Dings, Dents and Scratches

Sint Maarten's roads are better than most Caribbean islands, but they are not European highways. Potholes, excessive speed bumps, tight parking spaces, and a wide range of driving skills among locals and visitors mean that minor damage to rental cars happens. Sometimes you cause it. Sometimes you come back from shopping and find your car dented by someone who did not bother to leave a note.

The walk-around is not optional

Every disagreement between a renter and a rental company about damage starts the same way: at pickup, someone skipped the walk-around. Before you sign anything, inspect the car carefully and make sure every existing scratch, dent, and imperfection is noted on the condition form. If the car has so many marks that it becomes impossible to document them all, that is a reason to refuse the vehicle — not a reason to sign anyway and hope for the best.

Three things to check that people routinely miss:

Open the trunk and verify there is a spare tire with actual air pressure, and that the tools to change it are present. On an island where gas station compressors are frequently out of service, a flat tire without a spare is a genuine problem.

Check the windshield carefully. Chips and cracks are easy to overlook and expensive to replace.

Test all door locks with the key. Thieves typically target the passenger side and can damage a lock without leaving obvious visual marks. A broken lock discovered at return becomes your problem if it is not on the form.

Once you sign off, anything not documented is yours.

If something happens

Reputable operators are not looking to profit from minor damage. They want the car returned in the condition they rented it, nothing more. If you have a small mishap, tell them directly and it will generally be resolved without drama. The operators who turn minor damage into a major invoice are the same ones running the scams described in our rental car scams article — another reason to book with a company you can trust.