12 seater minivan

[Molly33]

could anyone enlighten me?? would like to book a 12 seater minivan for feb. There will be nine of us in total and not an awful lot of luggage. Are these vehicles actually 12 seaters or have they a bench in the back??! Not sure if to go for this option or hire two separate cars....but then there's the parking fees and petrol if we go down that road. Any advice would be great.
Thanks

[Nostromo]

A Dollar 12-seater these days is invariably a Ford E-350 or similar 8-seater with an extra bench in the luggage space. Even if you are light-travellers, there is bound to be some luggage for the 9 of you on an Orlando trip and you can virtually guarantee that this so-called 12-seater will be woefully inadequate, even with some bags sitting on the empty seats.

You have 2 alternatives. Go for 2 full size cars, which gives you a bit of flexibility if your group wants to split-up during the holiday, but at some extra cost.
OR, stick to this 12-seater, but get a taxi also on arrival so that some people and some luggage can go in it while the rest use the rented van. Once you're settled in the villa, the luggage problem disappears until the return trip to the airport, for which you have to get a taxi again. Again, there is the taxi fares to consider.

[SteveW]

I'm pretty sure there is a 15 seater option with Alamo ? May be wrong?

[Nostromo]

A lot of car rental firms seem to have stopped doing 15-seaters because of underlying safety issues.

[Magical Dreams]

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by SteveW
I'm pretty sure there is a 15 seater option with Alamo ? May be wrong?

[/quote]
You are correct, Alamo do do this vehicle but Dollar do not!!

[KJH]

I know I take and bring back a lot, but there are normally five of us and we always have the 8 seater, the 12 is just the bench seat added and takes your luggage space away. We only just manage to fit in our 10 cases + hand luggage. The 15 would be your best bet.

Kaz

[Snapper]

On the website it shows the metrics for the 8 seater at 8 people + 31.2 cu ft of luggage space, and the 12 seater at 12 people + 40.1 cu ft of luggage space.

Molly - if you check this metric with John and Roger to confirm that the 12 seater is not an 8 with an extra bench in the back then you will have tons of space in the 12.

By way of comparison, we had 7 people (5 adults, 2 children) in an 8 seater this summer (at Nostromo's recommendation - thanks again Nostromo) and we had loads of space. When you have the full load of people and luggage to and from the airport you can get a bit of the hand baggage under the seats and also there is the bit of space inside the sliding door where you can stash a case or two, plus if you have a spare seat you can get quite a lot of luggage there if you are prepared to juggle it around a bit to get the best fit.

[Iain Watt]

We were upgraded (?) from an 8-seater to 12-seater with Dollar last month.

There was plenty space for 8 people plus (lots) of luggage. We had booked 2 vans (an 8 and a 7) for our party of 12 so it actually turned out really well and saved us having to drive everywhere in 2 vans. We didn't book it originally because we thought it looked too big!

I would reckon that 9 plus luggage will be pretty much a maximum for the trip to and from the airport. For the rest of the time it will be fine.

[floridadreamvilla.co.uk]

Dollar have stopped doing 15 seaters for the safety reasons you mention but Alamo use a different model of van for the 15 seater which is not subject to the ban.

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by Nostromo
A lot of car rental firms seem to have stopped doing 15-seaters because of underlying safety issues.
[/quote]

[sam2112]

They no longer have a 15 seater, it has had a row of seats taken out to make it a 12 seater, we had the 15 last year for 8 of us just made it with the luggage on the way home,
must admit i did'nt like it one bit wish we had gone for two cars or similar felt it was much to big, this year it's an 8 seater for 6 of us,

17 sleeps woooooooooohoooooooooo [clap][clap][clap]

[floridadreamvilla.co.uk]

Alamo do still rent the 15 seater. Dollar have stopped as they had a model which was subject to a safety ban.

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by sam2112
They no longer have a 15 seater, it has had a row of seats taken out to make it a 12 seater, we had the 15 last year for 8 of us just made it with the luggage on the way home,
must admit i did'nt like it one bit wish we had gone for two cars or similar felt it was much to big, this year it's an 8 seater for 6 of us,

17 sleeps woooooooooohoooooooooo [clap][clap][clap]

[/quote]

[sam2112]

thought they had done away with them all, the scarry thing was signing a waiver that if we rolled it we would not be covered with the insurance, this stuck in my mind the whole holiday
[msnscared][msnscared][msnscared]

[floridadreamvilla.co.uk]

I've not heard of anyone doing that - which company made you sign that?

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by sam2112
thought they had done away with them all, the scarry thing was signing a waiver that if we rolled it we would not be covered with the insurance, this stuck in my mind the whole holiday
[msnscared][msnscared][msnscared]
[/quote]

[Harry and Jayne]

We rented a 15 seater a few years ago. The most uncomfortable drive imaginabale!! Has an engine cover between front seats that pushes against your legs all the time. I would also advise if you have never driven "large" before to go for something smaller.
When we rented ours we had to sign a disclaimer making us liable for damage if we managed to "roll" the vehicle. On a plus side..there was ample room and the kids thought it was great fun getting on the "school bus" as they called it!!

[sam2112]

it was dollar, out of the two weeks we were there we say 3 trucks the same as ours of the road one in a ditch and two on the central reservation, it made me very nervous every time hubby took a corner, white knuckle job,