Seems to get cheaper year by year. Friends of mine were staying on the Costa Blanca earlier this year for 3+ months, and having taken out a 12 month CDW policy in the uk before they went, were paying around €30 for a months rental from Alicante airport. I think their CDW policy only covered them for 30 days, so they kept renewing contracts...a bit of a pain but no real hassle in combining an overnight stay in Alicante, especially on a weekend.
We paid €116 for a Fiat 500L for 28 days, two drivers, unlimited miles and full to full fuel, plus an old fogeys age supplement.
It's interesting to compare the 'doyouspain' prices to my preferred renter, Autoclick. They offer all the above... later this month a sub 6 month old Focus estate, two drivers, unlimited miles,full2full fuel is costing me €33 sat to sat.
I know friends who've paid less than €10 a week out of Alicante airport in low season. Seems the later you leave it the better the deal.
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Those sites are ridiculously cheap. I'm not off to Spain but I priced a Fiesta for a week on 24 April and it came out at €12.60.
I've no doubt the insurance is a bit lacking. Have you used autoclick, if so any problems?
Who do you use for the US? I generally go to carhire3000 (now rentalcars) and I've just re-booked an SUV for 19 days in Oct because it was £30 cheaper than the original booking (now £464 with all drivers, through Thrifty).
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I hired a car in Spain early 2014. Prices online were really cheap but many horror stories with older cars, damage, CDW problems etc. I got a car from Hertz (think it was Hertz) and still very cheap. Brand new car too.
This was Malaga and pickup for car on-site at the airport and so was drop-off. Some of the cheaper options meant you had to get taken by minibus... and more negatives.
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Smokie...'DoYouSpain' is a good place to start for comparative purposes. However, the initial low advertised price is slightly misleading in that I always use "full to full" on fuel, otherwise there may a refuelling charge and returning a car to the airport running on fumes is tempting fate. Also adding additional drivers bumps up the price on DYSpain. Friends who use the broker DYSpain are selective.... they used 4 of the companies over winter and one of them supplied a car that although quite new had led a hard life and they were stuck with it for a month.
I look at the DYSpain website, deselect all then tick Autoclick and a few others. Add 'full to full' and additional driver, then compare to the Autoclick website.
We requested a Fiesta in Feb '17 from Autoclick, but none were available, despite the assurances of what you order you get! They did provide an almost new Fiat 500L which was larger, but I would have preferred driving a Fiesta for the 28 days we were there.
We take out a 12 month CDW policy in the UK ( see Money Saving Expert) which costs around £35.
My preferred renter from Alicante is Autoclick. Their vehicle fleet looks spanking new, easy off airport site a few minutes away, pleasant multi lingual staff.
I find that the later you leave it with Autoclick the cheaper the car becomes...we would book, cancel FOC then rebook! And sometimes unavailable cars become available again... the Focus estate ive booked ( 29/4 thro 6/05 @ €33) initially said 'Sold Out' a few months ago.
In the USA I favor Enterprise. Although if sponging off friends and staying with them I have access to their cars.. they have 4 to choose from. Obviously I grab the keys for the Outback.
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Those prices seem incredibly cheap, most be desperate for customers at those prices. Although I've family members who go to Spain often and they are always telling what bargains they got when hiring a car. Got a C4 for 15 days that was 130 euros. Not as cheap as above but still fairly cheap, however i don't think all med countries are so cheap, Cyprus always seems expensive. The local firms are €15 a day or an mpv is about €60 for the weekend and the cars are pretty old, hard to tell the age of them but it wouldn't surprise me if some were 10 years old, a fair few Japanese imports as well. Although that is booking it whilst you are there, no doubt bound to be more expensive.
Last edited by: sooty123 on Sun 9 Apr 17 at 09:31
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Lots of competition at major tourist airports... less so at places like Fuerteventura. I try to stick with companies using newer vehicles i.e. Autoclick and am happy to drive a few minutes off airport.
Recently on our visit to Gran Canaria it was cheaper to pick up a hire car at the airport after deducting the Jet2 transfer fee to accommodation. And if you can get by with 10Kg hand baggage ( I can easily holiday for a month out of hand baggage in warmer climes) also deduct the £54 Jet2 baggage charge from the package cost.
Shhhh...don't tell everyone
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>> Lots of competition at major tourist airports... less so at places like Fuerteventura.
I think that's the key, the prices I'd looked at were out in the sticks a little and about 3/4 from the nearest airport so €30 a day is about standard.
Did you have any issues with the hire car companies accepting your stand alone CDW or have to pay massive deposit?
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As above I found Rentalcars good for US. We were late booking, less than 10 days before arrival in States, so missed 'earlybird' type deals. PAying £548 for 15 days with second driver included, company is Alamo and vehicle a Nissan Versa Note.
Nothing, except for a company I'd never heard of, was significantly cheaper (suspect there would be a lot of local add ons) and most wanted $15/day for second driver.
Autobox, which I hate, as NO hire company seemed to offer a 'stick shift'.
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>> Autobox, which I hate, as NO hire company seemed to offer a 'stick shift'.
>>
Welcome to driving in the US :) I'm not keen on them either but you soon very use to them, I think they suit the way of driving over there. Although not surprising you couldn't get manual, like hens teeth apart from high end sports cars over the pond.
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Hasn't car rental always been very sharply priced in Spain? Not so much in France. I am looking for a 7-day rental in Paris in the first week of July and the prices are nothing like as good as the OP's quotes.
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>> Autobox, which I hate, as NO hire company seemed to offer a 'stick shift'.
Most Americans can't use them, and would soon wreck the rental fleet if they tried. Nothing wrong with an auto in the USA, it suits the driving perfectly. You'll come back loving an auto box (if its a good one)
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I recall a story from somewhere of an American lady driving a manual rental car from Heathrow to the west country in second gear. She complained that the car was noisy and slow. It was also a mechanical write off.
Last edited by: Old Navy on Sun 16 Apr 17 at 13:09
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I remember seeing an American chap who'd been given a manual minibus (think one of those odd far eastern minibuses) well let's just say he didn't have a clue. Kept stalling it every few yards, anyway me and another chap were heading to work, we saw him kangarooing along and took sympathy. My mate jumped out, put the car off the road and gave him a quick crash course in clutch control. I think he just managed to make it to where he was going. Turned out his boss couldn't drive a manual either so just chucked the keys at him and expected him to drive it there.
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The "con" I tried to overcome when on hols in Cyprus 2 years ago, was I booked online a manual people carrier for 2 days , Hertz looked the best option .
when I went to collect, the contract was, you had to pay 90Euros for a full tank.......and return it empty.......
If anyone knows Cyprus, day 1 I went up the east coast, around to the militarised area and back cross country......yeah a lovely relaxing drive. Second day, up the Trooodos mountains by which time, I did the last 20 miles on fumes, as there are zero petrol station on the route I took back to paphos. When I did chugg into a station, the min that you could buy was 10 E, .......so the following day WHEN I HAD TO RETURN IT BY 8, , I got up early, to drive around for a bit, went to Hertz and drove around the blocks 20/30 times, till I could find gasping for fuel,, just so I could limp it there EMPTY
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If anyone knows Cyprus, day 1 I went up the east coast, around to the
>> militarised area and back cross country......yeah a lovely relaxing drive. Second day, up the Trooodos
>> mountains by which time, I did the last 20 miles on fumes, as there are
>> zero petrol station on the route I took back to paphos.
I know it reasonable well. Some parts up in the more remote area are wonderful. The militarised zone? You mean the UN zone across the country? Managed to get a tour around the UN patrolled portion in nicosia once, very interesting. Went past the airport and saw the abandoned aircraft still on the tarmac. Had a good nosey around all those toyotas, some still smell factory fresh! Although the northern part of nicosia, i thought was more interesting and pleasant than the south. A lot of the south is quite run down.
Last edited by: sooty123 on Mon 17 Apr 17 at 20:36
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Reminds me of the time we went to Cyprus and stayed at Paphos. Rally Cyprus was an International event at the time so we ventured across to Nicosia and then up the Troodos from that side. Watched the cars round the Kykko Monastery and then made back to Paphos following a small tourist map on the 'direct' route. It was into night by now. Well we ended up in woods on unmade tracks in the middle of no where and well..... lost. Stopped at a track junction to look at a wooden direction sign when a pick-up appeared with bodies hanging out all over it. (Visualise something we now see in the Middle East.) It stopped and they inquired as to our fate. Lets just say I was a little concerned re our future at this point. Told them we had been following the rally. They scrumped us some apples and directed us to follow. Treated us to their company and meal in a small village and put us on the road from Troodos down to Limassol which was the best option. wouldn't even accept a round of drinks from us.
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>>...drove around the blocks 20/30 times, till I could find gasping for fuel,, just so I could limp it there EMPTY
Really?
Blimey!
Think I might have just gone for a swim instead. ;-)
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Or simply elect for the "Return Full" option that Hertz always offers as an alternative. :-)
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'Full to full' is always the best option
Keep your fuel receipt because they want to look at it.. at least Autoclick at Alicante do
Sorry. Don't want to appear to be teaching granny to suck eggs
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>>Full to full' is always the best option
It is certainly the cheapest, without any doubt, but I mostly can't be a***d.
I tend to rent various POSs when I need a car, I actually rented a Fiat 128 saloon last year. I have no idea of its age, but it had to have been 70s, early 80s.
I don't mind wasting a bit of money on my own car, but I see no reason to waste it on someone else's. Given that, I don't pay much but if I drop a bit on the fuel and avoid a bunch of hassle, its worthwhile for me.
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I was on a full to empty hire car when last in the States.
I drove from deepest Indiana to Chicago and was running out of petrol about 15 miles from O'Hare. Rather than risk a breakdown I decided to refuel.
The petrol station was one of those ones where you had to pay first and didn't accept my cards. I only needed $10 worth so I went in, said "Afternoon, $10 on pump 2 please."
The absolutely wonderful big black mama on the counter came back to me with a huge grin and in a hilariously good Elvis Costello accent "Oilright Mate, Ave a good day!"
Made my day.
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I always go through Argus, they provide competitive hire rates and totally comprehensive insurance that covers all excesses, even in the US abd Canada. arguscarhire.com
Last edited by: Hard Cheese on Tue 18 Apr 17 at 08:06
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Their web page is remarkably similar to carhire3000, pretty much the same layout except colours and text on banners and heading are changed. I suspect the same company behind he scenes.
I have an SUV booked for LA in end Sept which through carhire3000 is £464 but is £482 (from a different supplier) on argus. Same supplier (Dollar) is £424. Insurances look identical.
When I booked it about two months ago it was £499. I cancelled and rebooked last week as it had gone to £464. I am just cancelling and rebooking again... :-)
EDIT: had difficulty putting in credit card so cleared cookies and it went up to £442!
Last edited by: smokie on Tue 18 Apr 17 at 08:48
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Unless they have been bought I guess Argus are the parent company, they have had a few associated brands over the years though their own USP in their approach to insurance.
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>> If anyone knows Cyprus..........
I was in the Troodos mountains, in Platres, in 1955. :-)
Rotten cold in winter.
Hospitable people, (mostly) even when we were doing a pre-dawn surround & search of a village.
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In the early 60s I went ashore to collect the mail, the army armored car escort was appreciated, I often wondered why the matlots got a Land Rover though. :-)
Last edited by: Old Navy on Tue 18 Apr 17 at 11:44
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Booking a car for the States, I found a clause preventing use on dirt roads. I raised this with Californian friends who said no problem, very few dirt roads in the States and none of them important. They had obviously not visited Maine, where I was bound for a three-week stay and may of whose up-country roads are dirt, albeit generally well graded. I took the risk and used them when necessary.
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>> Booking a car for the States, I found a clause preventing use on dirt roads.
Same in Australia, if you get fine dust into a car and it's HVAC system it is almost impossible to get rid of it. Especially the red bull dust in Australia which is basically rust and it stains. I checked when the friends I was staying with lived up a dirt road and was told its OK as long as there is no red dust in the car on its return.
Last edited by: Old Navy on Tue 18 Apr 17 at 13:07
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>>They had obviously not visited Maine, ....of whose up-country roads are dirt, albeit generally well graded.
By coincidence I have just opened a letter from my friend in Maine with some newspaper cuttings about the " Mud " roads and having cars being dragged out of mud pits.
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I've just had a quick look On Autoclick and this Saturday, from Alicante, a weeks car rental of a Fiat 500 would be under €8, a Fiesta €11. My Focus estate is still €30
That includes additional drivers and a 'full to full' fuel policy.
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I read recently that some holiday prices were being reduced due to lack of demand, a possible spin off?
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Collected the almost new ( sub 700 kilometre) Focus estate from Autoclick @ Alicante yesterday evening. €30 for the week, plus my UK bought annual CDW policy for European rental excess cover. The AP7 heading north was almost deserted so a very comfortable cruise in the base spec petrol model. Vast improvement over my 2011 Focus. No idea on engine size but at an indicated 160kmh it doesn't feel stressed at all, so arrived in double quick time.
One point to mention to people hiring. The German couple in front of me didn't have sufficient credit balance on their card for Autoclick to take a charge of their excess. Woe was them.
Last edited by: legacylad on Sun 30 Apr 17 at 07:24
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There are some astonishingly low rates quoted here for hire cars in Southern Europe.
Has anyone had any problems on collection with demands for compulsory insurance or on return with claimed damages etc?
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I hied fairly cheaply once on the Canaries and there was a €500 excess (on arrival, I hadn't read the small print!!) which concerned me, but I took the chance and didn't cover it with insurance and all was OK. Not saying that's always the case though!!
Last edited by: smokie on Sun 30 Apr 17 at 11:12
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>> There are some astonishingly low rates quoted here for hire cars in Southern Europe.
>>
>> Has anyone had any problems on collection with demands for compulsory insurance or on return
>> with claimed damages etc?
Nope, hired from Alicante on airport, at silly rates twice a year for the last 4 years, never had a sniff of agro before, during or after.
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Likewise. I/we walk around the hire car to check for any damage or scratches. I've never been asked for my DVLA code. I show them my UK 'CDW excess insurance policy' which covers wheel,, tyre, windscreen, roof and underbody damage. Just paid £50 for the annual policy which I use several times a year.
They don't try and sell me anything... nice friendly folks at Autoclick.
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>> One point to mention to people hiring. The German couple in front of me didn't
>> have sufficient credit balance on their card for Autoclick to take a charge of their
>> excess. Woe was them.
English family on same hire co bus as us from airport to pick up lot at Palma a couple of years ago had similar issue. Last seen trying to juggle balances, phone home etc while supervising increasingly fratchety pre-school kids. She looked ready to murder him. Whether for lack of foresight or lack of frankness about use of card was not clear.
I have a Santander card with a £12k limit which is good for holding deposits like this.
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Overseas car hire - smokie
