Spain car hire....

Worriedtraveller1985

Never rented a car abroad before. I have read all the tips on what to look out for... but still seems really cheap.

I got a car for a week in majorca for £26. Full to full policy and collision damage waiver
And I have got a quote through the monza site for the excess protection which was £10.

Can anyone else advise if I need anything else. I can't afford to be hit with a big bil at the airport or when er get back.:-(

Thanks in advance

debtdebt

If you've got CDW, do you also need excess protect?

Strider590

Got to make sure your fully covered on it, no excess to pay etc.

One trick they're known for is waiting until you've gone home, then charging for fictional damage to the vehicle.
The Spanish people are ok, they value the tourism, but there are a lot of migrants in Spain, particularly from Bulgaria and Romania, who think nothing of ripping of British tourists and i've seen them working at these car hire places outside the airports.

Take photos all around the car when you pick it up and when you drop it off.

Also watch out for the trick where they flag you down at the roadside and then one distracts you, while the others rob you blind, they nearly got my parents with this 3 years ago. The other variation is to let your tyres down at a service station, follow you and then pretend to help while robbing you blind.

Jamie1981

Read through the T&C's very carefully. We visit the Costa Blanca at least twice a year and book through doyouspain. I personally do not like paying a deposit as some of them are 700 euro's plus. I personally take the super collision damage waiver (SCDW) when picking the car up, which is around 7-8 euro's a day for the duration of the hire.

This means we do not leave a deposit at all and came in handy as one time on one of our trips the keys to the car got locked inside it by one of the children when they were changing footwear. We phoned the rental company and they said as we had SCDW to just break the window and report it to the local office of the hire car company. As you can imagine, we were a bit reluctant but did it and they swapped the car over no issues and that was the end of it.

Although it may be more expensive for the duration of the hire to take the SCDW, we knew what our costs were upfront and have never had any issues post hire.

Jamie1981

debtdebt wrote: »

If you've got CDW, do you also need excess protect?

Without taking SCDW, yes it would be best to protect the excess. CDW has exclusions and the exclusions are usually the stuff that is more than likely to happen when on holiday such as glass and tyres.

takman

Jamie1981 wrote: »

Read through the T&C's very carefully. We visit the Costa Blanca at least twice a year and book through doyouspain. I personally do not like paying a deposit as some of them are 700 euro's plus. I personally take the super collision damage waiver (SCDW) when picking the car up, which is around 7-8 euro's a day for the duration of the hire.

This means we do not leave a deposit at all and came in handy as one time on one of our trips the keys to the car got locked inside it by one of the children when they were changing footwear. We phoned the rental company and they said as we had SCDW to just break the window and report it to the local office of the hire car company. As you can imagine, we were a bit reluctant but did it and they swapped the car over no issues and that was the end of it.

Although it may be more expensive for the duration of the hire to take the SCDW, we knew what our costs were upfront and have never had any issues post hire.

That's very bad advice because for 7 days rental that works out as an extra 49 Euros!. For less than that you can get a years car hire excess insurance which covers breakdowns and any damage up to £50,000. For a weeks cover it's only around £20, so you should never take out the companies own insurance.

Also only the "dodgy" companies take high deposits, I've never paid more than €300 For a weeks deposit. But even if it is high just pay on a credit card and it doesn't matter.

Jamie1981

takman wrote: »

That's very bad advice because for 7 days rental that works out as an extra 49 Euros!.

Can you please point out where I offered this as advice? I stated what I personally do. If I was offering advice I would have started my asnwer with " I advise you to xxxxx"

For less than that you can get a years car hire excess insurance which covers breakdowns and any damage up to £50,000.

That's great, the OP has said he has protected this so no issues. Again, my reply was reasonable in terms of reading the T&C's, which was the only advice I gave.

For a weeks cover it's only around £20, so you should never take out the companies own insurance.

You can get it cheaper elsewhere, that is not disputed. I pay a higher price as we use the same hire company each time we go and I pay the higher price as I know I will have no issues. To me that is the peace of mind I have knowing what I have factored in is what I pay. It is not for everyone.

Also only the "dodgy" companies take high deposits, I've never paid more than €300 For a weeks deposit. But even if it is high just pay on a credit card and it doesn't matter.

Really!

Goldcar = 1100 euro
Centauro = 1300 euro
Firefy = 1250 euro
Sixt = 650 euro
Thrifty = 1050 euro
Avis = 1936 euro

These are the most popular, and often seen hire cars on the roads in the Costa Blanca. Not one under 300 euro. Are all these companies dodgy? Fancy posting up where you get your rental for under 300 euro for the deposit?

takman

Jamie1981 wrote: »

Really!

Goldcar = 1100 euro
Centauro = 1300 euro
Firefy = 1250 euro
Sixt = 650 euro
Thrifty = 1050 euro
Avis = 1936 euro

These are the most popular, and often seen hire cars on the roads in the Costa Blanca. Not one under 300 euro. Are all these companies dodgy? Fancy posting up where you get your rental for under 300 euro for the deposit?

I know you wernt really offering that as advice but I thought it would be a good idea to explain the cheaper way to do it.

Goldcar and Firefly, which are basically the same company are definitely dodgy and I always avoid them because I have seen many bad reviews about them. I used Sixt last year and they didn't take a €650 deposit. The excess was €600 but they told me they would take a deposit of twice the rental fee excluding tax which was just under €300 euros. In reality they never actually took any deposit from me and just charged me for the rental when i returned the car.

If you ever go to the canary islands then check out Autoreisen, they are the best car rental company I have ever used. They give you full CDW included in the price and a second driver free of charge. They don't check the cars for damage and just tell you to return it with whatever fuel was in it at the start. A 7 seater was only €116 this year for 7 days and I've had a small car from them for only €53 For a week and never charge a deposit.

I'm very picky when it comes to rental companies.

EdGasketTheSecond

£26 for a week sounds a bit cheap; they must make their money some other way! I've heard of sites offering car hire in Spain with everything supposedly included but when you rock up at the hire desk you find you have to pay almost as much again to cover any damage. Even then they exclude door mirrors, alloys, underside of car, and clutch! Be warned! (one unfortunate I heard of got charged for a clutch that was not their fault at all).

If you want a stress-free holiday; just use the bus and coach trips.

DoaM

My BIL is often in Spain during winter months (retired ex copper; runs a gardening business during the "summer" months). I've known him stay at his apartment near Murcia for 3 weeks, pick up a hire car from Murcia airport and the 3 weeks hire has cost him roughly £10 - in total.

No idea how and why the hire companies would be so cheap in the winter off-season, but they are.