Car Hire in Portugal

Inkyhead

Hi all

There is a similar query from a year or two back but I didn't want to be bumping an old thread tbh, things could be different nowadays.

I'm off to Faro next Thursday for 5 days with the better half, gonna rent a car and drive out to Lagos and Sagres.

I've seen Auto Jardim recommended, would they be the best? (If not going with a Hertz or the like.. seems as if we'd pay double)

Also on Auto Jardim's site you can go for the car, or the car 'with full insurance', they have an additional option of 'passenger insurance'..could anyone clarify what exactly each means (excuse my ignorance)..?

And then in the small print the excess on the rental for a small car is €900, seems steep. Would a standard twenty quid irish excess policy cover that?

All and any info/advice appreciated. Cheers.

BailMeOut

I use Zitauto. You pay cash and they do a really cheap excess insurance option. Cars are quite good too.

Inkyhead

Cheers. They do sound reasonable & everything is explained pretty clearly.

I see you still need to give credit card details as a guarantee (not that it would be a huge problem). I assume you've used them more than once and never had any problems?? I do worry when it comes to this, you hear the horror stories of people getting scammed badly. Personally I've only rented abroad once in Sicily and no issues whatsoever, but it was Hertz.

And.. no rental prices shown on that site, or am I blind.......? What would the ballpark figure be per day for category H or J?

BailMeOut

you just fill in the form and they email you back a quote. Credit card is not needed, I have never given them one anyway. The pickup process at Faro is easy as they are at P4 like everyone else except they operate out of the back of a van. Sounds all dodgy but they are really nice to deal with and the cars are decent. My last one was a 2012 Seat Ibiza with 40k kms on clock and I paid €120 (cash) for 8 days.

BTW: When driving in Portugal the process on paying tolls is absolutely stupid so best to avoid toll roads. You cannot pay a toll until 48 hours after you use it and you can only pay in person in certain shops so it is not possible to use a tolls road on your last two days.

Inkyhead

Right! Sounds good. Might just chance 'em! Thanks again for the info

The Davestator

BailMeOut wrote: »

you just fill in the form and they email you back a quote. Credit card is not needed, I have never given them one anyway. The pickup process at Faro is easy as they are at P4 like everyone else except they operate out of the back of a van. Sounds all dodgy but they are really nice to deal with and the cars are decent. My last one was a 2012 Seat Ibiza with 40k kms on clock and I paid €120 (cash) for 8 days.

BTW: When driving in Portugal the process on paying tolls is absolutely stupid so best to avoid toll roads. You cannot pay a toll until 48 hours after you use it and you can only pay in person in certain shops so it is not possible to use a tolls road on your last two days.

I've always wondered about the tolls. I've never paid a toll and never been asked to by the car hire company. Nothing was taken off the credit card either?

KellyPavlik

Hi, I hope I'm not been rude here in enquiring about car hire reviews from different airport, but I wondered if anyone can recommend Car Hire option for Lisbon Airport. Travelling there for 7 days in mid June and looking to hire a car. Want to try and find one that is decent, and obviously with god prices. Has anyone used 121Car hire?. Any help appreciated in advance

BailMeOut

The Davestator wrote: »

I've always wondered about the tolls. I've never paid a toll and never been asked to by the car hire company. Nothing was taken off the credit card either?

what happens is the next tourist that goes to pay their tolls gets to pay for yours too. It is all just tracked by the reg plate and really is a silly system.

Some of the rentals companies will give you a pre-paid toll tag.

Tony H

KellyPavlik wrote: »

Hi, I hope I'm not been rude here in enquiring about car hire reviews from different airport, but I wondered if anyone can recommend Car Hire option for Lisbon Airport. Travelling there for 7 days in mid June and looking to hire a car. Want to try and find one that is decent, and obviously with god prices. Has anyone used 121Car hire?. Any help appreciated in advance

Looking to hire in lisbon airport as well , the last company i hired from were driveon holidays and the car and price were great , the only problem is you had to get the car from a depot which is near the airport but really hard to find on the return trip , you get a bus to collect the car on arrival which they dont tell you about when you book it .
The other plus is that they only hold 300 euro on your credit card .