Hire car advice

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Tue 5 Nov 2013 22:21
Hire car advice - Gotanoldhondar

I will be booking a family holiday shortly for a week in France,we will be needing a hire

car for the four of us(children four and two) so child seats needed.I have not done this

for six years so would be grateful for any recommendations or tips regarding company

or vehicle.We will be going from La Rochelle airport if that helps.

Thanks

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Tue 5 Nov 2013 22:49
Hire car advice - daveyjp
My first call is always with economycarhire.com. A UK based company who source via local agents, so all your dealings are with the UK. Very handy if things don't work out.

They also include full CDW which I did have cause to use after someone drove into the car in Portugal. No hassle and no extra costs for me.

Edited by daveyjp on 05/11/2013 at 22:49

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Wed 6 Nov 2013 00:51
Hire car advice - bathtub tom

I used a UK based agency for my last car hire abroad. When I got to the airport (at 10:00 pm) I was told " we have not got your car, you'll have to hire another and re-claim your money when you get back to the UK".

Suffice to say I don't use UK booking agencies any more.

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Wed 6 Nov 2013 06:45
Hire car advice - oldroverboy.

Holiday autos, check online and phone if you want. Good to talk to as well! Good clear website too. They are uk based but been there a long time and never let me down in 15 years. You can buy their excess cover (recommended) and if you go to saynoto0870 it gives you a landline number at ordinary rates. so 11p a minute from europe, or zero on some mobile price plans. they will confirm via e-mail with a proper invoice for your booking too.

Edited by oldroverboy. on 06/11/2013 at 06:51

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Wed 6 Nov 2013 07:12
Hire car advice - NARU

I too have had good experiences with holidayauto.

Whichever company you use, I would recommend buying a CDW policy so you don't have disputes over alleged damage.

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Wed 6 Nov 2013 07:21
Hire car advice - Chris79
I used holiday autos once when we went to Gibraltar. The firm they used there had a selection of cars, all pretty knackered. The Mercedes a class they gave us initially had a flat tyre, a door mirror hanging off and various other bumps and scrapes.

Holiday autos did deal with the situation well and refunded my money though. That said I stick with the big firms now just because they seem to have a better standard of cars generally.
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Wed 6 Nov 2013 07:51
Hire car advice - arnoldbrame

You should do a proper analysis of the condition of the vehicle. Check its brakes, engine, tire, spark plug, and do a test drive for 2 KM in order to be assured that your family holiday trip will going to be safe.

Edited by Avant on 11/11/2013 at 21:43

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Wed 6 Nov 2013 08:37
Hire car advice - veryoldbear

Who are you flying with? Most airlines have links with car hire operators. Maybe not the cheapest way of doing it, but it makes life a bit simpler.

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Wed 6 Nov 2013 08:50
Hire car advice - Armitage Shanks {p}

I have good service and good cars thru these people, who act as brokers in the same way as Holiday Autos - https://www.arguscarhire.com/

I have bought CDW waiver from Allianz and www.insurance4carhire.com. I recently has to make claim on my Alianz policy and it was settled within 7 days

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Wed 6 Nov 2013 13:24
Hire car advice - Gotanoldhondar

Thanks for all for the advice and tips.

I will certainly buy the CDW and check the car over before setting off.

Previously i looked on the AVIS site and ended up with a Peugeot 208 at £175

for the week but more with the child seats included,not sure if the boot will be big

enough for us.We are flying with Jet2 so i will see how their price and cars compare.

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Wed 6 Nov 2013 14:08
Hire car advice - Bromptonaut

I was in Majorca for four days last week and used Holiday Autos. We were booked with a company called Centauro who picked us up from airport for five minute ride to their compound on the airport perimiter. Cost in pounds was about £40 with a supposed nothing to pay at pick up. In fact of course there'd be fuel and, unless a waiver was bought, damage deposit re tyres, underside glass etc.

The booked diesel Golf or equivalent turned out to be a Hyundai i30. Guy who booked us out spoke excellent English and while he persuaded me to take 'super CDW waiver ' at E35 or thereabouts he also changed fuel basis from full/empty to full/full which save us a bit. Somebody else there who'd been on same flight as us had not read the guidance properly and were struggling to find a card with E600 'headroom' for their damage deposit.

The car had 56k kilometres on the clock and a few knocks but the aircon and everything else worked fine. I didn't like it much, noisy - much more so than the four PSA diesels I'v had over 20yrs, vague steering and difficult to judge its position in road and width. It did all we asked of it though including some real mountain roads without trouble or drama. We were met courteously and taken back to terminal pretty smartly.

Would use HA again.

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Wed 6 Nov 2013 15:48
Hire car advice - FP

I will not hire a car at an airport unless there is a desk at the airport, so if there is a problem when I pick up the car I can get it dealt with immediately - this is particularly important when arriving late. Also, when returning the car I want it inspected there and then, which is not always possible if the compound is off-site.

This means I'm dealing mainly with the big names, which may be more expensive, but is better than dealing with a broker, when you don't know where the car is from until you have made the booking. I always pay in advance - that is cheaper than turning up at the desk unannounced, or finding everywhere is shut if your arrival is late.

I always refuse the extra excess cover you will be offered - at an exorbitant rate. I take out a separate, stand-alone policy to cover that.

Finally, I try to avoid car hire that does not have a full-to-full policy on fuel. Any other way of paying for fuel is expensive.

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Wed 6 Nov 2013 16:33
Hire car advice - quizman

The last twice I've hired a car abroad I've used Europcar. The cars were excellent, nearly new. But when I get home there have been extras on the invoice. After contacting them on a premium phone line they say they are sorry and refund the money.

Why do they have to try it on?

In the past I hired a "Golf or similar" from Argus and got an old filthy high kilometre Fiat. I had to wash the windscreen, the office off airport couldn't care less, they've got your credit card number! It was a bring it back empty hire, it was really empty when I got it but try to run the tank down to zero yourself. They syphon it out at the depot.

I think if you book a Golf you should get a Golf. If I wanted a Fiat I would have ordered one.

If I book a flight to Sweden I expect to go to Sweden not Denmark. Not on Ryanair obviously.

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