Hiring a car abroad

What’s the crack with hiring a car abroad?
I’ve never done it before but I’m looking to go to the Spanish Motogp in May next year and was going to fly to Seville and get a car from the airport. I’ve done a bit of research but it just looks like a complete mine field! I going to need a car for four days and I’ve looked online through various different sites and seen prices varying wildly - £45 up to around £150 for the same type of small car! What’s that all about?
When it comes to insurance I seem to be reading everywhere to avoid the enhanced policy offered by the hire firm and sort my own out, which can be had for around £2-3 per day.
Also when booking a car what do you put for the pick up time if your flight is due in at say 15:00? Would you put the time of flight or put it at around half an hour later?
Same thing when dropping it off. If your flight is due to leave at say 17:00 would you put the time at 17:00 or would you put it a few hours before due to the fact you have to be at the airport 2-3 hours before your flight is due to depart?

I’ve probably put some very stupid questions in here, but like I’ve said, I’ve never done it before and as it seems like a complete and utter mine field with endless potential hidden charges, its all a little daunting and I don’t want to get it wrong!

I have been reading up on this but any help and advice from any of you who have actually done it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance, Nick.

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Why not avoid all the aggro of airport transfers and the air fare and just hire the car here and drive it there and back home as I did in the Summer for a run to the Le Mans Classic and Switzerland.Sorted.

Beef:
What’s the crack with hiring a car abroad?
I’ve never done it before but I’m looking to go to the Spanish Motogp in May next year and was going to fly to Seville and get a car from the airport. I’ve done a bit of research but it just looks like a complete mine field! I going to need a car for four days and I’ve looked online through various different sites and seen prices varying wildly - £45 up to around £150 for the same type of small car! What’s that all about?
When it comes to insurance I seem to be reading everywhere to avoid the enhanced policy offered by the hire firm and sort my own out, which can be had for around £2-3 per day.
Also when booking a car what do you put for the pick up time if your flight is due in at say 15:00? Would you put the time of flight or put it at around half an hour later?
Same thing when dropping it off. If your flight is due to leave at say 17:00 would you put the time at 17:00 or would you put it a few hours before due to the fact you have to be at the airport 2-3 hours before your flight is due to depart?

I’ve probably put some very stupid questions in here, but like I’ve said, I’ve never done it before and as it seems like a complete and utter mine field with endless potential hidden charges, its all a little daunting and I don’t want to get it wrong!

I have been reading up on this but any help and advice from any of you who have actually done it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance, Nick.

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It’s definitely not as scary as you think. Stick to one of the major players, or one you recognise. Hertz are usually the most expensive.
I normally put my flight times as the collection and drop-off times.
Spanish airports sign posting in English for drop-off are all good.
Definitely get your excess and car insurance separately. The hire companies are far too dear.

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Why are the well known companies charging around 3 times as much as the small companies? I just don’t get how the price can vary so much. Why would I want to pay £150 when I can get the same car for £45? What s the difference?

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I always hire the car before I leave home, as said use the flight times and pay for express checkout but not extra insurance, take your own sat nav to save big deposits

Beef:
Why are the well known companies charging around 3 times as much as the small companies? I just don’t get how the price can vary so much. Why would I want to pay £150 when I can get the same car for £45? What s the difference?

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the different is you are far less likely to get conned.

Some of the Spanish car companies consist of Pablo and his donkey along with a couple of blokes wearing big gold chains whose mum knew the Krays mum.

Went on hols to Crete recently , hired a car just for a day . For less hassle I just asked the hotel reception paid my 40euros cash . Next day at 9.30 glamorous Greek lady in her 40’s with killer cleavage :wink: :stuck_out_tongue: delivered the car .
Quick jot down of my liscence details and jobs a good un , no credit card or licence checks .
Car was a couple of months old fiat panda just left in in the car park roughly same amount of petrol in it and ■■■■ lady picked it up next day sorted .

It’s way more expensive to hire from an airport location than a town location.
Your hire will start when you collect the car, and your paperwork will show a date and time for when the car is due to be returned.
If you’re going to be late, ring them and you may get an hour or two grace period.
If you don’t ring them and are late, you’ll be paying for another days hire.
Always, always walk round the vehicle and note down any damage.
You should get some sort of notification of what damage is on the vehicle already, but mark everything and take a photo of each panel and the wheels.
If the car has a full tank, you’ll often get the option to purchase that tank of fuel, so there’s no need to return it full of fuel.
However, if you’re not doing many miles, it’s easier just to refuel prior to returning the car.
If you are doing loads of miles, and you purchase the tank of fuel, you’ll want to return the car with the petrol light flashing, because whatever fuel you leave in the car, is fuel you have paid for.

The car hire game is an unregulated racket.If you give them your credit card details they have access to your cash. I wouldn’t use a hire car abroad myself. If you have to make sure that you deal in daylight and check and photograph every thing. There is a firm called Goldcar don’t go near them.

Yes I’ve read a lot about Goldcar and will be avoiding them like the plague!

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If…

You do hire a car in Spain (or anywhere else for that matter), take lots of good quality close up photographs when you collect the car. Take at least 10 to 15 minutes worth of pics. Pay particular attention to the alloy rims if it has them. Take pics of the interior, the luggage area, the spare wheel, the engine bay, the windscreen. The more pics you take the more yer backside is covered when the inevitable ‘you have damaged our car’ line is used upon your return.
Seriously, I can’t stress enough that dated, timed and Google located photos should get you out the mucky stuff when you drop the car off.

Take out hire car insurance excess cover in the UK. A years policy is around £40 a year for UK and European cover. I took out worldwide cover (around £90) becuase I rented in the USA this year as well Spain.

Always pay with a credit card. When the inevitable dispute occurs you can use the credit card company to fight your battle and return the money they will steal from you.

I have just recently recieved a rebate, via my credit card company, for alleged damage to a car I rented from Sixt at Barcelona airport. As soon as I got out of the car in the drop off area, the agent honed in on two defects to the car he claimed were new. Front alloy damage over 10mm and a rear bumper scratch over 10mm. I showed him the pictures I’d taken on collection of the car and he said there’d be no follow up. Two days later when I’m back in England I recieve an email from Sixt claiming damage to the vehicle. Despite me sending the photos of the alleged damage they took anothe 60e from my credit card. I contacted my credit card provider and they in turn after a month returned my money. They stated that Sixt hadn’t followed the correct channels in taking the extra 60e and therefore weren’t entitled to it but, they have stressed that Sixt may lodge a complaint and attempt to recover the alleged damages from me. I’ll doubt they’ll bother but I do have the extra insurance cover that would pay in the event of any successful claim against me.

If I’d looked at the Trustpilot review site before I rented the car (over the internet in the UK) I’d have given Sixt Espana a wide berth. It appears that almost every car returned has new damage. The couple who returned their VW Passat directly after me in Barcelona were arguing over damage to the vehicle.

I can see little upside to renting a UK car, the cost of driving through France to Spain far outweigh any benefit gained.

In my opinion the way the car rental firms operate out there is nothing more than a scam. It’s the kind of thing that your Euro MP should be getting involved in and stamping out. Obviously that’s why it’s still flourishing.

Here’s one to avoid

tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowTopic … ngdom.html