# Countries where you get rentalcar with driver only?



## Magnus Brage (Jun 9, 2006)

I know that in Russia in the 90ies ,you could only rent a car in Spb & Moscow with driver only. No rental firms would allow you to drive their cars on your own. How is it nowadays do rentalfirms in Russia still recommend car with driver?

Are there any other countries in the world where rentalcar with driver is recommended instead of driving on your own?

Can I rent a car in Bombay, Istanbul, Tokio or Cairo and drive away on my own or do they not allow rentalcars to be used without their own drivers?


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## vatse (Apr 17, 2009)

Most of rental companies in Iran rent a car with driver only for foreign people. It's not about laws but because of embargoes. You can't use foreign credit cards in Iran; so you can't guarantee your rental with credit card. If you have the required sum for deposit in cash you can rent a car without any problem. It's same when you have Iranian friend with local credit card. He can use his card and you can rent a car without any problems.
I'm sure that you can rent a car without driver at any other country in Middle East. It's quite common to do it also in Cairo and Istanbul.

I'm quite sure that you can't rent a car in China when you don't have local driving license. So it would be impossible to rent a car without driver for tourists in China.


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## TheCat (Apr 21, 2006)

The situation in China seems to be messy, because apparently since 2007, officially, foreign drivers can drive in China, but you may still need to get a local license, which may or may not require you to be retested. This is according to Wikitravel, at least.


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## Magnus Brage (Jun 9, 2006)

vatse said:


> Most of rental companies in Iran rent a car with driver only for foreign people. It's not about laws but because of embargoes. You can't use foreign credit cards in Iran; so you can't guarantee your rental with credit card. If you have the required sum for deposit in cash you can rent a car without any problem. It's same when you have Iranian friend with local credit card. He can use his card and you can rent a car without any problems.
> I'm sure that you can rent a car without driver at any other country in Middle East. It's quite common to do it also in Cairo and Istanbul.
> 
> I'm quite sure that you can't rent a car in China when you don't have local driving license. So it would be impossible to rent a car without driver for tourists in China.


I wonder what the deposit is for a rental car in Cairo, probably the same amount as the deductable, which may be lots of $$$ because of high risk for accident in the chaotic metropolis.

Another advantage for chosing a local driver with the rental car in Tokio or Shanghai, is the language barrier. If you would be involved in an accident it may be difficult to explain yourself to other drivers and the traffic police.


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## Stainless (Jun 7, 2009)

^^^ That is true about Cairo, the traffic is terrible. I was told when I was there that 1 in every 25 taxi rides involves a minor collision, which must mean each taxi has about one accident a day.


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