** Vehicle Hire queries **

Effects

CVB wrote: »

CarHireExcess.ie provides far cheaper cover !!!

Don't they have a list of fairly standard damages that they don't cover?
As in they screw you in the small print.

coylemj

Effects wrote: »

Don't they have a list of fairly standard damages that they don't cover?
As in they screw you in the small print.

In fairness, carhireexcess.ie looks like decent cover with no 'gotchas' that I can see. They cover tyres and glass which a lot of the rental-supplied (rip-off) insurance does not cover. They have no excess and the per claim (and annual) limit is €7,500. My AIG policy has a per claim excess of €75, a per claim limit of €4,000 and an annual cap on claims of €5,000.

ted1

Effects wrote: »

Don't they have a list of fairly standard damages that they don't cover?
As in they screw you in the small print.

Nope, they are pretty good and paid out without much hassle for a claim I had

OffalyMedic

After alot of research i'm almost ready to pull the trigger on a compact car with THRIFTY for a week in iceland.

If i get car hire excess with AIG does that mean i just nead the basic insurance deal with thrifty? first time hiring a car and there seems to be a 10:1 ration of horror stories to good ones.

All help would be greatly appreciated

coylemj

OffalyMedic wrote: »

If i get car hire excess with AIG does that mean i just nead the basic insurance deal with thrifty?

From your perspective, yes. But the rental company don't care whether you have excess insurance or not. If they are determined to sell you their insurance, they will do so. Don't bother printing your AIG confirmation e-mail and waving it at them, they don't care. If you really push it, they will claim your policy doesn't cover their cars.

The less you're paying for the car (relative to the other rental companies in the same city), the more likely it is that they will force you to buy their insurance. My experiences with Hertz and Europcar in the past 10 years (France and Spain) is that they offer you the insurance, you decline and that's the end of it.

OffalyMedic wrote: »

first time hiring a car and there seems to be a 10:1 ration of horror stories to good ones.

Did you look at prices from other rental operators in Iceland? Chances are that if you went with the cheapest option, you will get screwed. The reason there's a 10:1 preponderance of bad stories is because hardly anyone with a positive experience writes about it.

killbillvol2

OffalyMedic wrote: »

After alot of research i'm almost ready to pull the trigger on a compact car with THRIFTY for a week in iceland.

If i get car hire excess with AIG does that mean i just nead the basic insurance deal with thrifty? first time hiring a car and there seems to be a 10:1 ration of horror stories to good ones.

All help would be greatly appreciated

Most car hire is completely uneventful. The horror stories are of a few dodgy companies or of customers who didn't read/couldn't understand the rules.

The Excess policy will cover most of what the basic insurance doesn't. Just bear in mind that if something does go wrong you'll pay first and claim it back afterwards.

jmreire

Generally, I'd say that the cheaper the rate, the more they will insist on you buying their insurance...It's not possible to make a profit otherwise. The profit come's from the insurance, and the "extra's" child seat, sat nav excess miles etc. Might be better of with well known rental company's Hertz or Europcar, (Strangely, Avis comes in for a lot of criticism from renter's who have had bad experience's )

Xdancer

Does anyone know if any of the car rental companies are open until 2am? We're arriving into the airport at 1.30am and desperately need to rent a car....any of the companies I contacted are only open until midnight.

Ponster

All shut from midnight to 5am I believe. I don't think that there are any 24/7 offices open in the city either. You'll probably need to kill 3 hours at the airport I think.

Xdancer

Ponster wrote: »

All shut from midnight to 5am I believe. I don't think that there are any 24/7 offices open in the city either. You'll probably need to kill 3 hours at the airport I think.

That's what I feared.... wouldn't be an issue if were just us, but will have our 5 year old with us.

Yamanoto

jmreire wrote: »

Generally, I'd say that the cheaper the rate, the more they will insist on you buying their insurance...It's not possible to make a profit otherwise. The profit come's from the insurance, and the "extra's" child seat, sat nav excess miles etc. Might be better of with well known rental company's Hertz or Europcar, (Strangely, Avis comes in for a lot of criticism from renter's who have had bad experience's )

Let them insist all they like

Thrifty is part of the Hertz group. Of all the big players, Europcar ( who also own Goldcar & Interent) have the worst reputation.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/advice/car-hire-scams-europcar-employee-reveals-all/

jmreire

Yamanoto wrote: »

Let them insist all they like

Thrifty is part of the Hertz group. Of all the big players, Europcar ( who also own Goldcar & Interent) have the worst reputation.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/advice/car-hire-scams-europcar-employee-reveals-all/

That's a terrible story, but it's one which I believe....mafia business. I hope that the trading standard's take action to help stamp it out. They are not content with just making a profit ( which no one has a problem with, that's what they are in business for,,,) but what is going on here is robbery, pure and simple. Offering staff a "Reward" for scamming customer's :mad:

coylemj

Yamanoto wrote: »

Of all the big players, Europcar ( who also own Goldcar & Interent) have the worst reputation.

I know Goldcar are total scam artists but I've rented from Europcar on several occasions without incident. My most recent rental with them was an Opel Corsa in Lanzarote last Feb. I declined the additional insurance (I have an AIG excess policy) and the guy didn't push it. Excess was €870 but they only blocked €300 on my credit card and when I returned the car, the lady at the Europcar desk in the rental car park inspected the car and then invited me to take a photo of the form she had filled in which stated the car was returned with no damage. Very professional service with no 'gotchas'.

I suspect that if you are a returning customer, they're less likely to try on those scams outlined in the Telegraph article.

Damien360

coylemj wrote: »

I know Goldcar are total scam artists but I've rented from Europcar on several occasions without incident. My most recent rental with them was an Opel Corsa in Lanzarote last Feb. I declined the additional insurance (I have an AIG excess policy) and the guy didn't push it. Excess was €870 but they only blocked €300 on my credit card and when I returned the car, the lady at the Europcar desk in the rental car park inspected the car and then invited me to take a photo of the form she had filled in which stated the car was returned with no damage. Very professional service with no 'gotchas'.

I suspect that if you are a returning customer, they're less likely to try on those scams outlined in the Telegraph article.

I used https://www.cabreramedina.com/EN in lanzarote this year. They are not at the airport but have offices all over the canaries. Taxi in lanzarote is cheap also out of airport.

Car rental. The price is the price. You can pay cash. No extras, just your fuel which is really cheap in the canaries. Booked online with no charge, delivered to hotel, pay either card or cash, leave back at hotel when done with same amount of fuel as received. Car was a Opel Mokka auto with satnav built in for €210 for 10 days. Cars are not brand new, one/two year old max, wear and tear is not a consideration at all. Can’t praise them enough.

Quackster

Damien360 wrote: »

I used https://www.cabreramedina.com/EN in lanzarote this year. They are not at the airport but have offices all over the canaries. Taxi in lanzarote is cheap also out of airport.

Yep, Autoreisen and Cicar (Cabrera Medina) are the only options one should consider for the Canaries due to the benefits you mention - no excess at all (fully comprehensive insurance cover), no advance booking payment, pay on arrival with cash or debit/credit card, all-in-all absolutely hassle-free to deal with.

coylemj

Damien360 wrote: »

I used www.cabreramedina.com/EN in lanzarote this year. They are not at the airport but have offices all over the canaries.

They are at T1 and T2 in Lanzarote airport according to their website. On the 'Make a reservation' panel, when you click on the dropdown 'Pickup Office' menu, they offer both terminals at the airport. As well as downtown PDC and other towns in Lanzarote and Tenerife.

They also offer pickup/drop off at your hotel but the airport is the option I would always use. Otherwise you have to pay for a taxi both ways which negates any saving you might be making vs. the bigger rental companies.

They're well recommended according to lots of other posts here and on other fora.

jmreire

Can anyone recommend a good car hire company in Belgrade ? Either City or Airport??

punisher5112

Hi all, anyone know of a Ireland hire company that will allow use of car in the UK for 3 days as will need a 7 seater which I don't own.

coylemj

punisher5112 wrote: »

Hi all, anyone know of a Ireland hire company that will allow use of car in the UK for 3 days as will need a 7 seater which I don't own.

There are plenty of rental companies in Derry and Belfast which will allow you to drive in the UK :rolleyes:

Do you mean driving across the border to NI or taking the ferry to GB?

punisher5112

coylemj wrote: »

There are plenty of rental companies in Derry and Belfast which will allow you to drive in the UK :rolleyes:

Do you mean driving across the border to NI or taking the ferry to GB?

I meant across the water from the Republic.

coylemj

punisher5112 wrote: »

I meant across the water from the Republic.

Don't think so.....

Hertz

Hertz Vehicles can be driven into Northern Ireland free of charge; however a drop off fee will apply to vehicles returned to a Hertz location in Northern Ireland.

Europcar:

We currently do not allow our rentals to leave the island of Ireland. If you wish to drive in Northern Ireland, you must inform us on collection of your vehicle. There is a nominal €34.05 fee when taking a car into Northern Ireland.

Avis:

Vehicles may be driven in Northern Ireland but cannot be taken outside the island of Ireland.

punisher5112

coylemj wrote: »

Don't think so.....

Hertz

Hertz Vehicles can be driven into Northern Ireland free of charge; however a drop off fee will apply to vehicles returned to a Hertz location in Northern Ireland.

Europcar:

We currently do not allow our rentals to leave the island of Ireland. If you wish to drive in Northern Ireland, you must inform us on collection of your vehicle. There is a nominal €34.05 fee when taking a car into Northern Ireland.

Avis:

Vehicles may be driven in Northern Ireland but cannot be taken outside the island of Ireland.

Yes seen that was just wondering had anyone else been in the same boat so to speak....

I would be coming back with the car so not looking to leave anywhere different.

Need the bigger car for a passenger medical reasons as the gear needed wouldn't be suitable on a plane.

coylemj

punisher5112 wrote: »

Yes seen that was just wondering had anyone else been in the same boat so to speak....

If the big boys don't allow it, I'd say the smaller operators won't either. Or if they do, there will be a savage supplement. And you will be dealing with people who specialise in finding spurious 'damage' for which they will charge you dearly.

I think your best bet will be to do a temporary swap with a neighbour or friend who owns a suitable vehicle and get your insurance transferred to the loan vehicle for the duration.

Quackster

punisher5112 wrote: »

Hi all, anyone know of a Ireland hire company that will allow use of car in the UK for 3 days as will need a 7 seater which I don't own.

Enterprise may be suitable.

https://www.enterprise.ie/en/help/faqs/driving-across-borders.html

punisher5112

Quackster wrote: »

Enterprise may be suitable.

https://www.enterprise.ie/en/help/faqs/driving-across-borders.html

Cheers thanks for that.

Antar Bolaeisk

Heads up for anyone returning to Ireland from parts foreign, Europcar/Carhire.ie are now insisting on an international license if there's any non-English words on your license. Thankfully I had my Irish license with me but if it had been a couple of weeks ago I would have been in trouble. After years of accepting the Saudi license which has both English and Arabic on it, they refused to accept it this time, their reason being that the insurance has changed.

salmocab

Quackster wrote: »

Yep, Autoreisen and Cicar (Cabrera Medina) are the only options one should consider for the Canaries due to the benefits you mention - no excess at all (fully comprehensive insurance cover), no advance booking payment, pay on arrival with cash or debit/credit card, all-in-all absolutely hassle-free to deal with.

I was getting a car in one in Lanzarote and the people from before me came in with pics of the scratches etc and they guy said don’t worry they all have scratches your insurance covers everything. She was real nervous but he tried to explain that it’s all in and they don’t do anything about scratches etc. they are so handy one price no extras no hard sell.

seanin4711

cheapest options please
anyone recommend one?
thanks
John

EverythingGood

seanin4711 wrote: »

cheapest options please
anyone recommend one?
thanks
John

With carhire, cheapest isn't always the best! In saying that we have used Green motion lots in Poland (never in Hungary) and never had any issue with them, despite what others might say of their experiences, we have always found them to be good and honest.

bigar

I rented with Hertz and got a very nice brand new car. Become a Gold member with them and the car is parked in front of the terminal. Others are parked a considerable walk away.