UKC

We plan to spend our summer holidays in Iceland. We will come by plane to Reykjavik and we want to rent a car (four wheel drive) there to be able to travel into the interior of the island. Could you recommend us a decent (price/quality) car rental service?

In reply to PMG:

Ask what happens if you have a puncture. We did, and put the spare wheel on, then got charged for the puncture when we returned the car.

In reply to PMG:

We used Red Car Hire who seemed OK but be warned - any car hire is astounding expensive. We got a Jimny that drove like a dog for about £400 a week. Amazing place despite the cost!

Chris

In reply to PMG:

We got one from Hertz. Make sure that you read the insurance waiver disclaimers very, very carefully. Normally damage caused by sand storms and several other things that are likely to happen in Iceland are excluded. I would strongly recommend that you take out the extra cover that includes these risks. When we returned our car they did a microscopic examination of the windows looking for chips. They didn't find any, but this is the sort of thing that isn't covered as standard.

We went in mid April and hired a Land cruiser. Beware the sudden storms. Our Land Cruiser was lifted off the road and blown a few yards sideways in one unexpected storm. Luckily we landed back on the road!

In reply to PMG:

We used these guys only problem was finding the rental desk from the airport, but a nice man from a rival firm gave us a lift to find the place.

https://www.geysir.is/vehicle/Jeep_Wrangler/19

The Jeep was great, it was Christmas when we went, so all the roads of Highway 1 were sheet ice, we spun it twice, once on a steep descent and once in a crosswind, but didn't damage it so can't comment on excess charges etc.

Last time we went we had a landrover camper from these guys.
http://www.kukucampers.is/
It was a bit of a wreck, leaked a lot in a storm so we had to get a hotel, which they paid for after several reminder emails. They also charged us extra for washing up stuff, which re thought was already clean.

In reply to PMG:

If your there for awhile and plan on spending a few days at the start/end in Reykjavik you might be able to buy a cheap car and sell it before you leave. There are often other travellers selling or looking to buy. Have a look on bland.is - icelands version of gumtree.

In reply to PMG:

Thank you everybody for links and advice.
By the way, should I book in advance or wait for last minute offers?

PS. Buying a car is unfortunately not an option. We take short summer holidays (2 weeks including travel).

In reply to PMG:

It might be worth thinking very carefully about what you really want to do and where you want to go. Lots of places are accessible by bus and, though bus tickets are not cheap, driving to the same destination (eg Landmannalaugar) and then leaving your car more or less unused while you do some walking may well be more expensive.

Also, do you really need a 4WD? Solid driving technique (and knowing when - and how - to retreat) can matter far more than having four driven wheels. The main advantage of a 4WD is often clearance, especially on roads like the Sprengisandur Route. However, F roads are out of bounds unless you have hired a 4WD. You certainly don't need a 4WD simply for driving on dirt (non-F) roads.

In reply to PMG:

Have you tried SadCar? They rent old cars but are super cheap and a short walk from Reykjavik centre. I was really happy with the Subaru Legacy I ended up with for a fraction of the tiny cars rented from the airport and at a fraction of the price (granted it had done 200,000miles but it worked smoothly).

In reply to PMG:

There are a range of car rentals to go for and there's probably no right choice.
Definitely check the range of insurances you can get - especially if you plan on going into the highlands.
I would recommend either SagaCars, citycarrental or sadcars just because I've had experience with each.

As mentioned before, question yourself whether you need a rental car. Lots of places are accessible easily by hitch hiking or buses. If you wanted to get into the highlands, there's a bus to Thorsmork for example. Or Kerlingafjoll I would recommend!

Just spent a year there, so if you want any more recommendations, feel free to drop me a msg.