[JOHN TIMOTHY FULLERTON]

Dr. J. Timothy Fullerton:  I was in Ecuador November and December, 2011.   I rented a small car through Priceline via the Internet while I was in Ecuador. The rentals were for two separate one week time periods. The cost was a hundred a week and if you went a day or two over that you paid the daily rate for the extra time. I picked up both vehicles at the Quito Airport and when I arrived the rental agents had my reservation ready both times. The second time I paid for insurance through Priceline  ($20.00 for the week) when I booked the vehicle ( I paid for the vehicle with my AMEX   card which also covered me for car rental insurance, as did the insurance policy on my vehicle at home.  So didn’t t think that I needed the rental companies insurance also   This led to some confusion as they wanted me to take their insurance too, and since I do not speak Spanish it  took some time to resolve (20 minutes).I finally won and they let me go without taking their insurance  Other than that I experienced no  other negative  issues,  Locked my keys in the car once and they came and unlocked it promptly – I was still in Quito at the time, although they say it is a country wide service –  a service they advised me of when I picked up the car. The small car was suitable for two people and their luggage The car had fantastic acceleration in third gear, which you needed in the  mountains to pass. My advise for anyone driving in Ecuador is to adapt an aggressive Ecuadorian driving style immediately: . For she/he who hesitates is lost. Each week I drove 1,000 kilometers in the countryside (read mountains) and cities, Guayaquil, Quito, Cuenca, Loja and Otavalo. Hardest part of driving your own car is navigating when you have no ability to read road signs.  Which leads to a question does anyone know if there are any aftermarket  GPS systems available to load into a Garmin or any of the other GPS system standard in North America. Thanks.

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