I'm going to Cyprus in next 2 weeks time.
Like to hire a car there, but Lonely Planet and Rough Guides say that condition of hire cars there are "appalling". And recommends that you take the car for a spin and test the brakes before committing hire!
This gave me a heart attack almost. Is the situation so bad???
From the net, hiring cost seems reasonable though.
Also they have a weird system of providing car full tank of fuel and then expects you return them with as little fuel as possible! Fuel pumps there also shut down by 6 pm (and by 3 pm on weekends).
PS: I've no intention of moving northern Cyprus. Will entirely be in southern part.
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Went to North Cyprus (cripes 2 years ago - feels like last week !) Anyway roads were pretty good by any Island standard,some bad though, some crowded some quiet, remember thinking that there were some classy bike roads there. Hired a car via our hotel, had two from them (we re-hired later on) cheap as chips, everything worked on both (one was a Corsa one was a Astra), they weren't exactly immaculate but who cares. Very laid back, didn't have to use a credit card to hire, just piles of Sterling. never ventured South...! Hire from a mainstream company would be my advice if you're worried. I don;t think the cops do a basic risk assessments, they'll jump out at you on dual carriageways.... Hire company equally laid back about fuel use. Plenty of late evening/night fuel about where we were.
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I haven't any experience in Cyprus but one thing I've noticed from many years motoring in many countries is it's never, ever, ever as bad as they'd have you believe.
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ever as bad as they'd have you believe.
Apart from Boston and Malta. :-0
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>>ever as bad as they'd have you believe.
Apart from Boston and Malta. :-0
Oh dear!
I was thinking of doing Malta next year.
I thought I'd need to look into the illegral immigrant position first. Wasn't it swamped by the modern equivalent of 'boat people'?
It'll probably be more popular because of the recent visit by that German/Greek couple on their wedding anniversary.
I had heard they drive on the shady side of the road, in old Morris Oxfords, on bald tyres, with a few spares in the boot for (obligatory) punctures.
Edited by bathtub tom on 25/11/2007 at 13:01
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As Jonesy used to say in Dad's Army -- "Don't panic'. Went on a fly-drive to Cyprus over Christmas a few years back with no problems at all, save one bad moment with an oncoming car on his wrong side of the road. Driving standards could be better but nothing to worry about if you stay alert. Really can't remember the name of the rental company arranged for us but it was local and the only thing I noticed was that the tyres were low on tread but legal by UK standards. Makes sense to give the car you are offered a good going over, though. Some of the roads near the beach and in the mountains are dirt tracks but not unduly rough. One oddity I found was that you could come back to a car park to find your car blocked in but the blocker leaves keys in the ignition and expects you to park his/her car in the space you vacate!
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I've driven extensively in Cyprus both on holiday and with work, and I certainly dont agree with the general statement on hire cars. The roads are now very good, in fact when I first drove their in the 80's most of their motorway routes weren't built. I think the trick is either hire a car from one of the big hire companies, ie Europcar, Hertz etc, or just use your commonsense and ask them to show you the car before you hire. Last time I was there I hired a perfectly good Corolla for very reasonable money.
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For various reasons our large party on holiday in Cyprus this August had the use of 4 different hired cars. 3 of these were new with low mileage and in good condition. However one car was an ancient high mileage Suzuki with the steel plies showing through on 2 of the tyres!
The guys in the hire depot, of a reputable company, did not seem to understand my concern at the state of this car and it took them 3 days to replace it.
The full tank scam is annoying. It can be difficult to use a full tank on a short hire, say 1 week. There is no call for it as if you don't leave the car with a full tank then they can fill it and charge their usual exorbitant amount for fuel. It all comes down to hire companies trying to come up with ways to boost their profits in a highly competitive market.
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I agree with Roly. Have driven there for the last 15 years and have never found much difference to the UK. The roads used to be bad around Limassol when they installed new main drains but they are good now.
The motorways are similar but with far less traffic and speeds generally much slower.
Don't be surprised in town when there is a hold up and everyone sits with their horns blaring. Its just the Cypriot way.
Never had the fuel tank thingy. I have always had the bring it back full !.
Saturday Sunday is when the roads are busy. All the locals set out mainly for the Troodos mountains and return about teatime and all drive along the Limassol coast road on a sightseeing trip for the next few hours.
Weddings and football matches are an occasion to have convoys of cars blowing their horns continually along the tourist areas.
Apart from that there is virtually no difference to over here.
wemyss
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The above posters have said it all. Check the car out carefully, watch out for the fuel scam, check the tyres. Enjoy the experience but keep your wits about you. The locals don't believe in using the indicators much, don't expect a farmer or villager to signal before manoeuvre! The hire cars in the south have red number plates with a Z in them (known as Z-cars to the British Military)
Make sure you visit the Akamas peninsula and also go to the salt flats near Kolossi by the BBC World Service antennas - great driving experiences!
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Went to Southern Cyprus a few years back and hired a car (Daewoo something) for a week and found no problems with driving there.
Big advantage, as you know, is that they drive on the same side of the road as us.
Had no problems with the hire car and don't remember any issue with fuel, seemed to just the same as hiring a car over here.
Now if you want scary, try driving in Turkey at night time..............
Chris
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When I was there, in the last century, there were seasonal signs warning of "Grape Juice on the Road". Not as bad as diesel but still rather skiddy! I have been there since and agree with the general points made = drive with care and don't try to guess what other road users are going to do, with or without signalling!
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Thanx guys for your comments.
Is it better to book hire car from here or after I reach there?
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Went there about 3 years ago - some of the headline rates for hire were amazingly attractive - then you added on all the extras and suddenly they weren't!. We hired a knackered old Jeep, and did the whole island (south anyhow) and got close to the border in a few places. Some roads up in the mountains a bit worn out but nothing too bad.
We had snow at the top of the Trodos mountains - well worth a trip up there.
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I was in Cyprus on holiday in 2003 - went with Sunvil, and got my hire car, a Toyota Yaris, through them. They used a local company, which I don't remember the name of. No problems.
Driving fine - only oddity was that at red lights, a lot of cars stopped well over the line!
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Which part of Cyprus are you stopping in Wilko.
wemyss
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I have always found very keen prices by searching on the www.travelsupermarket.co.uk site. I went to Malaga for 3 days earlier this month and had a 1.6 Focus for 48 Euros total; I already had my own super CDW, although they were offering it for just 20 euros.
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Hired a decent Corsa from the firm in the hotel foyer. Was a big name IIRC.
Only problem was what you define as a days hire. Day ends sometime inconvenient like 10 am.
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Well, I had 7 wonderful days in Cyprus!
Drove almost 2000 km in 7 days. The hired car was a Nissan Note (AC). Cost UK£123 including hire charge and full tank of petrol. I need to refill many times later though.
The Nissan Note was very good - just 17k km on odo. Roads were good. However, driving on Troodos mountain was very challenging. It was a real driving pleasure though. Lost roads couple of times inside Nicossia, Limassol and Larnaca. Motorway (similar to our dual carriage ways) exits are quite sharp compared to here. Inside towns, there was no road name markings! But country roads and motorways were sign posted properly.
Driving standard was very similar to here. However, most cars there are quite old. 10+ years cars are very common. It seemed that Mitsubishi is most popular brand. Closely followed by Mazda, Suzuki, Honda, Toyota, Nissan etc. Most taxis are old Mercs. BMW/Audi etc. are few and far between. Even Opel & Ford were rare signs. Kia & Hyundai were a plenty.
Most petrol pumps had attendants. Once I asked four pounds and the guy claimed he understood full tank. However, after some argument I got away paying only 50% of the fuel as I convinced him it was his mistake. I think it is a good practice that we fuel ourselves in UK.
The motorways speed limit of 100 km/h was a bit of daft. Everyone drives at 110-130 km/h. I mostly drove 120 km/h. But I've seen police checking speed using radar gun in Limassol.
Edited by movilogo on 14/12/2007 at 15:11
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