Car Rental via Ho Ing 和運租車 (through Klook) @ Taiwan

For our Taiwan trip made earlier this year, both Alex and I decided to make an unconventional decision; renting a car to self drive even though Taiwan practises left-hand drive, contrasting with the right-hand drive we are more accustomed to! 

Private shuttle from Fenchihu Hotel sending us to the car rental company at Chiayi City. I read basic Chinese which means I am not that proficient when it comes to complicated Chinese terminologies; hence, we decided to book in advance via Klook.com. 

Embarrassingly, we arrived at a different rental car company! Imagine the look on the staff's face when he couldn't find our reservation at all; only to realize from our booking confirmation that it was supposed to be its competitor next door.

Alex filling up the paperwork, at the correct car rental company, 和運租車. Do note that an international license is required and you may apply in person, in Singapore through Automobile Association of Singapore. 

Issue with car rental anywhere; a ton of information that I absolutely can't absorb. My intention of travel was to relax and not to overexert my brain. Alex digged such things though so let him do what he likes. I would just take a picture at the above and work on the necessary, if required.

Key things to note - numbers to call if there's an emergency, and to ensure we were duly covered by insurance. I was a bit confused about the insurance though as I had purchased insurance through Klook but the person at the car rental company said it was a different type. Anyway, for peace of mind even though I am not exactly happy, we forked out extra. 

Our pre-booked Toyota Vios; RDW 9062.

Going through the process of checking the car; to ensure existing damages, scratches etc were accurately pointed out so that we wouldn't be blamed when we return the car a week later. Honestly, the car was well taken care of! 

Hitting the roads! 

Alex was the sole driver for the entire trip although I have also registered for the international license! Apparently, I am an accident risk (after what happened in Jeju) and he deeply treasured his life. Oh well, that relegated me to the role of vehicular commander, which kind of suited me since I do read maps a lot better than Alex. 

Was it hard to drive in Taiwan? Not at all for us since Google Maps and road signs are accurate; reading Chinese characters do help for sure, and our advices to others were to drive carefully, don't speed, and if you miss a turn, keep calm in spite of the frustration, and take the next exit. 

I did hear that Taipei was a horror to drive in but I couldn't confirm since we only covered Chiayi, Kaohsiung, Tainan and Taichung for this trip. Expressways were our preferred mode and we didn't encounter jams that were deemed excessive or different from what we experienced back home.

Alex is also a very safe driver and practices defensive driving, and I must say he made the right decision not to allow me to drive at all, even though I love to drive! :(

Saving grace was that for most parts of the car rental journey, I am happy absorbing the beautiful sights whereas Alex's eyes were focused on the roads. I get more stressed in the cities and at rural areas as there were a lot more cars, and/or the roads were narrower. 

My most frustrating thing was with the return of the rental car at Kaohsiung HSR station! We were given this black and white printout; and we circled twice before I decided to stop and walk to find out its actual location! 

Found it! And a staff member of the rental car company approached us shortly to take over the car. Strangely, he didn't proceed to check the car in detail; or maybe he did, albeit quickly with his experience. 

Back at the car rental company where we had to return the fuel card and for calculation on the fuel we had pumped for the past week. It wasn't too bad I feel as it was only about NT$2,200 (less than S$100). 

p.s. Taken a photograph of the daily rental rates for your reference. Could be cheaper online as there were extra discounts but I do find the website harder to navigate! 

There's also a self served rental car service known as iRent; similar to BlueSG or GetGo in Singapore. Again, website was in Chinese and I am too lazy to read through. 

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Car Rental Company Website

https://www.easyrent.com.tw/

If you prefer to rent direct, at your own risk.

Click HERE for 11 Days, 10 Nights Taiwan Trip: Summarised Itinerary for Chiayi Alishan (嘉义阿里山) - Kaohsiung (高雄) - Tainan (台南) - Taichung (臺中)