Car Hire Help (Spain, how not to be ripped off)

t121anf

hi, i am looking to hire a car from 9-11 Oct (which rules out a lot of firms who only for 7 day bookings)

On looking through threads and hearing reports it seems a lot of firms try to rip you off on fuel, by charging you for a full tank before you even leave the forecourt.

Previously on holiday i have use Avis (too expensive this time) and had no bother, you get a car with a full tank you return it with a full tank.

So i have 2 choices
1 use argus/carjet which is only £42 and pay their price for a full tank
or
2 use Hertz who want £65 but dont mention anything about fuel.

I think option 2 is the more sensible and secure choice but what are peoples thoughts.

pick up/drop off is Gerona airport if it makes any difference.

thanks
ian

LesD

Did you read the Argus T&C?

"For rentals up to 3 days maximum, the option full/full is allowed."

dmg24

We use Argus, they have always been very competitive. Also, you can go through Quidco for cashback.

nico26

Firstly may I thank those who responded to my plea for help last week trying to get a car. I eventually got one at Avis.A bit dearer but I needed one.Thanks.

Firstly Avis do the fuel with a full tank. We filled up this morning on the way to the airport and only filled up 20 euros.It saved 35euros in fuel so it offset the more expensive car hire a bit. Please check the terms and conditions of the car hire with Hertz.You might only be covered 3rd party fire and theft. I had an 565 euro excess on the carwith Avis.You need to take out extra cover to cover you in the event of an accident or damage to the car. Avis was 10 euros a day but you can get it for £2.99 per day at insurance4carhire.com. Also you might need to pay for extra drivers. Extra drivers and all inclusive cover is included with Carjet. So it might not work out more expensive after all. I usually use Carjet but I usually stay longer and they had no cars left for hire.

t121anf

LesD, i cant see where it says that, all it says on my booking is

Fuel policy
The vehicles are supplied with a full tank of fuel. Full tank cost are pre-payable. Vehicles should be returned with an empty tank.

can you point me in the right direction

out_4_nowt

I used economy car hire in portugal they also do spain. The price you pay is all in. We arrived and they were great. We noticed some marks on the paint work and the man said we are not bothered about that unless you damage the tyres or wheels we are fully covered. Also anybody in the party with a full license could drive fully comp at no extra cost. They are cheap to and act as a broker for local firms in the country you are hiring.

budgetflyer

A very useful lesson regarding the lead in price not always being best option.The Carjet/Amigo autos sting on bringing back empty must rake in quite a lot of extra profit.
A few times, we have flown into Murcia and hired a car just to get us up to Benidorm and back(cheaper than transfers) The car hasnt moved for a week once in resort as I actually hate driving, so has been returned with 2 thirds of a non refundable prepaid tank.

daveyjp

Also used economycarhire and will do so again. We paid a fuel deposit with the local company, but this was refunded as we filled the tank before dropping it back off.

greyteam1959

daveyjp wrote: »

Also used economycarhire and will do so again. We paid a fuel deposit with the local company, but this was refunded as we filled the tank before dropping it back off.

How long did you hire your car for Daveyjp ????
Was it less than 3 days to get the full out / full in
Which hire company supplied the car at Murcia airport???
We use Economy Car Hire quit a bit but cant ever get the full out full in option cos we hire for more than 3 days

LesD

t121anf wrote: »

LesD, i cant see where it says that, all it says on my booking is

Fuel policy
The vehicles are supplied with a full tank of fuel. Full tank cost are pre-payable. Vehicles should be returned with an empty tank.

can you point me in the right direction

Sorry not to have replied earlier. The fuel T&C is shown if you click on the 'i' next to the car hire details for the options listed by Argus and then click on 'Fuel Policy'.

I wasn't clear in my earlier posting. I should have said that this does not apply to all suppliers. You need to check the T&C for the choices that Argus throw up. I have checked several options for Girona and some certainly offer full-to-full for short hires.

Even when they don't you can probably get them to agree when you pick the car up. I have certainly done this in the past at Alicante.

melb

We've just returned from Spain and hired a car from Centauro which we picked up at Alicante airport. I booked at very short notice and Carjet who I usually book with had no cars available so I remembered Centauro as one of the companies Carjet had 'sub-contracted' us to in the past. the cost was actually a bit less than Carjet (only a few euros) but we were able to return it full - this was for a 2 week booking. Considering they charged us 57 euros for the full tank when we picked it up it cost us alot less than this to fill up just before handing it back. Having said that we haven't been refunded yet - I suppose it will take a few days. Also we had to go to their offices in resort twice to change the car because of various problems but when my partner had an altercation with a high kerb the day before we were due to leave the people in the office wrote on our paperwork we weren't to be charged so - swings and roundabouts.