Hi Anthony,
I just returned from a trip to St.Thomas and St. John. I would advise you to take the ferry over to St. John and rent a car from there. From what was told to me was that St. John rentals are upset that business is being taken away from them and the other problem is if you rent a car from St.Thomas and something happens to the car in St. John then you are responsible to get the car back to St. Thomas. I found it easier to just rent a jeep for 24 hours while I was in St John. Good Luck!

Anthony, $60-$70/day is typical, depending on the type of car. Weekly rates are cheaper. When I called around earlier this month, rates for similar cars didn't vary much. However, some charge for extra drivers and/or child seats, and others don't. Folks we met on STJ were able to find cars on the spot for a day or two. When we called 4 larger places we found contact info for online, they were all booked for the week we were on STJ. We rented a jeep from Dependable, near the airport on STT and took it over on the car barge. One way is $16, including up to 4 passengers. Round trip saves a dollar, but operators don't all exchange tickets. Beware car barges don't run as often or as late as passenger ferries. Final caution -- you need 4WD on STJ, which is all the local places rent, and not all agencies on STT allow you to take their cars to STJ, so be sure to ask if you go that route.

Thanks very much Alice and Bob. I have been researching the rates and they all seem to be in the $60-70 dollar range. I think that I will probably rent in Saint John its just which company can supply the car. I am going in March so hopefully there will be availibilty. Thanks so much for your help.

Anthony, We have used Conrad Sutton Jeep Rentals on St. John for almost 20 years. Their jeeps are almost always newer. The last one we had only had 350 miles on it. Conrad also will let you park the jeep in his lot while you are in town, so you don't have to worry about finding a parking space. We book on-line and got a 5% discount. Try www.conradcars.com

Thanks Tracy for the info on Conrad Sutton. I have heard of him and saw his website but didn't know about the discount you get when u book online. I am about to check his site. Thanks very much.

Hello,

We just returned from the Virgin Islands and have this to say about car rentals... Make sure you call early. We tried to get a Jeep to rent on St. John's while at Point Pleasant (not a good place to stay) and they set us up with Spencer's Jeep Rental on St. John. I would not advise renting from them... they treated us rudely, tried to collect more $ than agreed upon
(we rented for $65/day for 2 days), and gave us a Jeep with a slow leaking tire. You may also want to consider getting a Jeep that has doors that lock in case you want to lock valuables in the car while at the beach. Many of the Jeeps are Wranglers which can be open to the air.

I heard good things about Dependable car rentals but they didn't have anything. Discount rental is also good.

Also be advised that "island time" is truly a different time . We asked for car pick up at 8:30 which didn't mean a thing to the rental place.. We ended up having to take a taxi to pick up the car after the rental place didn't show up by 9:30.

The three car rental places that we have narrowed our search down to are three: Conrad Sutton, CC Car Rental and Courtesy Car Rental. Any feedback by anyone who has used these places as to the condition of their vehicles, dealing with them as business people, etc. would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Hi, Darlene,
I have copied for you a message that I wrote a few days ago concerning our experience earlier this month with Conrad Sutton. Perhaps it was not typical of their customer service, although while we were waiting, and waiting, and waiting for them, several other customers came by and said that they had found the same attitude. Whatever the case, with so many other rental agencies, I shall not use Conrad Sutton in the future. Now here's my earlier report:

Our one negative experience while on-island was with our car rental firm. In early Feb., we had reserved a Montero from Conrad Sutton. I had never heard of a Montero, but Mr. Sutton insisted over the phone that, considering the size of our group, that was the only vehicle that would hold us, our beach paraphernalia, etc.. The Westin package included transportation for two on the Westin ferry, and the rest of us took the public ferry from Red Hook. I called the Sutton office from the St. Thomas airport, and the lady in the office told me to be sure get the 5pm ferry from Red Hook, which would get us to St. John at about 5:30, because the car rental office closed at 6. The ferry arrived in Cruz Bay at about 5:25, and we were at Sutton's by5:30. Imagine our surprise when we discovered the office locked, no sign of life around it, and no note saying that anyone would be back to reopen! After waiting nearly 20 minutes, a local lady passing by offered to call the Suttons on her cell phone and find out what was happening. When she did, Mrs. Sutton said that her husband was on his way to the office. When he arrived at 6, he was very abrupt and less than helpful. Many years ago, I had lived in the islands for 9 years and was accustomed to 'island time'. Our problem was that, although they knew at what time we were arriving, they not only were not there, but there was no indication that they would be back before morning. In the meantime, other car rental places were closing, and we were concerned that we would be left with nothing. We would have easily gotten over all of that, if, when Mr. Sutton came, he had had a smile, or an "I'm sorry you had to wait', or any indication of friendliness. The final straw was that, after his insisting that we would need a Montero, he had none available. We managed with the car he substituted, but all-in-all, it was an unpleasant experience. I should stress, however, that we had no quarrel with his price - It was just the unpleasant attitude. Perhaps, our experience the the Suttons was not typical. I just know that, with so many other rental firms, I'll choose another one the next time. Fortunately, the first sight of the beaches helped us to forget the car rental problem, and the rest of the trip was perfect.

Hi Prizren,

Thank you so much for all of that information about Conrad Sutton. I am so glad I posted that message, because my sister had called them and spoke to Gladys Sutton and felt that she was very rude and abrupt, which I also thought when I called and spoke with her. In light of your very unfortunate experience, I think we will look elsewhere. Out of the three I had mentioned, Sutton was offering a 5% discount online and that 's why we were thinking of going with them. But come to find out, Courtesy Car Rental is willing to match their price, and, according to my sister, they were very, very nice to deal with. I can't believe how you were treated by Conrad! Thanks again for the valuable info.

We just got back from a wonderful week in St. John, and we rented a Jeep from Conrad Sutton. We had no problems with the Jeep Wrangler, but I think the above comments about Conrad himself are fairly accurate. Not the friendliest guy. I don't mean I wanted a new best friend from the car rental place, but a smile, a hello, a how are you, etc., would have been nice. I thought he was in a bad mood most of the times he saw us when we were parking in the lot (which was very convenient, but down a bit of a hill and packed with other Conrad Sutton vehicles.) Not an angry bad mood, just annoyed he had to deal with customers, who were giving him $400 a week. I'd be a little more pleasant to people giving me $400.