Car hire in spain help/advice
 

europcar is out of the question as when we went with the brother in law he said he sorted it and no hidden cost :Whatever_ until we got there and paid another £250.

So who do you recommend that won't try it on when i collect the car and actually quote the price you pay online, i've never hired a car abroad so all advice is appreciated?

I have hired in Tenerife several times and just gone with the local hire companies, never had any bother. One of my mates has just returned from there, he had Citroen C5 for a week, only cost him 60€!!

Take care as most charge you for a full tank and don't credit you for any fuel left in. Not many run full to full. Depends how many miles you'll be doing. We used Holiday auto's to book who put us with Atesa Spain who had a full to full policy.

Which airport are you landing at?

We go to Alicante and use these guys:

http://www.edirentacar.com/

They are an English family run business, no hidden costs, what you pay is what you get and they are pretty chilled out. They don't appear to be the cheapest on the face of it but they don't con you and in the long run probably don't work out any dearer than other firms.

flying to murcia, which looks like what they cover for

any booked with gold car?

always cheaper hiring on an Island

We have used Holiday Autos for the last 13 years and have never had a problem.

All the cars have been new or nearly new (Focus, Picasso, Seat etc) Alicante Airport - cars hired from Centauro, Avis, Solmar and a few others.

http://www.holidayautos.co.uk/?clien...FZPItAod3BEAxg

whats their fuel policy?

i've looked at them also but not sure on the fuel policy is it full to full?

Yep.

Collect car full and then fill up before returning (there is a service station on the A7 about 20 minutes from the airport).

Yes, never again.

Try www.malagacarhire.com

Used them before and going to in Dec. Though they are brokers they deal with good companys and have a full/full policy for fuel.

great stuff, i know wheres there a petrol station in pinto prima so looks like i amy book with them

Ant,

Use doyouspain.com

I use them all the time at Murcia and Alicante airport. during winter i pay between 9-12 euros for 3 days hire....... Yes! 9 Euros for three days, no excess! Hire is normally full when hired and must be returned full unless you hire for less than 3 days.

Watch out for them trying to blag you for extra insurance at the airport. It's included in your hire so you don't need it.

When are you going?

Oh and you pay online before you go, so there is only deposit on your credit card when you get there. Which is refunded when you return car.

Avoid Goldcar AT ALL COST!

Utterly ripped us off and many others too; they've been in several articles detailing their crook tactics.

I've used goldcar for years and they are gradually getting more and more expensive. Car quality wise never had any problems, always newish and in good condition.
However, what does annoy me is the full to empty policy. I pick up at Malaga, a half our or so drive to the parents place in Marbella, trips to the beach each day which mileage wise is nothing. I usually end up taking car back about half full ie 40 euros worth of fuel.
They've also introduced two options when picking up. Pay 114 euros for extra insurance or 600 euro deposit on the credit card :eek:

Can you expand on your experience and the crook tactics?

Doesn't matter mattee, just googled them. Seems I've been fairly lucky so will try another company in future.

Nik.

cicar every time

We Got a good deal with these in Tenerife: http://www.doyouspain.com/index_2v5pt8.htm

Steve

I think we hired with Goldcar in Malaga a few years back. Gave us a Focus with about 30,000km on the clock.

Every panel was dinged (including the roof!) and the clutch slipped like an old lady on ice.

Still, it meant that when I scraped it in a tight multi-story they couldn't tell :p

I recently went with Holiday Auto's who arrange Europcar (not in Spain though). When we got the bill it was more than Holiday Auto's quoted. After complaining to Holiday Auto's I was told to refer to the T&C's which state that the local cost may not be what the web site states.

So hidden costs from them. Not sure if that is exclusively to Europcar, but next time will take time to ensure there are no hidden costs.

I had this with Sixt.

Paid via EasyJet and collected the car. All very simple. Got home, and a week later got a charge on my credit card for various insurance products and a sat nav. £100 ish.

Took the matter up with my credit card company who refused to refund as I should have checekd what they ticked on the form when I collected the car and signed for it. The fact it was all in Spanish did not help.

Sorry I think it was Monarch and Sixt not Easyjet.

Another scam to be aware of is when booking online with a credit card make sure you use the same card at the desk upon arrival.

Alamo in Orlando caught me out with that one last year.
I paid for the car on my credit card online and my wife used hers to pay for the pre pay fuel at the airport as it was to hand. Alamo took this as she wanted to be an additional driver. When i returned home i had an additional charge of $150 which after many emails was reduced to $60.


Nik.

Thanks a lot, quite a few good recommendations


Mattee, when I asked about goldcar I googled a review.

That company sounds shocking and basically conning people

We certainly got completely ripped off and paid about £400 for a weeks hire of an Ibiza (was meant to be Golf sized). Their "insurance" is a joke, they charged £75 for a tank of fuel; we used £10 worth, they charge a horrendous rate for kids seats which didn't look safe and were generally dreadful.

we used these quite a few times: http://www.carjet.com/

They put you to the cheapest company. Usually Sol-mar or Goldcar. Solmar is usually better (in terms of condition/clenliness of cars ).

I've never really had a issue with Goldcar otherwise. Bar a flat tyre and a Focus which intermittently cut out (typical Ford engine management...bricks itself when it detects a engine fault :rolleyes: )They swapped it no questions asked....but we still had to ask for fuel credit on the returned Focus. Must have had about 20 cars via them over the years. And probably rented about 70-80 cars in total.

All the hire companies try to diddle you with fuel, trust me I've used every one of them that operates out of El Altet - they will credit it you....BUT you have to ASK and make sure they do it as you drop off the car.

Also if you go for the smallest cheapest shed they do....there is a higher chance you'll get a nail. As the dregs going to Benidorm rent them and kill them within one holiday season :lol1: If its low season then quite often they'll swap the car if you aren't happy with it (as long as you are polite). Pay a bit extra for a larger/higher quality diesel car generally yields a better condition one....I've had Alfas, Mercs (B class), BMWs (1 series), Mazdas etc. but usually its a toss up between a Focus estate or Pug Estate.

well the people who we are renting the property from have come up trumps and gave us this company to use, no hidden charges and modest fuel charge and booster seat hire €10 instead of €40 like i see from most


http://www.hts.com.es/hire.php

Ant,

That company is a LOT more expensive than the one I recommended.

doyouspain.com is the cheapest and best out there. I use them 4 times a year.

How can the fuel be modest? You simply hand the car back full if you hire for 3 days+ and empty if less, this is standard from anywhere.

They have hardly come up trumps.

i've looked into them this is from their terms of use as quoted prices dont include fuel so i have to factor this in too

The fuel price (including the refueling service charge) will be 103eur-110eur.

also i dont like the idea of leaving €600-€800 deposit


this was from the owner

All prices include airport transfers (pickup and return)
No fuel supplement charge (leave vehicle with fuel as at start of rental)
Full insurance included.

so theres not a charge for fuel so looks the cheaper option imo