Would you drive in Los Angeles??

[cruiser]

I'm planning a trip down to Los Angeles in October (for a week) and am contemplating on whether to rent a car or not.

My last time to LA was 24 years ago, so I can't really say how it is now. I've rented cars and driven in Las Vegas...I've also driven in Seattle and Portland, but am not sure how these compare to LA.

My time will be spent attending some tapings of shows and then some tourist things such as taking in the beaches, Rodeo Drive, etc.

I was talking to some relatives who were just in LA in August and the hotel where they stayed put them in touch with a "private" driver. This guy is licensed, etc., but is different from a cab, because you wouldn't have to pay waiting time, etc., but he would pick you up when you needed to be picked up, and he charged more on a flat trip fee vs a cab who runs a meter.

So...my thoughts..
1) Do I rent a car for the week? My hotel offers free parking so no problem there. Cost for a car would be about $200.
2) Do I try and seek out a private driver? I have commitments for about 4 days so would need rides during those times, but am free the rest of the time, and I would have no way of getting around.
3) Use a cab? I think that this option would be the most costly.

Appreicate any feedback on anybody that's been to LA in the last year or so. I would be bringing my own GPS so I could find my destinations, but I'm thinking about shortcuts, freeways, traffic, etc (where a private driver would have the local knowledge)....my GPS wouldn't know all the shortcuts, etc to save time.

If you've been to LA, do reply and let me know what you did.

thanks,
Cruiser

 

[here4fun]

Rent a car. I am in LA about twice a year. Never had any problem.

 

[personalmale]

I don't think you can visit the Los Angeles/Orange county area without your own car. Especially if you're there for a week. Just remember, do exactly what the GPS says and nobody gets hurt. Missed your exit? No sweat there's another a just down the freeway and you can exit off swing around and come back. Who cares about short cuts if you're on vacation? Get on the Pacific coast highway and keep driving south: Huntington Beach, Newport Beach (Fashion Island), Laguna Beach. There's a great place to have breakfast on the pier at San Clemente. Sure there's a million cars on the road passing one spot every hour but when you're in true rush hour everyone's crawling along at a snail's pace so you've got all the time in the world to make that lane change. Most of the time people will let you do it and for the most part people do signal because they know you can't read their mind.

 

[87112]

I went there more than a year ago to watch my Anaheim Ducks in the playoffs. First impression of La was the LAX area to get the rental car at one off the off airport areas. OH shit, the people working there looks so beaten down and kind of rough, like " I'm in LA and I hate it actually". You see lots of fences with spikes on them and you wonder this is the land of the rich and famous? Than you get to your rental car and drive past lots of liquor shops and strip malls. Not exactly world class photos from there. Than you get on the freeway to your destination and it goes like this. You zoom and stop zoom and stop, to a complete stop. Someone LA traffic feels like a 300 meter race. Once you are in a neighborhood the cars outnumber walking people 1000 to 1, even in a area crowded with strip malls you drive from one to another. Thinks of it as Kingsway or Hastings but most of the street have half the people walking around. At night, you will be surprised how dark of a city LA is, its so big and spread who can afford to light it well. As you can tell, I'm not smitten with LA life.

 

[taster]

Rent a car. Signal in advance and don't make any sudden moves on the freeway and people have no problem letting you in.

When changing lanes be aware of another car potentially changing into the same lane coming from the other side. If there's five lanes I like to drive in the 2nd or 3rd lanes from the left since there's a lot of movement in the 4th and 5th lane . A lot of exits are on the left side also so it's good to be in the middle lanes.

I also got a car from LAX and got the same impression about the grittiness of the people. When I go to the States that's the thing I notice that the jobs you normally see students have are held by older adults and I always wonder how they get by....that's why they have the blank,tired expressions on their faces.

Don't let this stop you from renting a car,but don't drive off the freeway looking for shortcuts because the road may look shorter but the traffic could be much slower and you don't want to get stuck in a place like Compton etc.
If your worried about safety just drive during the day and make sure your back to your hotel area before dark.

 

[not2old]

Just remember, do exactly what the GPS says and nobody gets hurt.

Not always the way it works out though

 

[GoWest]

I used to live down there a while back and have been down a few times in the last couple years. Whenever I visit I've always rented a car. You can't get around the LA area without a car. Sure a driver would be great if you are only planning to visit a few places, but you're probably going to go to dinner, go sightseeing, go pooning...

You'll be fine with GPS. If you can drive in Vancouver with our crappy highways that always seem to be under construction, you can drive down there.

 

[future canadian]

I was out there last March (flew into LAX they drove out toward Palm Springs for Indian Wells, the big tennis tourney). Anyways, I drove the 105 to the 605 then to 10 .. only the 10 has stop and go traffic and that was around 330 pm. On the drive back, I decide to go to the Nixon Museum so I took CA91 which is known as the Corona Crawl. Luckily I was going westbound (eventually to Long Beach) so it was flowing at around 50 mph at 400 pm but the outbound (eastbound traffic) was at a snail's pace. BUT, like the other stated, the drivers in LA are some of the best drives .. Chicago, on the other hand, are idiots with licenses!

 

[badbadboy]

Done it many times before GPS. Easy enough to get around if you know the highways and intersection points. Its well laid out IMHO. Suggest you plot out where you want to go the night before and either put it on a map or plot it on a GPS. Portable Tom Tom is pretty simple to operate.

 

[Monet]

Yes I would.

 

[praxis]

I actually found LA to be quite easy to drive (the highways between San Diego and LA are well planned and marked with signs). With an up-to-date GPS, there should be no problem navigating the place. The San Francisco area (including downtown) is a more challenging drive than downtown LA.

Compared to other major cities in North America, LA is probably one of the more manageable driving areas - the place was designed for cars. Worst places to drive would be eastern cities like New York to Washington D.C. areas. In Canada, it would be the Toronto 400-series highways (401, 407, etc.).

If you're an experienced (and defensive) driver, you would have no problem driving in the cities of North America.

 

[rocky_11]

I was told by many people don't take your motor home int downtown L. A. I take semis with 50 ft trailers into Vancouver so I ignored the advise.. Anyway no problem in L A the drivers are for the most part better than Van. drivers and yield to bigger vehicles right now... so no problem just avoid the normal rush times and enjoy ...

 

[DB Cooper57]

If you can drive in Vancouver you can drive in LA! Just keep up with traffic and stay out of the car pool lane if your by yourself:thumb:

 

[bcneil]

Its not a hard place to drive. If you are there a week, and want to get as much in as you can, a taxi will be much more $$ than a car.
Traffic there is faster. First thing I notice when driving in new cities is the speed people go.
Ie Vancouver, people will go 20-30km over the limit of freeways 10-20km over on other streets if traffic congestion permits.

Seattle people maybe 10mph on the freeway, the limit on other streets. Last time I was in Vegas I avoided the freeway, but noticed even doing the limit or 5mph higher, I was the fastest on the road it seemed.

Parking is easy almost anywhere, even the beach this time of year. With free hotel parking, its a no brainer.
Use common sense on freeways, know your exit, and plan ahead to be in the right lane.

 

[Webster]

This is just a me too: rent a car, drive yourself. You need to do it anyway, and it's not that hard.

 

[SFMIKE]

Go with the flow and do not go too slow keep up with the traffic. As grope said. My cousin wanted me to drive down to California she in Sacremento. I just recently rekindled with her. Anyways I said I don't think I want to drive there, are you crazy!.
She basically told me what Grope just said above. It is only in your own car a 17 hour drive or so from mainland. I have driven in Seattle myself I was ok with that it was a few years ago. I just had to get use too the MPH as we use the metric KM.
Anyways good luck I am sure you will be fine and with the freedom to drive you can see so much and enjoy much more.

If you have driven in and around Seattle, that is the only large city before you get to Sacramento. There is Portland, much smaller than Seattle and there is a bypass around the east side of the city, so that is no challenge.

From Vancouver to Sacramento is about 900 miles, the last half of which is through the State of Jerrerson, which is almost all rural. When you reach Sacramento you are still almost 450 miles from LA and about 80 miles from the Bay Area. Should be no problem all the way.

Time your trip to drive through Seattle from 10AM - 2PM and it should be a piece of cake.

The population of the Sacramento area is only slightly smaller that of Portland and just as easy to get around. On the other hand the Seatle area population is about 1/2 again bigger.

 

[Corbin]

I enjoy driving in LA more than I enjoy driving here.

 

[SFMIKE]

A 50 foot trailer? Must be a Canadian thing. Here we have 48 & 53 foot trailers.

 

[cruiser]

Rent a car. Signal in advance and don't make any sudden moves on the freeway and people have no problem letting you in.

When changing lanes be aware of another car potentially changing into the same lane coming from the other side. If there's five lanes I like to drive in the 2nd or 3rd lanes from the left since there's a lot of movement in the 4th and 5th lane . A lot of exits are on the left side also so it's good to be in the middle lanes.

I also got a car from LAX and got the same impression about the grittiness of the people. When I go to the States that's the thing I notice that the jobs you normally see students have are held by older adults and I always wonder how they get by....that's why they have the blank,tired expressions on their faces.

Don't let this stop you from renting a car,but don't drive off the freeway looking for shortcuts because the road may look shorter but the traffic could be much slower and you don't want to get stuck in a place like Compton etc.
If your worried about safety just drive during the day and make sure your back to your hotel area before dark.

Thanks for the advice.

You mention car rental agencies...I've been looking at which one to go with over the last week....I pull up reviews on the big ones (Budget/Hertz/Thrifty/Avis..etc) and it's really difficult to find one that has good ratings. People complain about long lines, poor customer service, not getting the vehicle that they were promised, etc.

Anybody care to share what car rental agency they used and if the experience was good or not. I will be picking my car up at LAX so will have to rely on what is available there.

I will keep that in mind about the lanes on the freeway. I'm quite an aggressive driver myself so that isn't an issue. I make the best effort to plan ahead so I don't cut others off. I actually live in Edmonton and can't believe how many times in a day I'm cut off.

Thanks for the info....

Cruiser

 

[sevenofnine]

I remember getting lost in L.A. ending up driving through Watts or some dam thing.

I have never seen so many black people in my entire life. Walked into a gas station to ask for directions, we all just laughed and got on,
but it isn't a place i would want to be after dark. bars and iron protecting all the houses and yards like in some movie scene of a war zone or something,

my gps was on the fritz love the freeways. my map was old, so i got hoplessly lost,
but have a up to date map and gps is a big help if it works.
actually gps is the cats meow mine the battery was dead, but i love gps. i couldn't get out of my backyard with out one
but yeah rent a car no worries.