Anyone here ever rent a car in order to travel from Canada to the U.S. (or in reverse) to visit an incarcerated pal, friend or loved one?

Ive always used my own car but I have considered renting and I actually wondered if I can drive a rented car across the border. I will be interested to see the responses you get.
Are you concerned about whether you can take the car across the border or the custom agents asking about who's car ?

Yes. I'm curious as to whether or not you can without the rental agency knowing. I know you pay a premium if you go out of province becuase any rental agency I had investigated with says "unlimited KM" within Canada, but a premium of "X" cents per KM outside of Canada (not permited to travel into Mexico though)

My queries are two-fold:

How would a rental car agency know if you took the car out of Canada? Are the plates registered at the border that they can tell by computer or something? Could you not in fact "claim" to be/have been in Canada the whole time (thus capitalizing on the free unlimited KM's) but actually have travelled to the U.S.? Heaven's forbid you have an accident, get a traffic violation or a parking ticket while in the U.S. and then they know, but otherwise if its a clean trip will they know?

Does the border ask for proof of ownership for the vehicle? Whenever I've driven over in my own vehicle I don't remember ever being asked about my vehicle, but who knows now since I haven't crossed by car since the 9/11 security boosts.

Normally, I play by the rule books, but at $0.20/KM for as far as I'm travelling I might as well fly but that's more inconvenient to the stops I desire to make along the way to my destination!! I'd rather the wear & tear of the trip be on a vehicle that is not my own also.

Have you considered renting a car on the other side of the border ?

Yes, but I still need transport to get to the other side first :)

Which state are you going to and which side of Ontario are you in ?

I'm actually planning visits to several states (as close as NY and as far as FL) at different times in the next little while and I'm in Southern Ontario (Toronto)

Im assuming you are traveling east to cross the border just before Kingston. You can drop a rent a car off there and take a taxi across and then have a pre-booked rent a car on the other side.
You might have to work it out to see if that actually saves you money or not. All the famous car rental firms have web sites both for American and Canadian and you could figure it out online I think.

You know what :) Good point! Thanks, I'll give that some consideration. :D

Well I looked into this more and turns out you can purchase a package for the U.S. with your rental. They charge a little more per day but the KM's are unlimited so it's well worth it v. paying $0.20/KM additional.

Oh definitely worth it and good info for anyone planning to do that. Let us know when you are going so we can wish you a good visit and trip.

you can rent a car, drive to the border then have them pick it up.... then rent another car at point b, drive to point c and have them pick it up...then from point c, rent a new car, drive it to point d, and so on

that sounds like alot of work ...

they ask for car ownership or who it is regestered to at the border as they put your plates in the computer so they will know it is a rental unless oyur name is hertz or enterprise ( lol)
you just get permission from them to take it across and as raspberry said there is a service charge extra to do it...
the other option is to fly into a central area and rent one there many of the companies allow you to drop off in diffeent states but can charge extra for that as well
good luck..

It seems like a pretty good deal if you dont mind driving. I know I prefer to drive. Arriana, have you rented from T.O. all the way to Arizona ? Is it cheaper than flying and renting when you get there ?
One of the biggest problems is prisons are rarely in a town, they all seem to be somewhere that you will have to take a very expensive taxi ride if you dont have a car.

I love to fly.. I adore flying .. ahh the feeling of flying.. and I use the time to write my sweetie about they day or I will catch up on work if the plane isnt too crowded with my laptop.. I have never driven from TO to AZ..wayyyyy to far for me as I am too impatient to get there..
One of my friends rented a car in the USA and dropped it off a few states over and it cost then close to a thousand.. ouchy.. way too costly for me.. I would rather spend that on shoes..

Toronto to Arizona by car ??? Whoo Boy, some patience required for that trip ... :D ... I flew to Arizona last December and I ALMOST was forced to drive because the ice storm hit Toronto less than 24hrs before my flight was scheduled to leave and they had grounded the flights. It would have been a 38 hour straight trip (no stops and no glitches) to get there ... I might have just made it if I had to but thankfully, the ice eased up 12 hrs later and they cleared many flights to take off including mine :)