Spain- Car Hire prices Gone Crazy

tonyslade

I have used an agency in Esher: excellent prices, simple procedures, very reliable. They use Malaga, Gibraltar, Seville and Almeria.

Inactive

spiro wrote: »

The problem is you can not buy/own a car in Spain until you have a ID number issued by the government which are for residents.

Rubbish, I have a Spanish ID ( NIE ) number and I am not resident in Spain.

ceejayblue

We always used to hire through carjet.com but this year I've looked about a bit more and have found that Holiday Autos is up to £80 cheaper for 2 weeks in September! Plus I can get £11.50 cashback via Quidco!

elephant-astic

Anna_Quaintance wrote: »

I've seen quite a lot of reports in the news about a shortage of [URL="tp://www.easycar.com/"][/URL]hire cars in spain this year, as well as across Europe, but it seems absolutely unbelievable when you think about how, only a few months ago, we were being told that the car manufacturing industry had a surplus of cars which they couldn't sell.

I can't help but wonder if the car hire companies are spinning us a line, to try and get everyone to book up as early as possible

It's an interesting thought, but although I'm normally the first to raise the cynicism flag, who really wants to rely on this kind of thinking and risk missing out on getting a hire car for their holiday- could put quite a damper on your summer holidays...

Teahfc

Anna_Quaintance wrote: »

I've seen quite a lot of reports in the news about a shortage of hire cars in spain this year, as well as across Europe, but it seems absolutely unbelievable when you think about how, only a few months ago, we were being told that the car manufacturing industry had a surplus of cars which they couldn't sell.

I can't help but wonder if the car hire companies are spinning us a line, to try and get everyone to book up as early as possible

2 weeks ago I was in a queue of 4 waiting for a car to come off rental ! Finally after 90 minutes they out me in a taxi and bought my car to the resort next morning !
At your peril dont book early !
There are a few companies you can order a car with and not pay until you collect it so no big payments upfront !

pompeyrich

Anna_Quaintance wrote: »

I've seen quite a lot of reports in the news about a shortage of hire cars in spain this year, as well as across Europe, but it seems absolutely unbelievable when you think about how, only a few months ago, we were being told that the car manufacturing industry had a surplus of cars which they couldn't sell.

I can't help but wonder if the car hire companies are spinning us a line, to try and get everyone to book up as early as possible

Car hire companies are possibly the biggest buyers of new cars, so if they are cutting back and not buying, then this could explain the unsold surplus. The last 2 rental cars I have had in Spain had 33,000kms and 27,000kms on the clock. This would indicate that the companies are hanging on to their cars longer than they used to. Yes they will sell out during the summer months but in this hard economic climate do they huge fleets hanging around in the quieter months?

Devils_Advocate_4

I booked through Carjet [with Auriga Crown at Palma] back in November for a 12 day rental at the end of June that was booked costing €186. I've just had an e-mail telling me that they've no cars left and I'm on my own.

The next comparable quote I can get is circa €430, with an Insurance excess that would make your eyes water and, for the same car hire companies that were open all hours for the last 10 years, now charging €30-46 if you arrive between 0000-0730 to collect your car.

Booking early is by no means any guarantee of getting a car let alone paying a reasonable price and, given the exchange rate reduction, the car is now significantly more expensive than the flights for 5 of us travelling from the UK :mad:

matchbox80

Devils,

Did carjet take a deposit? Surely they should honour your booking? Mallorca is the worst of them all at the moment.

Spring909

Has anyone on here used/or had dealings with Decode Car Hire?

Nice website, prices far too cheap. Am a bit dubious :rolleyes:

Jonah1156

I'm in the same boat!

I am trying to get a car hire for 2 weks in October from Alicante and the cheapest, so far, is around £184 for a Corsa/Clio type car. Does any one think the prices wil go down at that time of year rather than the rip off periods of the summer?