** Vehicle Hire queries **

Scruff

badker wrote: »

any company recommendations for hiring a car in Italy?

ditto.


Need a 7 seater for the summer holidays but the "reputable" companies are coming in at more than double the price of the "cowboys" (goldcar, rhodium).


Is car hire always expensive in Italy? It working out at x3 the price of France for the same time last year with a main international companies...really dont want to go with the cowboys after all the negative reviews i've read but might have to risk it at these prices..

k123456

Scruff wrote: »

ditto.


Need a 7 seater for the summer holidays but the "reputable" companies are coming in at more than double the price of the "cowboys" (goldcar, rhodium).


Is car hire always expensive in Italy? It working out at x3 the price of France for the same time last year with a main international companies...really dont want to go with the cowboys after all the negative reviews i've read but might have to risk it at these prices..

Not all the lesser know companies are cowboys
I have rented before from Locauto, Interent and Joyrent, no issues, apart from trying to sell me a policy which covers the excess

For piece of mind, ensure you have a policy which covers the excess on damage, before you pick up the car

galvo_clare

I once got 114 bottles into a 2005 A4 saloon. 2 of us and our luggage for a five day trip too.

LillySV wrote: »

ive an e60 5220d m sport which wouldnt hold much booze in first place...id like to have something like jeep that can carry a good bit more

LillySV

galvo_clare wrote: »

I once got 114 bottles into a 2005 A4 saloon. 2 of us and our luggage for a five day trip too.

I know I’m kind of drifting away from the car hire topic... but could you tell me where u bought the wine from or how it’s done ...

galvo_clare

LillySV wrote: »

I know I’m kind of drifting away from the car hire topic... but could you tell me where u bought the wine from or how it’s done ...

Did the Beaujolais run although we had to go a week early so we had great difficulty getting anyone to sell us a case. If you’re discovered with the stuff before the date it will be seized.
Eventually got two cases from a vineyard right beside the Beaujolais co-op that runs the entire thing.
We went down via Epernay so picked up some champagne along the way. Through Nuit St George where we bought a few bottles from the wife of the new Frenalch National Rugby coach.
When I arrived to Cherbourg we had the Beaujolais buried at the bottom of the boot but they waved us on.
At Poole, I had to tell them I didn’t own the car (I’m a motoring journalist) so the made me empty the boot. If they did that in France they’d have taken the wine.
Again in Rosslare they emptied the boot, probably for the same reason, but of course they didn’t know or care about the Beaujolais.

Basically, the boot was filled with cases and every spare nook and cranny was jammed with individual bottles.
The back seat was stacked too, along with the rear foot wells and our bags went on top.

That model A4 suffered from under steer but with the extra weight in the back it handled much better. Who knew wine would make such a difference?

When I got back to Dublin port I had to tear across the city before transferring everything to my own car before driving home.
I had an E60 5 series at the time and still have one so I can confirm it’s well able to take the load. Maybe there’s no need to hire a car at all?

LillySV

galvo_clare wrote: »

Did the Beaujolais run although we had to go a week early so we had great difficulty getting anyone to sell us a case. If you’re discovered with the stuff before the date it will be seized.
Eventually got two cases from a vineyard right beside the Beaujolais co-op that runs the entire thing.
We went down via Epernay so picked up some champagne along the way. Through Nuit St George where we bought a few bottles from the wife of the new Frenalch National Rugby coach.
When I arrived to Cherbourg we had the Beaujolais buried at the bottom of the boot but they waved us on.
At Poole, I had to tell them I didn’t own the car (I’m a motoring journalist) so the made me empty the boot. If they did that in France they’d have taken the wine.
Again in Rosslare they emptied the boot, probably for the same reason, but of course they didn’t know or care about the Beaujolais.

Basically, the boot was filled with cases and every spare nook and cranny was jammed with individual bottles.
The back seat was stacked too, along with the rear foot wells and our bags went on top.

That model A4 suffered from under steer but with the extra weight in the back it handled much better. Who knew wine would make such a difference?

When I got back to Dublin port I had to tear across the city before transferring everything to my own car before driving home.
I had an E60 5 series at the time and still have one so I can confirm it’s well able to take the load. Maybe there’s no need to hire a car at all?

sorry in advance for my ignorance on wine purchasing in france...but what do mean by buying early? before what date?

galvo_clare

Don’t apologise. I didn’t know until I asked. Luckily my friend on the trip was a French native.

Basically the Beaujolais Nouveau is released on a particular date every year, from memory the third Thursday in November. It’s illegal to sell the wine before that date.

I’ll try to dig out the article I wrote at the time but it’ll be tomorrow at the earliest. I think we did the trip in 2007.

LillySV wrote: »

sorry in advance for my ignorance on wine purchasing in france...but what do mean by buying early? before what date?

obi604

looking to hire a car in portals during summer.
looked at Ryanair , priced seem decent.

just wondering if I should get the "premium cover" insurance as in the attached?


or should I be ok with whats included for "free":


Collision Damage Waiver
Theft Protection
Third Party Liability
Cancellation
Amendments

Steve

Seems like a good deal.

Given it's Portugal (the only country I've ever been to and not hired a car cos they're nuts on the road), I'd take the extra insurance.

iamwhoiam

Steve wrote: »

Seems like a good deal.

Given it's Portugal (the only country I've ever been to and not hired a car cos they're nuts on the road), I'd take the extra insurance.

We hired a car three times in Portugal and found it absolutely fine

OP . That sounds like a good price to me for the extras

Steve

iamwhoiam wrote: »

We hired a car three times in Portugal and found it absolutely fine

OP . That sounds like a good price to me for the extras

Outside of the major cities, yes probably ok.

I got a taxi from Lisbon to Cascais last year and had to close my eyes quite a few times..

iamwhoiam

Steve wrote: »

Outside of the major cities, yes probably ok.

I got a taxi from Lisbon to Cascais last year and had to close my eyes quite a few times..

Ah fair enough we were on the stunning Silver coast

retalivity

21 days @€;5 per day is an additional €110 (im presuming its not already included in the price above), isn't it cheaper to just get car hire excess insurance to offset any problems if they do occur? My annual premium is €50 i think. I guess though if you're not renting a car for the rest of the year, then the extra for the peace of mind is not that much.

fwiw, i too have driven in portugal (algarve in august) and had no problems.

obi604

retalivity wrote: »

21 days @€;5 per day is an additional €110 (im presuming its not already included in the price above), isn't it cheaper to just get car hire excess insurance to offset any problems if they do occur? My annual premium is €50 i think. I guess though if you're not renting a car for the rest of the year, then the extra for the peace of mind is not that much.

fwiw, i too have driven in portugal (algarve in august) and had no problems.

Hi

Is it not a pain though if you do indeed have a claim and trying to sort that via another company etc?

Or is it normally ok?

obi604

Steve wrote: »

Seems like a good deal.

Given it's Portugal (the only country I've ever been to and not hired a car cos they're nuts on the road), I'd take the extra insurance.

Thanks. Suppose I’m asking, what is the difference between the standard cost......and then purchasing this extra insurance?

coylemj

obi604 wrote: »

Hi
Is it not a pain though if you do indeed have a claim and trying to sort that via another company etc?

With your own excess policy, you pay the rental company for any damage to the rented car, up to the excess included in the standard cover. You get receipts for everything, then you go home and claim that money back from the excess insurance company.

With the insurance you buy from the rental company, you don't have that hassle but it costs an awful lot more. €50 wilbuy you an annual excess policy with AIG or they quoted me for €25 for a week so I bought the annual policy.

obi604 wrote: »

Thanks. Suppose I’m asking, what is the difference between the standard cost......and then purchasing this extra insurance?

According to that screeenshot of your quote, you are renting for 21 days so the top-up cover will cost you €105 vs. €50 for an annual excess policy with AIG. Your choice.

But be aware that having your own policy is a personal matter and the rental company won't care, they will still want to sell you their cover when you go to pick up the car. So having an excess policy won't spare you the hard sell at the desk and if you rent from the cowboys and use a debit card, they will force you to buy their insurance or they won't hand over the keys.

My experience in the past few years (Hertz and Europcar in France & Spain) is that the agent for the big companies will ask you once if you want their insurance and when you decline, they don't push it.

obi604

coylemj wrote: »

With your own excess policy, you pay the rental company for any damage to the rented car, up to the excess included in the standard cover. You get receipts for everything, then you go home and claim that money back from the excess insurance company.

With the insurance you buy from the rental company, you don't have that hassle but it costs an awful lot more. €50 wilbuy you an annual excess policy with AIG or they quoted me for €25 for a week so I bought the annual policy.



According to that screeenshot of your quote, you are renting for 21 days so the top-up cover will cost you €105 vs. €50 for an annual excess policy with AIG. Your choice.

But be aware that having your own policy is a personal matter and the rental company won't care, they will still want to sell you their cover when you go to pick up the car. So having an excess policy won't spare you the hard sell at the desk and if you rent from the cowboys and use a debit card, they will force you to buy their insurance or they won't hand over the keys.

Thanks. In regard to your last paragraph, If I pay the 105 Euro, I presume they will not try and sell me anything extra.

coylemj

obi604 wrote: »

Thanks. In regard to your last paragraph, If I pay the 105 Euro, I presume they will not try and sell me anything extra.

Correct. Though €15 per day 'all-in' seems very cheap for a Focus Estate. But it may be a good price because you're renting for three weeks.

obi604

coylemj wrote: »

Correct. Though €15 per day 'all-in' seems very cheap for a Focus Estate. But it may be a good price because you're renting for three weeks.

hmmm, so you think too good to be true maybe.

coylemj

obi604 wrote: »

hmmm, so you think too good to be true maybe.

Not sure when you're hiring but I just looked for a quote from Europcar for three weeks in May (Sat 4th - Sat 25th) out of Faro airport and they're quoting €539 for a 5 door Astra when paid in advance. That's with the basic insurance i.e. no extras.

Hertz quoting €753 for an Astra Estate for the same period.

TheQuietBeatle

Drive4Fun are great, we used without any issues late last year. Appears to be one of the cheapest also. They're based in Faro airport.

uck51js9zml2yt

TheQuietBeatle wrote: »

Drive4Fun are great, we used without any issues late last year. Appears to be one of the cheapest also. They're based in Faro airport.

Used them a few years ago. Absolutely the best ive dealt with.



Drove a lot of the country and was able to load my toll tag over the phone with them.

obi604

coylemj wrote: »

Not sure when you're hiring but I just looked for a quote from Europcar for three weeks in May (Sat 4th - Sat 25th) out of Faro airport and they're quoting €539 for a 5 door Astra when paid in advance. That's with the basic insurance i.e. no extras.

Hertz quoting €753 for an Astra Estate for the same period.

I’m hiring from 26 June - 17 July. So fairly high season.

Wonder is there something fishy with the prices I’m getting. Just onnthe ryanair website.

bigar

The price is quite normal for local rental companies. Most will try to make money out of tricking you into taking more insurance and pay a tank of petrol in advance.

Just pay the price of the normal rental and as some already mentioned: go with a separate car excess insurance. Best are Carexcess.ie or AIG. A year will set you back less than 50 EUR on both.

Here is what likely will happen when you pick up your car:

- they will try to sell you the extra insurance and probably mention something about that you will be liable and they will block an amount on your card. They may go into detail like "any damage larger than a 2 Euro coin will be your liability" or similar scare tactics.
- just say that you are OK with that and are happy with the excess. Depending on the agent or company, they will keep trying. Just keep smiling and say you fully understand and are happy with the basic insurance. You are also going to fill up the car with petrol before you return it so no need to pay a full tank in advance.
- when you are at your car, review the damage document they provided to you and check it against the car. If anything is missing, go back to the agent and insist they check it and add it to your document.

Upon your return, and again depending on the company and agent, they will check the car with a (figurative) microscope. If they find something, just agree with them and smile.

When there is damage, they will charge your card for the damage. Once it appears on your credit card statement, file a claim with your excess insurance and they will reimburse you.

This is of course worst case scenario and you will likely be fine.

obi604

Let’s say I rent a car and don’t bother with the car rental company insurance. And instead get this 50 Euro insurance from AIG etc.

Let’s say I damage the car to the value of 4000 Euro.

Where would the excess come in here? The car rental crowd with their basic insurance package and some excess figure or AIG just cover it all etc.
with the AIG crowd, so I get stung for any excess versus the car renal companies.
Not even sure what I’m trying to say !

coylemj

bigar wrote: »

The price is quite normal for local rental companies. Most will try to make money out of tricking you into taking more insurance and pay a tank of petrol in advance.

......

This is of course worst case scenario and you will likely be fine.

What you outlined is a fairly realistic scenario but is nowhere near the worst that can happen. I present this post (text and link below) submitted on Feb. 22nd last to a thread in this forum called 'Vehicle Hire Queries' ....

argentum wrote: »

A friend just returned from a break in Spain and he flies into Alicante every few months for 2 weeks at a time.
He just got caught by Goldcar for €700.00 on his card and they wont reply to his emails telling him why.
There were scratches on the car when he collected but he took photos and got the woman to write them on the form.
Can anyone offer advice as to how to chase the refund as the CC company don't want to know .
He also booked it through the Ryanair portal when booking his flights if that helps

https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=109496385&postcount=943

coylemj

obi604 wrote: »

Let’s say I rent a car and don’t bother with the car rental company insurance. And instead get this 50 Euro insurance from AIG etc.

Let’s say I damage the car to the value of 4000 Euro.

Where would the excess come in here? The car rental crowd with their basic insurance package and some excess figure or AIG just cover it all etc.
with the AIG crowd, so I get stung for any excess versus the car renal companies.
Not even sure what I’m trying to say !

The standard insurance cover that comes with a car rental in Europe includes full third party cover and comprehensive cover with a large excess. Say the excess is the €4,000 that you mentioned, That means that if the car is written off and it's not the other guy's fault, you pay €4,000 and the insurance pays the rest. If the damage is less than €4,000, you pay for all of it. So the comp. cover that's standard will only pay for damage above the excess, in this case €4,000.

If you're taking out an excess policy, you need to make sure that it has a level of cover that will take care of all of the excess when you rent a car. The AIG excess policy has a limit per claim of €4,000. I rented an Opel Corsa from Europcar in Lanzarote in February but their excess was only €870 so I was well covered.

obi604

coylemj wrote: »

The standard insurance cover that comes with a car rental in Europe includes full third party cover and comprehensive cover with a large excess. Say the excess is the €4,000 that you mentioned, That means that if the car is written off and it's not the other guy's fault, you pay €4,000 and the insurance pays the rest. If the damage is less than €4,000, you pay for all of it. So the comp. cover that's standard will only pay for damage above the excess, in this case €4,000.

If you're taking out an excess policy, you need to make sure that it has a level of cover that will take care of all of the excess when you rent a car. The AIG excess policy has a limit per claim of €4,000. I rented an Opel Corsa from Europcar in Lanzarote in February but their excess was only €870 so I was well covered.

Got the attached quote from AIG.
does this mean, no matter what happens the most I get stung for is 75 Euro.

coylemj

obi604 wrote: »

Got the attached quote from AIG.
does this mean, no matter what happens the most I get stung for is 75 Euro.

Yes, provided you rent a car where the standard cover has an excess less than or equal to €4,000. That number is not stated on your quote screenshot but I have that policy so I know what it covers and the limit per claim with an AIG excess policy is €4,000 with an excess of €75 per claim.

k123456

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheap-car-hire/#needtoknow-5