Renting a car in Ireland, question and rip-offs

Imposter

I'm thinking of hiring a car when i get back to Ireland for a week in August. Who would people recommend? I'd probably be looking at something like a 1.4l as cheap as possible. Got the following from the Hertz link from the Aerlingus website. This is a complete rip-off. I'd also like ot know how they can justify the bits I have in bold.

Age Restrictions and Exceptions

All Ryanair customers please note that the minimum age for all drivers is strictly 25 years old.

For all other customers the minimum age for rentals in Ireland is 21 years old for vehicle groups Economy 2 doors (A), Economy Manual (B) and Economy Automatic (E).
For vehicle groups Compact manual (C) and Compact Automatic (F), the minimum age is 25 years.
For all other vehicle groups including HPC (X6 and Y6)* the minimum age for rentals is strictly 30 years of age.

*Please check "Driver's License" in the location index.

A young driver surcharge of EUR 25.22 (including tax @ 13.5%) per day will apply to all drivers aged 21 to 24 years inclusive.
The damage excess for young drivers will be EUR 1,000.00.
Please refer to "Collision Damage Waiver" for further information.

The maximum age for rentals in Ireland is 75 years.
Customers aged between 76 and 79 years can rent with specific conditions (you must drive on a regular basis, you will need to provide at the counter a letter from your doctor to state you have been in good health for at least 12 months and a letter from your insurance company to state you have not had an accident within the last 5 years).

The last bit is funny. Why doesn't everyone need this letter from an insurance company? Would a letter from a doctor in another language be ok, seeing as it is for rentals at an airport and it doesn't say anything about language!

Did I mention rip-off before?
So what's my best option for driving in Ireland?
Also how much would it be to get put on someone's insurance for the week. I think my parents are with Hibernian and i'd be 26, male with an EU licence of 2 years.

leeroybrown

Motoring + Ireland = Ripoff

Therefore:

Motoring + Ireland + Rental = Bigger Ripoff

I'm not sure about the young driver bit but I assume it's standard. As for the problem for over 75's, I know that's a standard one. I've got a couple of uncles in England, one of whom (77) has frequent trouble arranging rental cars despite being in reasonably good health and being an excellent driver. The other one who still manages own business is getting increasingly worried about having similar problems when he needs to fly somewhere for business meetings.

I suppose the best thing you could do is shop around. Perhaps another rental company may have a nicer policy when dealing with younger drivers.

As for getting on a relatives insurance policy, if you have relatives that have a reasonably large number of named drivers on a car then you may be able to get added for a small amount.

seamus

The Ryanair customers thing I assume is a rates thing. You can just book outside of a flight (as you would do if you're Irish).

The young driver surcharge is normal. Argus rentals do a surcharge of €14 per day. That's especially good if you have a long rental, you save €11 per day. The collision damage excess for young drivers seems especially high with Hertz too.

Imposter

Originally posted by seamus
The Ryanair customers thing I assume is a rates thing. You can just book outside of a flight (as you would do if you're Irish).

The young driver surcharge is normal. Argus rentals do a surcharge of €14 per day. That's especially good if you have a long rental, you save €11 per day. The collision damage excess for young drivers seems especially high with Hertz too.

Wrt to the rates thing if it is rates why do Hertz say "This special offer is available to Ryanair passengers only." to offers accessed from the Ryanair site. When they say "special offer" they must mean "special" offer? Seems a bit stupid that they are seemingly partners with Ryaniar, but their offers for Ryanair passengers are higher than for any other airlines passengers.

Anyways, does anyone know who which company gives the best value for hiring a car in Ireland?

Seth Brundle

apparently the latest(?) scam they do is to find a flaw with the car and keep your deposit (even if the flaw was there beforehand).
Therefore I would recommend that you take a number of photos of the car before you accept it.

wiped

Europa Car Rental on the Long Mile Road aren't bad (in relative Irish sense) , I got the cheapest quote from them last year by a (long) mile *ahem* :rolleyes:

Imposter

Originally posted by kbannon
apparently the latest(?) scam they do is to find a flaw with the car and keep your deposit (even if the flaw was there beforehand).
Therefore I would recommend that you take a number of photos of the car before you accept it.

Any particular 'flaw' they seem to like?

wiped

then again , that was probably cos they sent me a "customer code" to use when I rang up because I rented from them before (although I didn't pay for the first rental - my insurance company did when my car was written off in a "rear ender"):mad: ............

I got a 1.6l , 7 seater Opel Zafira for 1 week for 260Euro ............ other similar quotes from companies were around the 600 - 700 mark ...
:eek:

And they were cool about the whole "flaws" thing too ............ they don't have a website but i'll dig out the Ph Number and post it here for you .............

wiped

Sorry ... not Europa .... it was Enetrprise Rent-A-Car .... 01-4503150

Imposter

Thanks for that. Only problem I can see is that it's on the Longmile road. You'd probably need to have a car to get there!

wiped

They have a city centre branch .... 01-8366577 ... and they'll pick you up too ....

if you're flying in , probably Swords would be the nearest to the airport : 01-8404315 ....

Imposter

Originally posted by wiped
They have a city centre branch .... 01-8366577 ... and they'll pick you up too ....

if you're flying in , probably Swords would be the nearest to the airport : 01-8404315 ....

Thanks again. I just checked their website. Seems like they're only open 8am to 6pm. I'm getting in at 9:20pm and i'd need to be checking the car back around 7am. Looks like it's wonderful public transport unless I can get sorted on my parents insurance!