Car hire in Spain (or anywhere for that matter)

[Billy the Fish]

They're offering small cars at £4 for a week. How can they make money on that? Makes me think they'll force other stuff on you?

This is why I only use the big brands, had a couple of bad experiences when booking a cheap deal through an agent. With AVIS I reversed it into a tree which left a mark and they weren't bothered!

Be interesting to know how you got on though because this always causes an argument with the GF who is programmed to always go with the cheapest quote.

 

[Geoffbn2]

I've always used one of the big brands previously (Budget, Hertz, Europcar, etc.) but can't really afford it this time.

Wondered what experiences people had had with the lesser brands, particularly Centauro, who seem to have reasonable ratings and are roughly 1/2 the price?

I always take out third party insurance etc. before I leave so won't be paying for any extras.

This is from Barcelona btw.

I used holiday autos and the car i've hired for 2 weeks is costing £85 and will be supplied by Budget, I've used "doyouspain" previously and got a punto for about 35 euro for a week

 

[scooter1]

I always(several times a year)use hirecarsinspain.com as they offer full to full fuel deals. Never had a problem and am using them again in a couple of weeks. I go down to Malaga regularly, and often use different companies, but always through the same website

 

[cloud]

Be careful of the fuel policies - some of them price cheap and then make you buy a full tank at their rates.

Also check the tyre treads - there are some horribly under-maintained cars out there

And check whatever is a legal requirement for driving, such as reflective jackets, warning triangles, spare pair of glasses

 

[Weststander]

Holiday Autos is an excellent middle man, pointing you in the right direction.

Always worth looking at Europcar directly, who we've always found directly.

Always make it plain you a full tank to full tank fuel policy.

For the excess insurance, carhireexcess.co.uk and questor are cheap and pay up in full on claims (we had need to use them after a hit and run to our parked hire car in Spain).

 

[albionite]

Arguscarhire.com

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

 

[Birdie Boy]

Carhire3000.com, which is now rentalcars.com. used in Spain and USA. Never a bother although I have never had to claim or have them on return say there is an issue.
Hired a Mustang convertible for 10 days in Vegas, drop off in San Diego, £300. First day I completely scratched the boot up on gravel car parks in Death Valley. Tube of toothpaste later and a car wash and all good. I was bricking it though.

Sent from my XT1072 using Tapatalk

 

[happypig]

Be careful of the fuel policies - some of them price cheap and then make you buy a full tank at their rates.

Avis in Rhodes went one better and charged me for 45 litres of fuel into a car with a 40 litre tank. When I complained they simply refunded me for 5 litres. I complained further and they gave me back another £35.

 

[South Stand Bonfire]

Holiday Autos is an excellent middle man, pointing you in the right direction.

Always worth looking at Europcar directly, who we've always found directly.

Always make it plain you a full tank to full tank fuel policy.

For the excess insurance, carhireexcess.co.uk and questor are cheap and pay up in full on claims (we had need to use them after a hit and run to our parked hire car in Spain).

This. We use carhireexcess for about £45 pa. Only had to call in the insurance once for a damaged tire and alloy for £200 and they paid in full with no issues.

Have used Goldcar once and they lied about the need to take out there insurance and insisted on seeing my own policy. Worth paying slightly more to avoid them IMHO.

 

[Notters]

Went with europcar in the end. Have used then before and found them better to deal with than enterprise & hertz. Thanks all though.

 

[South Stand Bonfire]

Apologies if teaching you to suck eggs, but I contracted directly once with Europecar and when arriving at the airport it transpired the cost excluded any insurance, which is included when you use an agent. Worth double checking just in case.

 

[Notters]

Just got a bill through from Europcar for over a thousand euros, two months after returning from Spain for damage that was already on the car. Proof, it it were needed, that they are all scum. Good job I photographed the entire car.

 

[East Staffs Gull]

Bad car hire experiences have taken the gloss off several foreign holidays for me. I never hire now and use public transport instead. The train services around Malaga in particular are cheap and excellent. If you do hire, Questor do an annual excess waiver policy for about £40.

 

[McTavish]

Some excellent info on Money Saving Expert https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheap-car-hire

 

[bhaseeer]

I've had so many bad hire care experiences that recently on a 2 week trip to UK i bought a car from auto-trader for £500.....a honda civic......drove it hundreds of miles, then sold it for the same price the day I flew out of UK.



A trick with the hire car people is if they scam you when you return the car, don't give them the paperwork back, and quickly phone your credit card and demand the payment is blocked / repaid. You will get blacklisted from that particular company tho.

 

[Sirnormangall]

Holiday Autos are OK. Best get an annual cover for the full excess (costs about £75 pa for a one off as opposed to between £8 & £12 per day).
Spain can be as low as 4 Euros a day for hire.

TNBA


TTF

Holiday Autos are fine and will get you a cheap deal, but the excess can be high (£2500 - what's the point of insurance?!) so buy your excess protection separately.

Also experienced a shock with Holiday autos that if you don't pick up your car within an hour of the due collection time, they let your car go to someone else! So you need to be confident that your plane will arrive on time.

 

[BensGrandad]

Bad car hire experiences have taken the gloss off several foreign holidays for me. I never hire now and use public transport instead. The train services around Malaga in particular are cheap and excellent. .

Thats what we do as well as the trfains and bus service in Cota Del Sol is very good. Also means we can all have a drink with no driver to worry about.