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Bright Sun

Stone face at
Aphrodisias, in
Aegean Turkey—
best reached by car

Which model car should you rent in Turkey?

Rental cars in Turkey tend to be smaller, simpler and less powerful than in North America and parts of Europe. Most are perfectly adequate for a single traveler or a couple (with or without a child). Here are some features to consider:

Fuel
Cars in Turkey run on benzin (gasoline/petrol), dizel/mazot (diesel fuel), "clean" (ultra-low-sulfur) Euro-dizel, or LNG (liquified natural gas). Turkish drivers complain that they pay the highest prices in the world for fuel, but there are ways to save money. More...

Motor Size
Motor capacity is usually measured in liters: 1.2 liters, 1.6 liters, etc. Small motors are thrifty with fuel. However, a small motor may be inadequate if your party has three or four adults and/or lots of heavy baggage.

Though great progress has been made in widening Turkey's principal highways to four lanes, the country still has many two-lane roads, which means you'll need sufficient power to pass/overtake the omnipresent trucks/lorries quickly. Without an adequately powerful motor, it may be unsafe to overtake, and you may sit behind a stinky diesel truck for miles. Also, Turkey has lots of mountains, and you'll want a sufficiently powerful car to get up them...

Brakes
...and down: it can be unsafe to load too many people and too much luggage into a small car and rely on its brakes not to fail during a long descent on a mountain road. (I've smelled the overheated brakes in more than one rental car, and I was traveling alone!)

I suggest that you rent the cheapest cars only if you are traveling alone. Pay a bit more if you are traveling with one other person, and a bit more again if you are two adults and a child. Be careful on those mountain descents and leave time for a few stops to allow the brakes to cool. Here's a cost comparison of means of transport.

Baggage Capacity
The cheapest cars rarely have much room in the trunk/boot for luggage. Soft luggage that can be crammed into odd spaces is better than large, hard-sided suitcases. You may have to carry some of your stuff in the rear seat.

Security
As in any country, it's best not to leave anything visible in your car when you park it. This applies especially to big cities. Keep this in mind when you choose a rental car: can you conceal your stuff when you park?

Air Conditioning
In the hot months of June through September, you'll really appreciate air conditioning, especially if you are driving along the Mediterranean coast. Besides being cool, conditioned air is dry, which is much better than the humid, moisture-laden air that is the norm in this region in summer. Humid air may be fine on the beach, but it's wretched in a car in traffic on a hot black road.

Automatic Transmission
Automatic transmission is a luxury item in Turkey. Most rental cars have standard transmissions ("stick shift"). If you have not learned how to drive a car with standard transmission, don't expect to learn while on your trip. It's uncertain enough to be driving an unfamiliar car in an unfamiliar country where drivers do things differently than what you may be used to at home. Don't add the burden of learning a whole new way to drive.