** Vehicle Hire queries **

from_atozinc

shrek008 wrote: »

Give Ann Hamill in Mullingar a call, i find them very good. Hamill's car hire.

Thanks, do they give decent rates?

schemingbohemia

Not all hire companies will allow you take it out of the country - even going into the North can void some agreements. Better to fly and hire there.

uck51js9zml2yt

we used drive4fun.info lat year and found them really good. They work out of the car park at the airport.

from_atozinc

Makai Incalculable Mushroom wrote: »

we used drive4fun.info lat year and found them really good. They work out of the car park at the airport.

thanks, would rather something in the airport, with kids and prams etc its a bit of a pain.

EverythingGood

from_atozinc wrote: »

Hi

Heading to Portugal in June. Flying in to Faro Airport and staying a 30 minute drive from airport.

It will be me, the wife and kids - both under 4.

Looking for a small estate type car with 2 car seats for the children.

Can anyone recommend a company for this purpose which don't cost me a fortune ?

Centauro are brilliant, what you pay is what you pay, no extra's, no hard sell on extra's. Great customer service, good range of cars. We've used them in Protugal and Spain.

from_atozinc

EverythingGood wrote: »

Centauro are brilliant, what you pay is what you pay, no extra's, no hard sell on extra's. Great customer service, good range of cars. We've used them in Protugal and Spain.

What do you mean by no extra's though

As in, the cost of renting the car is not high i.e. you dont pay them extra money for better insurance, meaning that if something does happen you have to pay out a high excess

EverythingGood

from_atozinc wrote: »

What do you mean by no extra's though

As in, the cost of renting the car is not high i.e. you dont pay them extra money for better insurance, meaning that if something does happen you have to pay out a high excess

The website is clear and concise and you will see exactly what you get and what you need. The agents won't try to sell you stuff that you don't need, as many of the bigger ones, like Hertz, do. Centauro.com - can't recommend them highly enough. Simple to use the website, good prices, great service.

colm_mcm

I used FaroCar. Found them good.

from_atozinc

EverythingGood wrote: »

The website is clear and concise and you will see exactly what you get and what you need. The agents won't try to sell you stuff that you don't need, as many of the bigger ones, like Hertz, do. Centauro.com - can't recommend them highly enough. Simple to use the website, good prices, great service.

Thanks, which leads to my next question.


Is it always a good idea to pay the extra insurance costs?

Also, do most companies ask for a security deposit of 1000 Euro plus on your credit card ? (bit annoying seeing as you may need to use the credit card on holiday and then it will have 1000 Euro or more on it)

what_traffic

Check out SIXT, a bit more expensive but straight up to deal with. Was there 3 weeks ago, ordered automatic Golf, they offered to upgrade to a pretty much brand new Mercedes E Class Estate at the desk. Did not need such a big car, they gave me Audi A4 automatic instead.

stimpson

what_traffic wrote: »

Check out SIXT, a bit more expensive but straight up to deal with. Was there 3 weeks ago, ordered automatic Golf, they offered to upgrade to a pretty much brand new Mercedes E Class Estate at the desk. Did not need such a big car, they gave me Audi A4 automatic instead.

That often happens when you order an auto. The problem is that many times the auto is 2-3 times the price of a manual.

I've used drive4fun in Faro twice before. Last time was £160 for 8 days in a Seat Ibiza in high season, including full CDW (no excess). Fuel policy was full to full which is great.

If you don't get full CDW with no excess a separate policy with carhireexcess.com or similar can save you a fortune. If you have an accident you have to pay the excess to the hire company, but can claim back from carhireexcess.com afterwards. It's usually around €25 a week.

uck51js9zml2yt

from_atozinc wrote: »

thanks, would rather something in the airport, with kids and prams etc its a bit of a pain.

They are in the car park at the airport. its a 2 minute walk from the door.

from_atozinc

stimpson wrote: »

That often happens when you order an auto. The problem is that many times the auto is 2-3 times the price of a manual.

I've used drive4fun in Faro twice before. Last time was £160 for 8 days in a Seat Ibiza in high season, including full CDW (no excess). Fuel policy was full to full which is great.

If you don't get full CDW with no excess a separate policy with carhireexcess.com or similar can save you a fortune. If you have an accident you have to pay the excess to the hire company, but can claim back from carhireexcess.com afterwards. It's usually around €25 a week.

what is CDW?
mmm, so carhireexcess.com is just to do with insurance, nothign to do as such with hiring a car, correct?

stimpson

from_atozinc wrote: »

what is CDW?
mmm, so carhireexcess.com is just to do with insurance, nothign to do as such with hiring a car, correct?

Collision Damage Waiver - basically fully comp insurance. Without it you could be hit for several hundred to a couple of thousand for any damage done to the car. The hire company will try to sell you CDW as an extra, but it's likely to be far more expensive than a separate excess insurance policy.

Zillah

Sorry to hijack your thread but I'm in the same boat. My question is: is there any limit to when you can collect a car at the airport? I don't think we'll be picking it up until 11pm.

FrKurtFahrt

Try Zitauto Rent a Car. They are based in the car park at Faro. I had a few queries and emailed them, everything was answered and I got exactly what I asked for. I've used them twice in the last 6 months, no complaints. info@zitauto.pt.

elperello

You should consider the excess insurance policy.

An annual policy will cost you about 50-60 euro.

There are several providers just google car hire excess insurance.

Be aware though that if you don't take the hire company excess policy they may block your credit card for the amount of the excess.
You have to be able to handle that amount not being available (ie. have a high credit limit or second card).

Also if you have damage the hire company will take the money from your card and there will be a delay before your car hire excess insurance company pays out. You need to have the funds to deal with this.

elperello

FrKurtFahrt wrote: »

Try Zitauto Rent a Car. They are based in the car park at Faro. I had a few queries and emailed them, everything was answered and I got exactly what I asked for. I've used them twice in the last 6 months, no complaints. info@zitauto.pt.

I usually use the big companies but I have heard good reports about Zitauto. Apparently very straight up and fair.

the_syco

Zillah wrote: »

Sorry to hijack your thread but I'm in the same boat. My question is: is there any limit to when you can collect a car at the airport? I don't think we'll be picking it up until 11pm.

Most places allow you to specify a pickup time.

=-=

Have used Blue Insurance in the past to cover the excess that the hire company doesn't. Used them as was recommended to use them, and also good reviews.

elperello wrote: »

Be aware though that if you don't take the hire company excess policy they may block your credit card for the amount of the excess.
You have to be able to handle that amount not being available (ie. have a high credit limit or second card).

On the form, look for the box saying you're using a 3rd party excess, and the line where you input the policy number. Also showed them the info from Blue. Forget the car-hire company, but they were one of the larger ones at Nice (possibly Avis). Fairly sure nothing was held on the card.

from_atozinc

stimpson wrote: »

Collision Damage Waiver - basically fully comp insurance. Without it you could be hit for several hundred to a couple of thousand for any damage done to the car. The hire company will try to sell you CDW as an extra, but it's likely to be far more expensive than a separate excess insurance policy.

Thanks

hmmm, so you would insure yourself with a separate company, just thinking aloud, that could end up being tricky if there was an issue maybe. You have an issue with company X and you tell them to contact company Y etc

munchkin_utd

MissElle wrote: »

So I applied for my passport online on Monday evening just gone and it's been posted out today! I'm seriously impressed, thought it would take the two weeks at least given that my estimated issue date was the 19th April

well I got my photo manually rejected after being initially accepted, the one i re-submitted was rejected, and now the poxy link doesnt work to upload a better image and they wont answer my messages via the contact form to fix the link.
It says to send a twatter direct message, but do they really really require you to sign up for that sh1te in order to make a query about your passport processing?

am now less than impressed with the service.

from_atozinc

elperello wrote: »

You should consider the excess insurance policy.

An annual policy will cost you about 50-60 euro.

There are several providers just google car hire excess insurance.

Be aware though that if you don't take the hire company excess policy they may block your credit card for the amount of the excess.
You have to be able to handle that amount not being available (ie. have a high credit limit or second card).

Also if you have damage the hire company will take the money from your card and there will be a delay before your car hire excess insurance company pays out. You need to have the funds to deal with this.

thanks.
Yeah , this is the pain with the excess stuff on the credit card.

All fine and dandy if nothing goes wrong, but if it does, coudl be tricky.

from_atozinc

elperello wrote: »

You should consider the excess insurance policy.

An annual policy will cost you about 50-60 euro.

There are several providers just google car hire excess insurance.

Be aware though that if you don't take the hire company excess policy they may block your credit card for the amount of the excess.
You have to be able to handle that amount not being available (ie. have a high credit limit or second card).

Also if you have damage the hire company will take the money from your card and there will be a delay before your car hire excess insurance company pays out. You need to have the funds to deal with this.

I have travel insurance with VHI multitrip. Would this have any car excess stuff in it maybe? (presume not, that its just for delayed floghts etc)

stimpson

from_atozinc wrote: »

Thanks

hmmm, so you would insure yourself with a separate company, just thinking aloud, that could end up being tricky if there was an issue maybe. You have an issue with company X and you tell them to contact company Y etc

Exactly. You have to pay company X (rental company) for the damage with your credit card, but you can then claim that back from company Y (insurer).

The alternative is paying €100+ per week for CDW that you can get for a fraction of that, or to look for a car with full CDW included in the price

elperello

VHI multitrip won't cover it.

You will need a separate policy as outlined above.

At the end of the day it's your choice. Take the car hire company policy and pay more for the convenience or get your annual policy and put up with a bit of bother to save money.

Lex Luthor

I generally use Europcar when I'm away and have used them twice in the Algarve
Got a Renault Megane estate last time and found it great for space and my needs

coylemj

Cars and motor insurance cost less in the UK so rental rates should be less. Then take into account that you'd have to pay to bring the car over and back on the ferry vs. cheap flights to Liverpool or Manchester - I can't see any circumstances where it would make sense. Except......

Relatively unlimited baggage allowance would be the big plus, as well as avoiding all the hassle with airport security etc.

I'd say you'd be allowed take a car into NI all right, in some cases it's unavoidable even if all of your stops are in the south but they may not allow you to bring it across the pond to GB - complications with breakdowns and if you have an accident and have to leave it over there to get fixed etc. etc.

from_atozinc

Lex Luthor wrote: »

I generally use Europcar when I'm away and have used them twice in the Algarve
Got a Renault Megane estate last time and found it great for space and my needs

What were prices like though ?

El_Duderino 09

I used Goldcar once in Faro airport and they were a pain in the whole. It was cheap on the internet but lots of extras and hard sell tactics at the desk. Tried to frighten the shyte out if you if you didn't buy the extra insurance form 100 when you pick it up. Plus you pay for the full tank of fuel regardless of how much you use. Once i made it clear that i didn't want the additional extras they were rude and didn't want to help us. Steer clear.

elperello

Lex Luthor wrote: »

I generally use Europcar when I'm away and have used them twice in the Algarve
Got a Renault Megane estate last time and found it great for space and my needs

I got one of those from Europcar last year booked through Rentalcars. I was surprised at how good a car it was.
It was from March 2 - 17, 15 days €155.