Prestige Car Rental

Shane732

I'm in the UK next week for a couple of days and will have to hire a car while I'm over there.

I was hoping to rent something a little bit different (i.e. a Mini Cooper S or an Audi TT). Unfortunately I'm limited to €150 a day for the rental. A Cooper S seems to be coming in at around €220 including the excess wavier and a young driver supplement.

I'm wondering if anyone knows if any of the rental companies would be willing to do a deal on a low end prestige car?

I've come across the various deals on their websites but prices are ridiculous!

Alternatively, if anyone knows someone who works in a rental company and could sort me out it would be great!

hoodie6029

Avis Prestige

Plenty to choose from there

Shane732

OSI wrote: »

If a Cooper S is too expensive to hire, you're not going to get anything "fun" within your price range. It's pretty expensive to rent cars in the UK. Especially to young drivers. For example, it cost close to £300 to rent a Citreon DS3 1.5 DCi for 3 days when I was over there last, and I'm 24. In comparison, I got a v8 Dodge Charger in the US for 7 days for a little over $400.

I agree.

Unfortunately, I'm on a set little with the company so I don't really have much room to manoeuvre.

The young driver supplement and the excess wavier are what kills it.

L1011

Book something halfway decent and hope you get offered an upgrade at the station.

I got a Cooper offered for under that price with young driver and supercover by Hertz (in the UK) two years ago; didn't take it as the weather was absolutely bollox outside and I wanted a car I knew well because despite the supercover covering the risk I didn't have time to wait to be dug backwards out of a snowbank...

Didn't have any standing with Hertz at the time so it wasn't like it was a reserved offer, they clearly had a few knocking around (or needed it to go the one-way rental I was doing, maybe, come to think of it...)

Shane732

MYOB wrote: »

Book something halfway decent and hope you get offered an upgrade at the station.

I got a Cooper offered for under that price with young driver and supercover by Hertz (in the UK) two years ago; didn't take it as the weather was absolutely bollox outside and I wanted a car I knew well because despite the supercover covering the risk I didn't have time to wait to be dug backwards out of a snowbank...

Didn't have any standing with Hertz at the time so it wasn't like it was a reserved offer, they clearly had a few knocking around (or needed it to go the one-way rental I was doing, maybe, come to think of it...)

It does happen all right. I've been upgraded with Europcar/Alamo a few times.

I must say I find Europcar very good to deal with and very competitive.

I used to have a Cooper S and in truth actually miss it to this day enough though I'm driving something bigger and powerful now, hence why I would love to rent a S. The mini just had a way of bringing a smile to my face! You could literally throw the car at any corner and it just stuck. IMO the handling in the 335 isn't as good. If you throw the car at something you can feel it rolling around a lot more.

Tea 1000

Shane732 wrote: »

It does happen all right. I've been upgraded with Europcar/Alamo a few times.

I must say I find Europcar very good to deal with and very competitive.

I used to have a Cooper S and in truth actually miss it to this day enough though I'm driving something bigger and powerful now, hence why I would love to rent a S. The mini just had a way of bringing a smile to my face! You could literally throw the car at any corner and it just stuck. IMO the handling in the 335 isn't as good. If you throw the car at something you can feel it rolling around a lot more.

Body roll isn't necessarily a detraction from handling, you could stiffen the springs and shocks with aftermarket parts and get less bodyroll but worse handling overall, but I get what you mean. The 3-series has a very different dynamic range to the MINI, it's not meant to be as chuckable, as it's primary function is a compact exec saloon, the E92 is just a modified saloon chassis. That's why many folk opt for the 130i as the 1-series is smaller and lighter with a shorter wheel base and is more fun down a back road, but the problem with that is it's puck ugly!
I'd say you're screwed in terms of rental though, if you have to pay a young driver surcharge then it'll also mean you're too young for anything decent. E-Class and upwards you have to be over 30, no surcharge for underage as they're just not allowed.

Shane732

Tea 1000 wrote: »

Body roll isn't necessarily a detraction from handling, you could stiffen the springs and shocks with aftermarket parts and get less bodyroll but worse handling overall, but I get what you mean. The 3-series has a very different dynamic range to the MINI, it's not meant to be as chuckable, as it's primary function is a compact exec saloon, the E92 is just a modified saloon chassis. That's why many folk opt for the 130i as the 1-series is smaller and lighter with a shorter wheel base and is more fun down a back road, but the problem with that is it's puck ugly!
I'd say you're screwed in terms of rental though, if you have to pay a young driver surcharge then it'll also mean you're too young for anything decent. E-Class and upwards you have to be over 30, no surcharge for underage as they're just not allowed.

Oh I know I could stiffen the car up to get less roll. Even still I wouldn't have the confidence in the car to throw it into a corner as hard as I could throw the S. The Mini is just a dream to drive. I'm really gutted the way they've started to make all these new versions of the Mini. They should stick to what they do best - the JCW S!