Car hire in Spain - help!

azana_2

Off to spain next month to malaga - the whole car hire thing is scaring me stupid

We've hired in Spain before - last year Hertz who stung us loads for extra insurance, before Record who were ok ish but again hidden costs

Have read the advice on here on the main site but still confused

Anyone any good advice for companies that are ok, to avoid?

tia

WebNI

azana wrote: »

Off to spain next month to malaga - the whole car hire thing is scaring me stupid

We've hired in Spain before - last year Hertz who stung us loads for extra insurance, before Record who were ok ish but again hidden costs

Have read the advice on here on the main site but still confused

Anyone any good advice for companies that are ok, to avoid?

tia

Try autoeurope.com - they use many companies to find the best reputable deal but won't wash their hands of you if there's a problem.

me56

I hired a car in Lanzarote for a week, absolutely no problems at all, from autoreisen.es. Good luck and have a great holiday.

azana_2

thanks for the tips - still stuck in a maze of full tank/empty tank and "how much will the excess insurance they charge you at the airport be" - so if anyone has recent experience of that and Malaga that would be great.

ic

https://www.travelsupermarket.com - I've found this site is great for price comparisons. Also keep an eye on Quidco and Topcashback - for example holidayautos is 14% cashback at the moment.

I now purchase an annual policy from icarhireinsurance.com via Quidco as I tend to have three holidays in Spain per year. After cashback its £25 for a year's cover. https://www.direct-carexcess.co.uk is £2 per day if you only want to buy say a week, again cashback is available.

With these policies, you decline any additional cover from the hire company when you collect at the desk. If something happens and they decide to charge you the excess you pay it (or they retain your deposit - some don't take a deposit, some do), then when you get home you raise a claim with the insurance company and they'll refund what you paid.

To be fair, there are some horror stories around - I've hired cars on maybe 15 - 20 holidays now, and have never had trouble getting my deposit back. The rule is simple, when you pick up the car, check it over and report *any* damage you can see to them - inside and out. Get them to come over to the car and mark up the sheet and sign it. If you collect in the dark, check it over first thing in the morning and call them to report the damage. If you buy the insurance from the hire company, it can be anything - €3 to €8 per day.

As for full-empty vs full-full, full-full is nicer, but don't pay a premium to get it. If its £10 more expensive, then take it, but if its £40 more then it probably isn't worth it, as you'll still need to pay for fuel on top anyway. I've found they tend to charge around £60 for a tank of fuel for a 207 sized car, a full tank is probably £45 - so the premium they're charging is maybe £15 - £20. I've found most sites are fairly clear about the fuel policy now, just inspect the details for the car you're considering, it should be in there.

At the end of the day, they've introduced the fuel premiums so they can advertise a lower car price, which is then bumped up with the extras. They're following the model of the airlines, just regulators haven't caught up with them to make them transparent about the full costs yet. Problem is these are Spanish businesses, so there isn't much regulators in the UK can do about it. Don't get hung up on the cost of fuel, instead consider the cost of the whole package, car + fuel + insurance - cashback. It'll probably come in some where around £140 for a week, depending on seasonal variances and demand.

One extra thing, check the paper work closely before you sign. I use a commission free credit card, but they kindly charged me in GBP rather than EUR, at their rate. The numbers on the paper work didn't have currency symbols - in the small print was a bit about how I agree that they will charge me in my own currency. Look for that and tell them you don't want it (assuming you have a 0% commission card).

azana_2

thanks ic for taking the time to let me know all this - on it now, following your advice, appreciated

busiscoming2

We use https://www.doyouspain.com for car hire. Always had the best prices.

tobyjug

Just in Spain now . At Malaga airport it was a complete let down especially if you have gold car or record . Queues were ridiculously long and we made a massive mistake of not understanding the full tank petrol saga and the excess insurance scam . We've hired cars for years in many different countries I've never witnessed sure high pressure techniques as record car hire . 9 euros a day for excess cover or 600 euros deposit . Warning she said we would get no road recovery if we take the 600 euro option and we would have to pay for any tiny dent or scratch . I eTold her I had my excess insurance but the high pressure sales continued . An extra 160 euros for fuel and insurance , great one Autoeurope . Won't be using your company again . The queues for sixt,hertz etc nil. Will try to find one of those in future with no hidden costs . Put a real damper on the start of the holiday . Oh and we will be syphoning off every last drop of fuel on our return . Bitter and twisted .....yep feel stupid for not reading small print ...yep

mcfisco

For anyone that's interested for future use, I've used Automotive at Malaga airport via Carjet for a few trips over the last couple of years.
Full/full fuel policy and no nonsense with insurance add-ons

mrscb

I've used malagacarhire.com(not malagacar) about 10 times.. Never had a problem .. Just off airport with regular minibus pick up and drop offs) never had a queue.never been made to take out excess insurance as I have my own. They also do full/full fuel which is much better than being ripped off for fuel you don't even use!

itsakidsworld

I have used these on many occassions - https://www.malagacar.com

Never had a problem and they are as fair as you can get. You have option of paying around 4 euro a day extra for windscreen, exhaust and tyre cover but if you don't want it they simply take a deposit from you for the amount of the hire. They charge you only half a tank of fuel which can be very helpful, which can be retruned same level if the hire is for 3 days or less. Hire over this period and the car is returned empty.

We have also used delpaso car hire recently and they were also good-both have no excess for damage which is important. However delpaso took a wopping 650 euro deposit when we opted not to have the extra insurance. Although they paid it back as we had no problems, the exchange from pounds to euros cost us a little extra.

We have a yearly excess cover insurance policy with insurance4hire and they were great when we needed them on one occassion.