Turks and Caicos Luxury & Specialty Car Rental
The island of Providenciales in the Turks and Caicos is home to a wide collection of car rental companies, yet only a relative few have what could be considered luxury or upscale specialty vehicles.
Before renting a car, read Driving in the Turks and Caicos. There are many poor drivers in the islands, and there are several safety and convenience issues you ought to be aware of if you plan to drive.
When choosing a rental car, it’s also important to consider what you would like to do on your vacation in the Turks and Caicos. Most of the roads on Providenciales and in Grace Bay are paved, so jeeps and 4x4s are typically not necessary for getting around. You will need a jeep or 4x4, however, to explore the remote west coast national parks on Providenciales.
The companies that rent high-end and luxury-class cars typically offer airport pickup and drop-off service, or free pickup and drop-off at hotels and resorts or villas. The experience at the Providenciales International Airport (PLS) during peak travel times admittedly can be quite poor, with long waits at immigration. Services such as Fast Track, which offers queue priority at airport immigration and customs, can significantly reduce waits.
Another way to reduce your wait is to rent from one of the car agencies that have cars and agents onsite at the airport. The boutique car rental companies typically have little or no wait for guests, as there are agents assigned to each renter and no queues or shuttling to offsite locations.
Vehicles Available for Rent
Most of the higher-end car rental options in the Turks and Caicos are full-size SUVs with better trim packages (typically Chevrolet Suburbans and Tahoes, the Toyota Prado, and Ford Expeditions). There is also a limited selection of mid and large luxury-class SUVs, including the Range Rover Sport, a top-trim Range Rover Vogue, and BMW X6 vehicles available.
Jeeps
Another fun and unique option are bespoke and upfitted Jeep Wranglers. Options include soft-top jeeps with either two or four doors, which are complete with suspension and tire upgrades, trail lights, and air conditioning. The jeeps offer a great ride over rough roads and superior visibility when driving, and are simply more exciting to drive than the typical car.
Compact Cars
Some of the smaller yet unique rental car choices also include Mini Cooper compact cars, BMW and Volkswagen sedans and coupes in both automatic and manual, and hybrid compact cars.
Trucks
There’s also a limited selection of pickup trucks and medium-duty trucks, such as the Kia K Series or Toyota Dyna series, which are great for special projects or transporting kayaks, paddleboards, or kiteboarding water sports equipment.
Land Rover Defenders, of which you’ll likely see a few while on vacation in the Turks and Caicos, are unfortunately not available in rental fleets. As a British Overseas Territory, the islands actually have a number of authentic diesel Land Rover Defenders in right-hand drive and with manual transmissions, rather than the gas V8-powered automatic transmission variants that were imported into the United States for a limited time.
Electric Vehicles
Providenciales does have a few electric vehicles on its roads, such as Tesla cars and BYD Seagulls. Most of these are privately owned, though Teslas are available for rent at Grace Bay Car Rentals.
Private Car Service
Another transportation option is one of the private car services, which is convenient for airport transfers and evening transport for a night out. Car services (locally called VIP transport) almost exclusively use full-size SUVs by Chevrolet or Cadillac. Vehicle comfort, cleanliness, and punctuality with this service is typically far superior to taxis.
Luxury Car Rental Locations
