Some Maritimers struggling to find rental cars this summer

Finding rental cars in the Maritimes might be difficult this summer.

You may see cars on rental lots in Halifax but that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re all available, at least according to some Maritimers.

Tidal Car Rentals has locations in Burnside and Bayers Lake. They have roughly 15 cars and say they have already noticed things are picking up this summer.

“We are around 60 per cent sold out or 65 per cent and we are already seeing a lot of future bookings,” says Karanjeet Singh, Tidal Car Rentals director.

The company says last June was comparable, but July looks to be busier, especially with Canada Day weekend expected to be sold out.

Singh says it’s difficult to have the right number of cars because some companies can exchange the fleets each year while others cannot.

“Every company tries to find the sweet spot with how many vehicles they want to have in their fleet so during the summer months, if you want to book a car, it’s better to book in advance,” says Singh.

Singh says when demand is high, it’s beneficial for this small company because people come to them when the bigger companies lack availability.

“Sometimes they reach out to us after they reach out to all other companies like multinational companies when they cannot find the right vehicles. We have some very unique vehicles,“ says Singh.

Tidal Car rentals has been around since 2022 and they plan to continue to grow.

“They have more vehicles and a bigger team as well. Having a bigger team, they can do bigger sales. The audience is bigger than us, the market is bigger than us and it’s all about having a bigger fleet. They buy more vehicles during the summer months and they get rid of them in the winter and buy them again. We are not there yet, we keep our fleet around a year,” says Singh.

To stay competitive the company offers lower prices and they find this helps bring in customers.

Many customers find they have to book their vehicles early this summer. For travellers Anne Coogan and Christina Fuller from British Columbia and Alberta, booking early was crucial.

The two planned a month-long road trip around the East Coast and wanted to ensure they had everything in order.

" We started planning this trip last September,” says Coogan.

The two had no problems booking a vehicle.

“I just went on the website, used my little perk and said when I would be picking it up and bringing it back and no problems at all,” says Fuller.

Fuller also had a discount from when she worked at Telus.

“It wasn’t that expensive because I get a 35 per cent off discount with my perks from being an ex-Telus employee so that made the world a difference,” says Fuller.

She admits without the discount, renting a vehicle is expensive. Many others feel the same way and went a different route this summer.

Donna Voldock had difficulty finding a rental last summer when travelling to Newfoundland. The rental fell through at the last minute so they tried a carsharing company called Turo.

“I hear that it’s very hard to rent cars on the East Coast actually, so that’s kind of how we found Turo last time when we went to Newfoundland,” says Voldock, who was visiting from Toronto.

Rick Terry from Wasaga Beach, Ontario, tried to book a vehicle for his group of six this week. They started looking a week ago and had no luck.

“Nothing that would hold six people, it was very limited, and the market is very tough down here,” says Terry.

They also went the route of carsharing and it saved them a lot of money.

“We are here for five days, and it was $340 for the five days so it worked out good, versus a regular car rental place was $1,200,” Terry says.

The later you book, the more expensive the booking. The prices are not fixed so they vary based on the demand for the season. Vehicles are much cheaper in the winter months than the summer.

“Prices do fluctuate with the demand and supply. During months like July and August they are going to be very expensive,” says Singh.

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