Car hire recommendation for Mallorca in July

sky_rat

I am looking to hire a car in Mallorca at the beginning of July but I am concerend about the very negative reviews and the scams that these rental companies pull.

Can anyone recommend a half decent rental company thats less likely to pull a scam ?

I was originally thinking of picking up and collecting at Palma airport, but I'm also wondering whether it might be cheaper/better to hire a car from the resort we are staying at (Cala d'Or).

I know there are comparison sites to find a good deal, but the reviews for these rental companies highlight how people have been excessively charged for damage that either doesnt exist or they didnt cause

It seems to be the cheaper the deal, the more likely you are to be scammed by rental companies (such as Gold Car, OK Mobility, Sixt etc) and it can actually cost more than a more reputable company.

ellenvan

I always use Zest car rentals - they act on your behalf if any problems with the booking - highly recommended

daveyjp

Another vote for zest.  Used them since they were economycarhire.  UK based broker so any problems are sorted by UK based staff.

zagfles

I usually use a local car hire firm in the resort, Spanish tourist resorts have loads of them, just turn up and pay in cash. I've never had a problem doing this - I think you're less likely to get scammed when they don't have your credit card, as most car hire agreements will state they can charge your card for any damage, they can't do this if they don't have your card. They could chase you for payment of any excess etc of course, but it'll be a lot harder so think it's far less likely they'll scam you by trying to charge 200 EUR for a small scratch that was already there.

So although you can pay for nearly everything on card these days, car hire is the one exception where I'll always pay cash if possible.

Also could be worth getting excess insurance, eg insurance4carhire or loads of others, there's an MSE page on this. Don't fall for any so-called "zero excess" car hire companies, read the small print and you'll likely find half the car is excluded (eg glass, tyres, roof, underside etc).

sky_rat

zagfles said:

I usually use a local car hire firm in the resort, Spanish tourist resorts have loads of them, just turn up and pay in cash. I've never had a problem doing this - I think you're less likely to get scammed when they don't have your credit card, as most car hire agreements will state they can charge your card for any damage, they can't do this if they don't have your card. They could chase you for payment of any excess etc of course, but it'll be a lot harder so think it's far less likely they'll scam you by trying to charge 200 EUR for a small scratch that was already there.

So although you can pay for nearly everything on card these days, car hire is the one exception where I'll always pay cash if possible.

Also could be worth getting excess insurance, eg insurance4carhire or loads of others, there's an MSE page on this. Don't fall for any so-called "zero excess" car hire companies, read the small print and you'll likely find half the car is excluded (eg glass, tyres, roof, underside etc).

Thanks, I thought it was more expensive to book at the last minute ? 

And I thought all rental companies require a credit card ? 

They all seem to state...

"A credit card is required to authorise a security deposit which covers parking or speeding fines, uninsured parts of the vehicle, if a claim is made when the insurance has been invalidated and to ensure the safe return of the vehicle. Failure to present a credit card upon collection may result in the car rental provider refusing to provide you with a vehicle"

I've hired cars before in various countries (Spain, Portugal, America, Australia) but the prices have gone through the roof since then and they seem to scam people more than ever.

Ive used Leisure Guard insurance for excess insurance before (I never pay for the rental cars additional insurance)

I've looked at Zest and although it gets good reviews, it still uses the same rental companies that scam people.  Some of them clost at 9pm and our flight is due to "land" at 745pm.  I've never been on a flight that departs on time so expect it to be later than than that, then we have to wait for the luggage and go through passport control.  Therefore its a very close call as to whether we make it to the rental company before they shut.

The holiday package comes with coach transfer, but what would be a 50min car journery would be 2+ hours on a coach with all the drop offs.  The last time we use the included coach transfer we spent 3 hours on the coach, which is crazy as this is longer than the flight !!!

I've used TAXI PMI before but this is about £180 now.

Ive also experienced long queues when collecting a hire car at the airport, so if its going to take an hour to queue then we may as well just take the coach which is included in the holiday packge.

I cant decide what to do, whether to suck up the long coach trip or hire a car and risk being scammed and a long queue.

Or use TAXI PMI and then get a hire car when we get to the resort, but I thought last minute was more expensive so its usually cheaper to pre book ?

At the end of the day, it shouldnt be this difficult, costly and risky

zagfles

If you prebook a hire car from a big company they'll likely want a credit card. If you just walk up to a small car hire place in the resort they usually won't, I've never had one demand a card, they've been happy with cash. There are usually loads in Med tourist resorts, and they're usually a lot cheaper than the bigger companies without insurance/fuel policy rip-offs.

The other advantage of hiring in the resort rather than airport is you don't need as big a car, as you don't have to transport your luggage. Some roads are narrow and bendy so the smaller the car the better, and of course smaller cars are cheaper to hire and use less fuel.

Reset_Button_2

I used euromaxcars.com the last time I visited Mallorca. It's a small family firm and they were very good to deal with and cheap too. The best car hire experience I have ever had in 50 years of foreign travel!

smallblueplanet

We've used Hiper rent a car. They're off airport via shuttle bus, but then I hated driving out of the airport myself!

Clam_abuse

Reset_Button_2 said:

I used euromaxcars.com the last time I visited Mallorca. It's a small family firm and they were very good to deal with and cheap too. The best car hire experience I have ever had in 50 years of foreign travel!

I used them about 5 years ago.

Totally agree with you!

JGB1955

Another vote for Zest.

NoodleDoodleMan

My good mate recommends Zest likewise.