car hire question.

dr ro

What are the pro's and con's of full/full full/empty options for fuel payment when hiring a car, in people's experience? I've been pricing a car for 2 weeks in spain soon and full/full option is 100 euro more expensive.

naughtysmurf

If your rental agreement allows you to collect & bring back the car full so there is NO FUEL CHARGE AT ALL, that's the best option for you

If you agree to pre-pay for a full tank & return empty, the price you pay for that tank will be usually much higher than the average pump price

As hardly anyone returns a rental empty,( unless you push it back to the car return point ) it's more than likely going to have at least a 1/4 tank so they get a free 1/4 tank of juice

There are some companies that have a fair fuel policy but they are not really the norm

It's kinda hard to beat them really

newmug

I find full/full is the best. It leaves the least amount of scope for them to screw ya.

naughtysmurf

If you think about the quantities of 1/4 tanks and above being returned, which is practically every car, it's quite a lucrative income stream for the rental co.

If you want to really know which is the best option for you, ring or email the company ask what they advise you to do as regards fuel as you are confused, listen to what they say, don't argue cos they will waffle on & on & tell you outright lies and then just do the opposite to what they suggest if it's allowed on your rental agreement

ThisRegard

In the long run the return empty policy is only going to cost the rental companies more in the long run, you tend to drive the car harder in order to increase fuel consumption in order to return it as empty as possible. The only place I've come across it though is Spain, not sure if it's a policy that's spreading yet, I managed to return the last hire car I had in Spain running on fumes.


But full out, full in is best, you only pay for the fuel you use, but if it's €100 extra to do so that doesn't really make it a good option.

naughtysmurf

ThisRegard wrote: »

In the long run the return empty policy is only going to cost the rental companies more in the long run, you tend to drive the car harder in order to increase fuel consumption in order to return it as empty as possible. The only place I've come across it though is Spain, not sure if it's a policy that's spreading yet, I managed to return the last hire car I had in Spain running on fumes.


But full out, full in is best, you only pay for the fuel you use, but if it's €100 extra to do so that doesn't really make it a good option.

I used to work for a major car hire company

Look at it this way, lets say a car hire company has only one car, hires out the car & charges an inflated €100 for the first full tank of fuel, customer returns car with 1/4 tank (which most do) Hire company re-fills the car for €50 & hires it out to next customer who pays €100 for the first full tank and returns the car with 1/4 tank, now multiply that by the amount of cars in their rental fleet, imagine the numbers of cars the likes of Alamo, Hertz, Budget etc rent out every day, it's extremely lucrative, that's why they nearly always promote pick up full & return empty

If I was on my own I might chance returning it on fumes but most families won't take a chance & if it's covered by business expenses the driver isn't really affected so won't care

The best option nearly always is to hire your car through a broker (including all insurances & fuel if you wish) so you have nothing to pay when picking up the car. Avoid booking directly with the end provider and never ever just go to a desk in an airport as a walk up to hire.
Always refuse upgrades & extras at the desk that they will try to sell as you will pay dearly for them, if they persist just keep saying no thanks & read your rental agreement before you sign it.

I've only seen fair fuel policies in Spain also

ThisRegard

Oh I know exactly why they do it, it's nothing more than to make money on the side, but as I said I've only ever seen it done in Spain so far.

dr ro

thanks for the replies. I'm using DoyouSpain.com they only offer full/empty option for rentals over 3 days. As it happens I'll be using for over 2 weeks and will definitely go through a full tank. Last time I stuck in another tenner on way back to airport, so didn't get ripped off too much. Hope to do same this year. Less than 200 euro for 15 days is a pretty good price to pay for full/empty I think.

coylemj

ThisRegard wrote: »

In the long run the return empty policy is only going to cost the rental companies more in the long run, you tend to drive the car harder in order to increase fuel consumption in order to return it as empty as possible.

And if, despite driving up the motorway in 3rd gear, you find that it's still 1/16 full when you arrive at the airport, you'd then treat your family to 12 circuits of the last roundabout just to be sure to be sure that you leave it back empty?

Sad.

ThisRegard

That's a mighty conclusion you jumped to there.