dirt road.
What do you guys think? Will it be a hindrance to have a rental car that may only drive on paved roads in October? Should I rent somewhere else?
Alternatively I can rent a Mitsubishi Outlander 4WD (2019) or Jeep Renegade 4WD (2019) for about $450 from cars4rent.ge which has less strict rules:
Easy Off-Road vehicles are allowed on any road except Tusheti, Ushguli and Lentekhi regions and Aklatsikhe – Khulo road.
Difficult Off-road vehicles are allowed any official road in Georgia
Prohibited roads for rental cars
byu/Party-Cauliflower183 inSakartvelo
Posted by Party-Cauliflower183
4 Comments
My friends rented a car and went to Mestia region. They drove through some puddle and punctured the bottom of the car in a very unfortunate way. They had to spend the evening at the police, take a drive in a tow truck back to Zugdidi and pay about $2000 for repairs.
So if you plan to go off paved roads, get a better suited/insured car.
I think it’s best to ask a company you’ll rent from (localrent gives you phone number when you make a booking). They’ll tell you better about what is allowed and what is not, what is covered by insurance, can advise you on the road conditions if you tell them about your planned routes.
Localrent is just an intermediary, they are not responisble for anything, they are not even mentioned in contract you’ll sign. They just serve as an aggregator for rental companies and that’s it
Yeah, just ask them. I’ve rented much less capable 4x4s (not even true offroaders), and the only forbidden roads were Tusheti, Akhaltsikhe-Khulo and Lentehi-Ushguli (this one was closed anyway when I tried last time on my own car)
Edit: and Ossetia+Abkhazia, obviously
We rented an SUV over localrent drove around Mestia, Ushguli and nothing happened