UKC

Hi, Im off to costa blanca in a couple of weeks and would like to hire a car there, but after reading loads of reviews on the internet it looks like most of them are just a rip off. (record go, goldcar, etc) Could anyone suggest a "safe" car hire? cheers, Peter

In reply to TraverseKing:

i generally use Avis, but used Europcar last time. Both have been fine, deliver car back full of fuel, so no extras. No complaints in many visits.

In reply to TraverseKing: I've used economycarhire.com as the broker and found them pretty good. I went with Dickmanns through them last time. Dickmanns were slow to return my deposit but I spoke to economycarhire on the phone about it and they assured me they would sort it out, got a real person in the UK straightaway which was nice.

They list who has a fair fuel policy so you can avoid the cheapest who'll make you pay for a full tank up front at a high price (it probably works out the same but it's nice to know what you'll be paying).

In reply to TraverseKing:

I used Centauro in Alicante and had no complaints - they did charge marginally over the odds for a full tank of fuel (returned empty), but the hire price was very reasonable so overall very satisfied.

In reply to TraverseKing:

I use rental cars.com regularly and find them competitive used to be carhire 3000
However since I rent regularly I insure against having to pay out on the larger excesses often offered as opposed to pay extra to the hire company and reduce the excess. Even for one trip it's probably worth it.....

https://www.questor-insurance.co.uk/buy-insurance/hire-car-hire-excess.aspx

I choose carefully re fuel charges preferring full to full.

In reply to Kimberley:

Nice one Kimberley, just what I was looking for, cheers, Peter

In reply to TraverseKing:
I used Goldcar the last time I was there. Felt a bit ripped off. Initial payment and agreement was cheap. On arrival found that insurance was bare minimum and was asked to pay 99 euros to cover excess and shortfall, they also charged 134 euros for a tank of fuel. The car had a 50 litre tank which I queried. When pushed they said it was to cover admin and taxes. The cost of filling the tank was probably about 45 euros tops.

They said any fuel left in the tank would be repaid on return but nowhere near the initial cost. I did not want to do this fuel deal but the only alternative was to use a different company and they already had my money. Just be aware a cheap deal = 233 euros extra on arrival.

In reply to TraverseKing:

We've used laracars ( http://www.laracars.com/ ) the last couple of times we've been.

Nothing but good things to say. Reasonably priced and fully insured, so they dont try and f*ck you over by retroactively discovering damage etc.

In reply to remus:

Also Lara cars is full to full and they meet you off the plane , Car sorted in 10 minutes last time . No two hour wAit as everyone ahead of you argues with the gold car staff about the excessive extras. Used them several times now . Can't fault them . Other than that they aren't intrested in opening in Geneva , I asked the boss last year.

In reply to TraverseKing:

SIXT every time, great service, totally trust worthy, honest I would never use anyone else having tried a few of the rip off guys and regretted it over the years!

In reply to TraverseKing:

We used Holiday Autos at Alicante and had zero problems. Obviously do the basics like photograph the car from all angles before driving it away.

I would advise against Goldcar. Not because they are rip-off merchants, but because they don't appear to staff their pickup office in alicante, with the result that the queue was spectacular. - On the other hand they might have had a random member of staff off sick that day...