Posted by Mark on Tuesday, 2. February 1999 at 17:52 Bali Time:
In Reply to: What 's a fair price? posted by Liz on Monday, 1. February 1999 at 18:52 Bali Time:
The petrol stations are "Petrami" or something. You need to ask for "Premium" - it was only 1,000Rp per litre in Sept. Avoid the bottle petrol sellers unless you are desparate (is it all petrol in their jars?) and negotiate the price FIRST (Petrami are fixed price and should be cheaper). Make sure you watch the attendant reset the pump meter (i.e. get out of the car and watch what they are doing).
There tends to be at least one petrol station in each major town / along each major route. They are normally marked on maps.
We rented a Suzuki "Jeep" for 50,000 Rp in Sept incl basic insurance from the rental shop just North along Jl Legian in Kuta. I asked the question on the forum in December for a larger Kijang (we're going again end of March) and was told from 75,000 Rp (prices per day).
Search the forum for advice on driving. I really recommend it having tried both methods (driver and self-drive), IF YOU ARE TRAVELLING OUTSIDE THE KUTA / SANUR etc area - I loved driving around Ubud / Pemuteran / Amed etc. I found loads of people advising against it on the forum (citing police problems and lunny truck drivers), but we travelled extensively and it was great (including the police who helped find places). I think driving in Kuta stinks and I believe those that gave negative reports were either paranoic or had taken an illegal turn and got fines (the police around Kuta put up small signs prohibiting you from going straight / turning on a road it was possible to do so on earlier) - just watch out for them and you'll be fine.
One last thing, make sure your rental car is in FULL working order with all the bits (car jack etc) and lights working before you drive off. Also, that the number plate has "RC" on it for rental car (you'll be fined if you get stopped in a privately registered car). Make sure you have an international drivers licence with you at all times and keep only 40,000 Rp visible in your wallet in case you get stopped and fined (we never were).