Car Hire in Los Cabos: Liability Cover, Deposit and Excess – What Appears at the Desk

The short answer: third-party liability insurance is required by law in Mexico, and at Los Cabos airport it is normally added at the desk on top of the price you saw online. Cover bought on a comparison website or included with a US credit or debit card is, according to the suppliers’ own airport pages, not accepted for that purpose. Plan for a deposit on your credit card as well. Everything below comes from what the rental companies themselves publish for the airport, and where it comes from one company, we say so. Terms differ between companies and change, so treat the figures as the shape of the problem rather than a quote.

If you would rather not stand at a desk on your first evening, the round-trip shared airport shuttle is €36.54 per person, 4.4 stars from 211 reviews, and you can collect a car in town later.

See prices and dates for the round-trip airport shuttle

What the law requires, and what that does to the price

Enterprise’s page for Los Cabos International Airport says it directly: “In Mexico, 3rd party liability insurance is required by law on all vehicles.” National’s page for the same airport says the same, and adds that liability insurance purchased on third-party travel websites and insurance that accompanies US credit or debit cards are not acceptable forms of coverage. Both companies offer their own liability product, TPL, at the counter, to be bought when you pick up the car unless you can show valid proof of Mexican liability cover.

That is the reason the price at the desk can look nothing like the price on the screen. It is not a scam; it is a legal requirement presented late. Whatever you booked online, ask before you pay: Is Mexican third-party liability included, and will you accept it as booked?

The deposit

Enterprise says an authorisation of at least 500 US dollars is held on a credit card, and that the amount varies with the vehicle, the number of days, the extras and the protections you accept. If you decline the liability product while showing proof of cover, it says an additional 45,000 pesos (about 2,500 US dollars) is held. Release depends on your card issuer’s terms, so ask your issuer how long it takes.

The practical point: a card in the main driver’s name is what most suppliers want, and the hold reduces your available credit for the trip. Do not put it on a card you need for the hotel.

Collision waiver and excess

The collision waiver is CDW – on Enterprise’s page, “CDW-TP”, collision and theft. The company states plainly that it is not insurance, that buying it is optional, and that if you buy it a deductible of up to 95,000 pesos (about 5,000 US dollars) still applies. If you decline it, you are responsible for the full value of damage to the car. In the language of the booking site, that deductible is the excess, and it is the number to read before you compare prices – two quotes with the same headline rate can have very different excess.

Our own advice is limited: do not assume that CDW means “no more to pay”. It reduces what you owe; on this one company’s published terms it does not remove it. Whether your card covers collision damage in Mexico is a question for your card issuer, and the answer in writing is worth more than anything on a blog.

Age, fuel and the other lines

• Minimum age. Enterprise says 21, with a maximum of 75, and a young renter fee of 9 US dollars a day between 21 and 24. Other suppliers set their own limits.
• Fuel policy. Enterprise offers three: have them refill and pay a surcharge plus the fuel, return the car full yourself, or pre-pay a full tank with no refund for unused fuel. Returning it full yourself is the simplest of the three; leave time to refuel on the way back.
• Additional drivers, child seats, one-way fees. We have not found figures we can stand behind. Ask the supplier before you book.

Before you compare prices

Read these in this order: what the deposit is, what the excess is, whether Mexican liability is in the price, what the fuel policy is. The headline rate comes last. Then compare car hire for Los Cabos on those lines rather than the first one.

Our guide to whether you need a car at all comes first for most readers, and the Todos Santos drive is the trip we think justifies one.

Our recommendation

First evening, long flight, unfamiliar roads: shuttle in, car later. The round-trip airport shuttle is €36.54 per person.

Booking a car anyway: book it with the extras in mind, not the rate. Ask about liability, deposit and excess in writing, bring a credit card in the driver’s name, and photograph the car before you leave the lot.