Cheap car hire article discussion

birdlife

I'm tired of getting to a car rental desk in Spain and being whacked with umpteen charges, so thought of taking out a £39 annual excess insurance here in the UK first for damage to tyres, undercarriage etc.

But I just realised that that doesnt mean I can forgo taking out the car rental people's insurance for damage to tyres, etc. does it?! A UK policy would only mean my excess would be covered, but if I had no excess cos of not taking cover out in Spain .... ? What would the hirecar lot charge if i didnt take their extra insurance, if they found any tyre damage on return?

I'm going out for 43 days, which would double my rental premium if i took tyre damage,etc. on top. The main roads are great but the access road to the farm are full of little rocks. What to do, what to do ...

ian2446

When I checked online for a car rental [EMAIL="support@direct2carrentals.com"]direct2carrentals.com[/EMAIL] came up with a very competitive price. Before paying the deposit, the total was £97.52p. I paid a deposit of £11.70p, leaving a balance to be paid of £85.52p on arrival in Corfu in late September.

The instruction of [EMAIL="support@direct2carrentals.com"]direct2carrentals.com[/EMAIL] company were on our arrival at Corfu airport to attend the desk of the car hire company DIRENT A CAR in the arrivals area. There is actually no desk in the entire airport for this company. I asked all the reps present, and no-one had heard of them. I later found a piece of A4 paper selotaped to a railing in the arrivals lounge with my name, printed in bold letters. Written below was 'on arrival please call 0030-2661023999.' I rang the number and a lady answered. She identified herself as a rep for the car hire company DIRENT A CAR. She stated she would be with us in 5 minutes. She arrived 25 minutes later. We were then conveyed, with another tourist to their office which is situated outside Corfu airport.

At the time of booking, the instruction from [EMAIL="support@direct2carrentals.com"]direct2carrentals.com[/EMAIL] was that I had to pay the balance on arrival in Corfu airport, with the same card I had paid the deposit with. The representative declined the card as it was a debit card ~ they don't accept debit cards ? We also had to pay an extra 20 euros as our arrival was 'outside of Working Hours' . This was not mentioned in the email confirming the car hire from [EMAIL="support@direct2carrentals.com"]direct2carrentals.com[/EMAIL] they were aware of our flight arrival time at 22.40hrs. Due to a particular exchange rate operated by this DIRENT A CAR, we had to pay 123.77 euros, on top of the deposit that had been previously paid to [EMAIL="support@direct2carrentals.com"]direct2carrentals.com[/EMAIL] There was also another British tourist present who was also charged 20 euros for the opportunity of using this company. The result was, I could have had a car hired at a cheaper rate with a competitor at the airport.

This whole experience has left a very bad taste in my mouth. We had arrived late at night, and were already exhausted, and it was a disastrous start to our holiday.

The woman concerned was rude and was unable to explain the exchange rate she operated, and the additional 20 euro charge. When I asked her what precisely were these hours, she was unable to furnish me with these. We are a very well travelled couple, and in fact, this was the first time a company has ever charged such a fee.

I have emailed [EMAIL="support@direct2carrentals.com"]direct2carrentals.com[/EMAIL] twice since we have returned to the UK. They haven't answered my emails. I sent a message through their website which they have chosen not to answer as well. :mad:

AVOID THESE COWBOYS LIKE THE PLAGUE : [EMAIL="support@direct2carrentals.com"]direct2carrentals.com[/EMAIL] & DIRENT A CAR CORFU

vinyla2

be careful with erentals.co.uk
I booked with them just to drive from one airport to the other on the same day but in the Terms and Conditions there was an extra charge (almost the same amount as renting the car in the first place!) that did not sound like it applied to me. But it did. Just be aware that the charges don't include the 'local' fees that are added when you pay for the car at the pick-up location.

mbriody

Latest scam...

ebookers gets lots of positive mentions but it, in common with quite a few sites is now burying the fact that you have to take the prepaid fuel option with your booking:

"Your Price Excludes:

• Additional Driver.
• Fuel: Car will be delivered with a full tank and must be returned empty."

I hate this condition (it used to be an option!) as its a complete waste if you don't use a full tank plus you dont know what you will be charged when you make the booking and to get full use of what you pay for you have to gamble on running on fumes when bringing the car back.


Any recommendations for sites which don't have this nasty hidden condition but which include all extras and ideally zero excess on CDW?

RFB_2

Fuel policy depends a lot on the location and company supplying the car though more and more are imposing the buy a tank full scam.

For Cyprus Economy Car rental gave us the best price, zero excess and a return full option (we will double check when we pick car up)

SIXT CYPRUS Fuel Policy: Clients must pay for a full tank of fuel when collecting the vehicle. Vehicles should be returned with an empty or full tank. A refund can only be provided for fuel when the vehicle is returned completely full. Please note: Due to refuelling logistics you will be charged at a higher rate per litre compared to the normal pump price.

For California I got the best deal including extra driver and no fuel pre-purchase by booking directly with Hertz using a company discount code.

mbriody

Its apparently a legal requirement in California to include an extra driver for free.

RFB_2

If you get quotes from Holiday Autos it says extra driver free in California but then later adds $140 payable locally when you add extra driver details. When queried I got mixed messages saying I needed to by the Max package but eventually admitted I wouldn't have to pay anything locally. Ebooker T&Cs say extra driver $10/day with no mention of California exemptions. CarHire3000 never responded to a price match request. All required buy a tank of fuel.

So when I got an equivalent quote (£225 for 2 weeks compact car) direct from Hertz with clear T&Cs and no fuel pre-purchase it was no contest!

calcotti

birdlife wrote: »

I'm tired of getting to a car rental desk in Spain and being whacked with umpteen charges, so thought of taking out a £39 annual excess insurance here in the UK first for damage to tyres, undercarriage etc.

But I just realised that that doesnt mean I can forgo taking out the car rental people's insurance for damage to tyres, etc. does it?! A UK policy would only mean my excess would be covered, but if I had no excess cos of not taking cover out in Spain .... ? What would the hirecar lot charge if i didnt take their extra insurance, if they found any tyre damage on return?

I'm going out for 43 days, which would double my rental premium if i took tyre damage,etc. on top. The main roads are great but the access road to the farm are full of little rocks. What to do, what to do ...

Excess insurance on some sites - "our excess policies include cover for the roof, windows, tyres and undercarriage."

Jamjar_2

I am considering booking a car through the Ryanair website which is giving a cheaper quote than Hertz.co.uk.
The only problem I have is that we are flying with Easyjet and the T&C's on the website state :-
'The rates and services offered through this web site are exclusive to Ryanair passengers.
You must present your Ryanair Boarding pass or Flight Itinerary at the Hertz counter when you pick up your rental vehicle and your pick up time must be either (a) within one hour of the scheduled arrival time on your Boarding pass/Flight Itinerary or (b) during the listed Hertz office hours.
If you fail to match these criteria we reserve the right to charge you at the local rate applicable and/or 'Out of Hours' fees, or to cancel your rental.'


Just wondered if anyone has had any experience of booking a car via Ryanair using an alternative airline?

Many thanks JJ

keeper19

Am trying to find cheap car hire from Gatwick for a friend who is coming over from abroad to visit me in Bournemouth. Much of what I've read relates to hire for abroad. Any suggestions very welcome