Intermediate SUV

Intermediate SUV carries the same 5 seats and the same 3 large cases as a full size saloon, so the numbers alone will not tell you which to book. Shape is the real difference, and you feel it on the first morning. A tailgate opens the full width and height of the load space, the floor is flat and square, and you lift things in at hip height instead of bending over a boot lip.

Doors number 5 rather than 4, which is the tailgate counted as one of them. That is not a technicality when you have a pushchair to fold, a cool box to lift or a week of shopping to slide in. The whole rear of the car opens up in front of you.

Typical models are the Nissan Rogue and the Ford Escape. Both are mid sized crossovers by American standards, which puts them somewhere near a Nissan Qashqai in feel while being physically a little larger. Both sit higher than a saloon without being tall enough to feel unstable, and both fit a standard parking bay comfortably.

Seating height is the other selling point, and the one people talk about when they get home. You see over the traffic on I-4, you slide children into their seats rather than lowering them in, and climbing in and out repeatedly across a fortnight of park car parks is kinder to knees and backs. Fuel use is a little higher than a saloon of similar capacity, which is the price of the shape.

Families with a baby or a toddler get the most from this class, because almost every advantage it holds is about loading and unloading, which is what you spend your day doing. Pushchairs, changing bags, portable high chairs, travel cots and the rest of the paraphernalia of a small child all go in and out of a tailgate far more easily than through a boot opening.

Villa holidays suit it too. Self catering means a large weekly shop, a cool box for park days, folding chairs for the pool and often a case of drinks, and a flat square load bay handles all of that without any thought. Hotel guests who eat out every night will notice the difference less.

Older travellers frequently prefer the seat height. Getting into a crossover means sliding across rather than dropping down and climbing back out, which after eight park visits in a fortnight is a real consideration rather than a marketing line.

Nervous drivers often settle faster in an SUV as well. Sitting higher gives you a better view of the lane markings, the exit signs and the pickup trucks around you on I-4, and the wing mirrors are larger. Driving on the right is easier when you can see where the right hand side of the car actually is.

Where the saloon wins is the long motorway day. A Camry is quieter and more settled at 70mph than a Rogue or an Escape, and if your fortnight is built around a big touring loop rather than a base in Orlando, the saloon is the more comfortable choice for the same luggage. Both cost broadly similar amounts to hire, so pick on shape and use rather than on price.

Basic and inclusive are the two rate tiers you will see quoted, and the difference between them explains most of the price gaps you find when shopping around. A basic rate buys the vehicle and the legal minimum. An inclusive rate adds collision damage protection, the liability cover American law requires, unlimited mileage and normally an additional driver allowance.

Excess is the figure people ask about most and the one we will not generalise. It varies by supplier, by rate tier and sometimes by pickup branch, so the only honest answer is the one written against your specific booking, which we confirm before you pay rather than after.

Fuel policy is usually full to full. Return the car with the same fuel it left with, keep the receipt from a filling station near the airport, and the arrangement costs you nothing extra. Prepaid tanks sold at the counter are convenient and almost always more expensive.

Toll billing sits outside every rate. Charges come back to your card after the holiday with an administration fee attached for each day a toll road was used, unless you took a Visitor Toll Pass at Orlando International instead.

Child seats are worth adding to the booking rather than buying at the desk, since they are charged per seat per day and stock is finite on a busy changeover day. Satellite navigation is worth skipping altogether, because a phone in a vent mount with offline maps loaded does the job better and free. Ask us to itemise the extras against your quote so the number you approve is the number that leaves your account.

Florida law requires a crash tested, federally approved restraint for any child aged 5 or under. Birth through age 3 must use a separate carrier or an integrated child seat. Ages 4 and 5 may use a separate carrier, an integrated seat or a booster. A seat belt satisfies the law from age 6 onwards.

Loading a child into a seat is meaningfully easier at SUV height, which is a small point that repeats itself twenty times a fortnight. A toddler goes in at waist level rather than at knee level, an infant carrier clips into its base without you having to bend into the doorway, and the door aperture is taller so you are not lifting a child under a low roofline.

Two seats fit across the rear bench without difficulty in either typical model. Three restraints do not, because the buckle positions and the width of American seat bases fight each other, so families with three children under six should be looking at a seven seater or a full size SUV.

Rear facing infant seats take less legroom from the front passenger here than in a saloon, since the rear seat sits further back relative to the wheelbase and the floor is flatter. It is one of the practical reasons families with a baby move up to this class rather than staying in a full size car.

Reserve any hired seat on the booking. Supplier stock runs out on busy Saturdays and a family without a legal restraint for a child under six is not going anywhere. Bringing your own also works well, since transatlantic airlines carry child seats free and UK seats fit American belt systems in most cases.