Advice on renting a car in spain.

[anjing]

I'll in malaga for vacation next week and i will need to rent a car...
Anyone got any recommendation? Hands on experience?
I spent much time researching the subject and
I'm overwhealmed by the scams, hidden fees ect...
Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance!

Pierre

 

[APL]

If your worried about potential scams, stick with bigger names. Ive used Europcar and Sixt in Spain (not Malaga) in past with no problems.

 

[rob_gould]

This website is a broker so you get the pick of the different rental companies :

http://www.autoeurope.com

I've used them loads of times to rent cars all over Europe. I've never had a problem, but I've always picked up from the airport or busy city location rather than a small regional office.

But either way, I think it'll be fine. Maybe take out the extra insurance cover if you're worried about getting a dent, then enjoy the holiday!

Edit : I forgot to say... Yes - as APL suggests, go for an international company rather than a local choice, even if it is more expensive.

 

[thermionic]

Fuel is the scam. Make sure to note any dents / photograph them as well.

When we rented a Honda Civic last Sept in Crete (the same model will be in Spain I'm sure), we were told it was a better deal to take a full tank and return the car with nothing in it (because Avis supposedly give a good deal for a full tank, which appeared to be the case by our calculations).

So...what we didn't know was that, once the level hits the red zone / warning light it stays on until you put a *lot* of fuel in, whereupon it jumps up. As you can imagine, we were about 50Km from the airport and the needle hit red. We thought another 10 Euros would get us there with any empty tank... 10 Euros later, the light's still on...needle's not budged. We're thinking there's a problem, and we'll miss our plane if we run out of fuel, so we put another 10 Euros in... No movement... After another 10 or so the needle jumps up and we return car with over a quarter of a tank, having opted to pay for a full tank... They said to us 'you must return the car empty, or the deal isn't so good'. I wonder if they program the car to behave this way? They disabled the Ipod dock...that's extra... Avis probably make millions a yr from this 'idiosyncrasy'. We paid for a cheaper car and were thrilled to get the Civic...with its 1.6 Vti engine. There was a reason why you get that car!

 

[okgb]

When I'm not paying for the car , I bring it back without topping it up , often the guy will ask me where I went and guesstimate
the fuel used [ besides reading the mileage ] at whatever  1.5 x the going gas rate and add that to the bill.
If I have time coming or going I'll top up the car as close to the pick up point as possible so the time stamp on the receipt will be close
to when I took it , then top it up when coming back .  often full is not 100% full but it can be an argument to get that refunded and if it's
late night and you're just dropping off the keys, that doesn't work . If there's any marks show them right then & there!

 

[zebra50]

+1 to taking photos before you set off.

And make sure you have a good spare tyre.
(This happened to me here in York - I returned an rental without a spare that was never there… took a lot of letters to sort that one out).

We always book the smallest car. Very often you get a free upgrade because they run out of small ones.

Look out for the extra insurance offered… it may or may not be appropriate. I destroyed a van roof once (don't ask!) and overhead damage was not covered under the basics.  if you are going onto gravel tracks make sure that the underside is covered!

Stewart

 

[anjing]

Thanks for all the info guys!
I went safe with avis and it turns out my credit card comes with car rental insurance...how accurate is the model you book relative to what you usually get?
I had to get an automatic car because i did not drive stick in so long and i don't feel the tiny windy roads of spain is the best place to practice!
Thanks again!

Regards!

Pierre

 

[hazel]

Thanks for all the info guys!
I went safe with avis and it turns out my credit card comes with car rental insurance...how accurate is the model you book relative to what you usually get?
I had to get an automatic car because i did not drive stick in so long and i don't feel the tiny windy roads of spain is the best place to practice!
Thanks again!

Regards!

Pierre

Hi Pierre!

i'm from Spain although not Malaga.

You did a great decision going for a big name like Avis. I usually rent at Avis and Hertz.

Time ago i had to return back car with full gas tank but now you can pay a "we fill gas tank for you when customer return back the car" fee. Sorry for my english, as you can see is not my mother language.

Accurate car model depends on availability but it won't be a smaller one that you paid for.

You'll love Malaga

 

[Rochey]

you can buy car rental insurance separately from the car rental company!
The deal is usually WAAAY better.

I used these guys last time: http://www.worldwideinsure.com/

 

[erikb1971]

you can buy car rental insurance separately from the car rental company!
The deal is usually WAAAY better.

I used these guys last time: http://www.worldwideinsure.com/

I second this one! Especially when you use insurance from the local rental office, sometimes things that are the most likely to get scratched are not covered (like front window, bonnet). Last big tip:

prepare yourself, get insurance, take pictures, and then...... let it all go and enjoy your time there!

 

[PRR]

My limited experience in the US:

If you do not NEED a big car, reserve the smallest model they offer. You often get something bigger at the smallest price.

Only once did I actually get the teeny 3-cylinder Geo. Other times we got the Rambler Eagle (a stunningly plush car (when new) plus 4WD). or the Buick Riviera (not THE Riviera of the 1960s, but still a V-8 with large interior), or similar "nice" car.

If you order the Riviera, they can not give you the Geo. If you order the Geo, they can give you the Riviera. So (in my experience) most depots will have just a few Geo shoeboxes and mostly medium and large cars.

We got the Geo just to go 20 miles a day, so that was OK. We reserved the cheapest model on another trip running 400 miles/day, and got the Eagle. Nice car but BAD on fuel. So it depends. Would I rather go broke at gas stations? Or really do 400m/day in a buzzy midget shoe-box?

 

[SSLtech]

We're about to pick up a car in Italy and drive up through a couple of other countries, flying out of Germany... we went with Auto Europe. -As mentioned they're a consolidator/broker, so they get decent deals.

Make sure you're familiar with signs and driving laws... and speaking at least a little of the language helps in times of confusion/difficulty.

Go small... if you're used to US gas prices or unfamiliar with European gas prices, your wallet will never forgive you! Diesel is significantly advantageous for high mileage trips!

We usually use the VW Golf size TDI, and go with that... it's a great compromise between useful carrying capacity (for 3 people) and economy.

 

[mnats]

Did the car rental thing twice in Spain late last year, first in Donostia. Went with Avis at Hotel Barcelo Costa Vasca which was a fair hike from our accommodation but the girl there was charming and multi-lingual so I did not have to struggle through with my poor Spanish. We got a Seat which I understood was made in the same VW factory that produced the Golf that we later rented in Granada.

My experience with fuel was almost the opposite of what was described earlier - you could fill the tank miles from the rental spot but when you arrived to return the car the indicator was still firmly stuck on F. I found drivers there liked to go fast but generally weren't aggressive. Some of the road rules are interesting like what happens at pedestrian crossings.

Enjoy yourself - it's a truly great country.

 

[hazel]

you could fill the tank miles from the rental spot but when you arrived to return the car the indicator was still firmly stuck on F.

In 2014 some things changed here: first i was asked to keep ticket from gas station so they'll know how much i drove with gas tank full before return back the car, then just offered "full gas tank" option to pay in advance so you don't have to worry about finding an opened gas station on sunday evening. Fuel price is cheaper with them but you must be smart enough to return back with gas tank almost empty.