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Renting or travelling using car is very familiar if you go to Indonesia, especially if you plan to go to rural or small town. Public transportation (bus, train, or taxi) are available, but most of them are not comfort enough and have very limited route. You can see people smoke inside the bus or they stop more than 30 minutes to wait the bus full. It will waste your times and also energy. On the other hand, car rental is quite cheap in Indonesia, and it is the best choice if you want to go more than 3 places in a day outside the town. Here is our Feel-Indonesia recap about car rental in Indonesia. So, check this out!
What are the requirements to drive a car in Indonesia?
The minimum age for driving in Indonesia is 18 years, and you need a Indonesia driver’s license (Surat Ijin Mengemudi/ SIM) or International Driving Permit (IDP) to rent and drive a car in Indonesia. International Driving Permit (IDP) is issued by your home country. Actually, Indonesia accept IDP from all country. You just need to bring and show it during the car rental process.
How do I rent a car in Indonesia?
There are many providers of car rental companies. You can make reservations in English or Bahasa Indonesia and the payment can be made by cash or credit card. Please ask the required documents to the car rental staff (while it usually different every car rental company).
Car rental can be found easily in the Airport, in the city center, or just ask you hotel staff to arrange that.
Car Rental Rates in Indonesia
Car rental fees depend on the type of car and the city. In Bali or Lombok, the rates started from 400.000 per day exclude gasoline and driver. Rates could rise a few percent during the holiday season, especially in famous tourism spots. In addition, there are several companies that provide car rental for 6 or 12 hours at a cheaper price. You can ask about the 6 or 12 hours packages when making a reservation.
You can also ask for the insurance package which covers damage or injury during a travel accident. And of course, before returning the car, you have to ( a mandatory) make sure the fuel tank is fully charged.
Minibus Car Rental in Indonesia
GPS navigation
Many rental car already equipped with GPS navigation on the dashboard. In case you can’t get the GPS navigation, you can still use Waze or Google Maps in your handphone.
Fill up you gasoline in gas stations
Pertamina gas stations can be found easily in the major city centers. In Jakarta, Bali, Surabaya, Bandung, or Makassar you can found them every 5-10 kilometers and open for 24 hours. However, in rural areas or areas that are quite far from the city, gas stations closed evenings (23.00-07.00). It also quite difficult to find them. Just make sure to filled-up your tank full before started to travel. A liter of gasoline costs 6.500 rupiahs for premium (as per early 2017).
When you arrived at the gas stations. Park or stop the car near the pump machine, open the windshield, then turn off the car engine. Then say “premium” to the staff. Then the staff will ask, “Berapa banyak pak? (How much?)” You can say the amount of gasoline do you want, for example “100.000 rupiahs” or “full tank” if you want to fill up the fuel tank. Then give your money cash or credit card and finish the payment process.
Parking fees in Indonesia
Parking fee in big cities in Indonesia (Jakarta, Surabaya, Bandung, Bali) is quite expensive. It starts from 5.000 rupiahs (0,5 dollars per hour). Even in the tourist spot, the parking fee is started from 10.000-30.000 rupiahs per day. But, if you go to small towns or rural areas, the parking fee is usually 3.000 rupiahs or even free.
Car Rental Tips in Indonesia
- Ask for your friends or family’s reference who had already traveled to Bali and have an experience of rent a car. You can prepare some requirement documents (your ID copies and money for the guarantee and down payment).
- Before reserve/ order car rental, you can do “little research” about the places you will visit. You can find out the location and path of a map. Not only so as not to lost if you drive yourself, but also to prepare itinerary and gasoline budget.
- Choose the method of full rental, where you travel by yourself (not using driver). It will be cheaper because you don’t need to pay for the driver. Please make sure that you have and bring international license.
- Check the condition of you rental car. Check the machine, brake, lamps, radio (for accompany you during the trip), and also the seats.
- For urban (inner city) travel, you can rental car with a capacity of 1000 cc. But, for the rural, hilly, or mountainous areas you should rent a car with a capacity above 1000 cc.
Images credit: Flickr Bali Midori Car Rental, Bali Midori Car Rental
