While the S.E. Asian region traditionally has the likes of Thailand and the Philippines leading the way as popular holiday destinations and even quick escapes, Malaysia isn’t too far behind. A certain breed of traveller specifically prefers Malaysia over the likes of Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and the Philippines, with KL affectionately mentioned alongside the likes of Penang and even Cameron Heights for something a little different.

However, for both locals and visitors alike, a huge part of the allure of Malaysia goes beyond leisure tourism, rooted more in education and commerce. Malaysia is where many people go from all over the world for some career development and advancement, or to further their studies. It is indeed the under-the-radar land of opportunity, to say the very least.

So how do all the people who form part of this economically vibrant part of the world get around? Car rental is certainly a leading channel through which to account for what is likely to be an extended need for access to a vehicle. Even if you were perhaps visiting for an extended stay that grants you up to three months visa-free access, as opposed to your counterparts who are staying a lot longer than that, you’d still want to be able to move around more freely.

Buying a car outright would constitute overkill, otherwise car rental options offer quite the variety, but which of these options is best for your specific lifestyle in Malaysia?

Ride-hailing services (taxi apps) not quite cutting it anymore

Although the S.E. Asian transformation of Uber into Grab as a ride-hailing, app-driven service definitely comes in handy for getting around in Malaysian cities such as Kuala Lumpur, over longer periods it still hits a bit hard in the pocket. So you might hail a grab once or twice, but eventually you’d want the convenience of outright car rental services.

Medium to long-term vehicle leasing

Pretty much anywhere you go in Malaysia, including further away from the big cities of KL and the likes, you could always quite easily rent a vehicle on a medium to long-term lease. It’s quite an advanced market of this nature Malaysia enjoys over its other Southeast Asian counterparts, so options are aplenty. Daily, weekly, monthly and multiple-month rentals are still very common, but there appears to be a shift to what is emerging as an even more convenient and popular option.

Short-term rentals

The very fluid market for car rental in Malaysia even has established and trusted players acknowledging and swiftly moving on the emerging trend of a preference for the shortest of car leasing terms available. It makes perfect sense too, because sometimes you might perhaps not initially be completely sure how long you’ll need access to a rental vehicle. If you needed to zip around to get to a series of meetings, perhaps for the two or three days per week that you work out in the field, for instance, it makes sense to rent by the hour or by the day, as opposed to having to commit to a weekly or monthly lease term.