Car hire - alicante,spain

BELLATOR-MORTIS · 12 May 2018 at 11:10AM

Hi,
I need advice and confirmation please.
I am fed up with being ripped off every time I hire a car in Spain. Initial payment with ins etc £150 as an example but on arrival we end up paying nearly triple.

I have just followed MSE to book car hire and used SkyScanner, booked a car for June 2018 7 days hire with a total cost of £44.84 including insurance and free cancellation.
Not bad for 7 days

On arrival what do I need to avoid paying for?
Do I need to leave my credit card with a £1500+ deposit?

This price is too good to be true and I am sure I am going to get stung.

Please help!!

Thanks in advance for anyone’s help.

richardw · 12 May 2018 at 11:42AM

Who do you pick the car up from ?

BELLATOR-MORTIS · 12 May 2018 at 9:28PM

It is Goldcar.

dj1471 · 12 May 2018 at 9:50PM

BELLATOR-MORTIS wrote: »

It is Goldcar.

Oh dear... Judging by posts on here they seem to be the worst of the lot.

richardw · 12 May 2018 at 10:24PM

Goldcar at ALC have a pick up office in the worst place, the queues get in the way of others. Their cars are in the dark basement of the car park.
Do not bother picking it up.

The good news is good car hire companies are very competitive at ALC, so book with one of those.

greyteam1959 · 13 May 2018 at 8:14AM

Do a search on Google for Goldcar..........
Then cancel your booking.

BELLATOR-MORTIS · 14 May 2018 at 12:10AM

Thanks, but I seem to be running out of options.
I hate gold car and most of the others there too.
Google does not help as all I see is the negatives.

I just need to find car hire at a good price that won’t sting me when I collect the car.

Recommdations on who to use and to make that one off payment when booking and collect those keys on arrival.

I only booked gold car as the quote for 7 days was good @ £48 inc insurance with AXA.
With this booking are there any hidden costs?
What will happen when I collect the car?

richardw · 14 May 2018 at 8:18AM

You should be looking to pay from £140 for a week from a well known better brand.

Use travel supermarket and https://www.carrentals.co.uk to do comparisons. Pick the fuel option as full to full.

Look at prices for Avis Budget Enterprise Hertz National Sixt Thrifty.
If they are not telling you the supplier, ignore that price.

Look at excess insurance from insurance4carhire.

bagand96 · 14 May 2018 at 9:44AM

BELLATOR-MORTIS wrote: »

I only booked gold car as the quote for 7 days was good @ £48 inc insurance with AXA.
With this booking are there any hidden costs?
What will happen when I collect the car?

It is impossible for anyone to answer those questions fully without knowing the T&Cs of the booking.

Once you get to the desk (after a massive slow moving queue at Goldcar) they will try and up sell you everything. All hire companies to this to some degree but Goldcar are one of the worst.

- Insurance.Your hire will include a basic insurance, this will have a large excess which you will be required to leave on a credit card. It will say this in the T&Cs (which you need to read to answer some if your own questions).

It sounds as if you have purchased an excess policy with AXA when you booked. This is a separate policy you have which covers you for that excess. So if Goldcar find damage and charge you some of your excess; you can then claim this back from AXA. You will need an invoice from Goldcar though which might be easier said than done.

Goldcar will try and sell you their own Zero Excess policy meaning you dont need to leave an excess and can hire worry free. This will be expensive though, more than the hire itself. They will likely use high pressure tactics to do this. You can tell them you have your own policy with AXA - they will try and make out it is not good enough etc. They will also try and sell you extra insurance for tyres, windscreens, breakdown, loss of keys (your AXA policy may or may not covet these).

- Fuel Again look at your T&Cs for the fuel policy. Full to Full or Full to Emoty? If it is the latter then Goldcar will charge you for a full tank of fuel at a high price and tell you to bring it back empty. If it is Full to Full they will try and up sell you to buying a tank of fuel at their high price and telling you to bring back empty.

-Damage When you collect make sure all damage to the car is logged on the rental agreement. Inspect the car fully, any damage that is not there add yourself and get gokdcar to sign it before driving away.

You can have a cheap rental with Goldcar if you go in with eyes wide open and watch them at every step. Personally I gave up on them a long time ago based on their long queues alone. I would be tempted to do another comparison and see if any more reputable companies come up and what prices they are. You pays your money you takes your choice!

ciderboy2009 · 14 May 2018 at 9:41PM

Goldcar and all of the others car hire companies are ok if you don't get sucked in by the headline rate.

I've always found that booking direct with any hire car company is the best option and normally means that you'll get looked after better (upgraded car etc).

Mind you, I normally take out the full insurance package when I book.

I know I could get covered cheaper but, at the end of the day, I'm on holiday - I don't want to be thinking about the fact that I've left a massive deposit on my card and will have to claim back for any small scratches they find when I take the car back.

I'm actually booked with Goldcar at Alicante in a few week's time - I know what it can be like at their collection desk so I emailed them after booking and got a free upgrade to their 'Key and go' option (you go straight to the car park area and get the keys from a kind of vending machine).

skid112 · 15 May 2018 at 7:43AM

As another Richardw has advised, around £140 for a better brand, no hard sell, no up-selling your choice if you take their insurance or have your own. Only one choice to make bring the car back empty or full.

Car hire - alicante,spain

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