Car hire - crazy price difference

scudzilla

Only think i've ever hired 1 car in my life so new to this and need some advice

Have family coming over in April by Ferry from Wales, instead of bringing their car they're going to hire a car here, need it from Mon - Fri but they're arriving Sunday and going back 6 days later on the Saturday

These are both with Europcar

A 5DR Fiesta, picking up and dropping off at Dublin Airport, from Sun 26th April to Sat 2nd May costs 102euro pay up front of 114euro pay later

Now it would a LOT handier if i could get a car from Navan on the Monday, dropping back on the Friday, so 2 days less rental, thought it may be slightly cheaper

A 5dr Focus comes in at 365Euro pay now or 405 pay later!!!!!!!!!!!

How come there is such a huge price difference and it's the same company

Any tips on why the first is so cheap and anything we should look out for?

NSAman

Different class of car.

You can shop aroun and get cars from 40 per day. Check many sites. Dont forget insurance and also, when picking up the car, make sure that ALL damage scrapes etc are documented

mycro2013

scudzilla wrote: »

Only think i've ever hired 1 car in my life so new to this and need some advice

Have family coming over in April by Ferry from Wales, instead of bringing their car they're going to hire a car here, need it from Mon - Fri but they're arriving Sunday and going back 6 days later on the Saturday

These are both with Europcar

A 5DR Fiesta, picking up and dropping off at Dublin Airport, from Sun 26th April to Sat 2nd May costs 102euro pay up front of 114euro pay later

Now it would a LOT handier if i could get a car from Navan on the Monday, dropping back on the Friday, so 2 days less rental, thought it may be slightly cheaper

A 5dr Focus comes in at 365Euro pay now or 405 pay later!!!!!!!!!!!

How come there is such a huge price difference and it's the same company

Any tips on why the first is so cheap and anything we should look out for?

The focus would be a more popular choice over a fiesta hence the premium. Watch out for the insurance excess as additional cover from the hire company will probably result in the total hire costs increasing by 70%. Third party cover can be purchased cheaply from Aviva and Zurich

Philb76

Would they not be better off just bringing there own car

scudzilla

NSAman wrote: »

Different class of car.

You can shop aroun and get cars from 40 per day. Check many sites. Dont forget insurance and also, when picking up the car, make sure that ALL damage scrapes etc are documented

mycro2013 wrote: »

The focus would be a more popular choice over a fiesta hence the premium. Watch out for the insurance excess as additional cover from the hire company will probably result in the total hire costs increasing by 70%. Third party cover can be purchased cheaply from Aviva and Zurich

Ok, maybe i shouldn't have put a focus up against a fiesta, i was just going for similar size and a 5dr (navan didn't have a 5dr fiesta)

They do have a 3 dr fiesta though, thats coming in at 334 up front or 371 pay later

3 times as much as picking one up in dublin airport, my question should really be, what shoul i watch out for in dublin airport, why so cheap? 100euro for 6 days just seems odd

scudzilla

Philb76 wrote: »

Would they not be better off just bringing there own car

Ferry prices for car now are just ridiculous, looking at around 460STG rtn for car with 2 adults and 2 kids.

If they get that car from Dub airport for 105 and then we book them as foot passengers when stena do the paddys day offer (3 euro pp each way) can get the whole thing for around 130euro, bit of a saving there

Del2005

scudzilla wrote: »

Ok, maybe i shouldn't have put a focus up against a fiesta, i was just going for similar size and a 5dr (navan didn't have a 5dr fiesta)

They do have a 3 dr fiesta though, thats coming in at 334 up front or 371 pay later

3 times as much as picking one up in dublin airport, my question should really be, what shoul i watch out for in dublin airport, why so cheap? 100euro for 6 days just seems odd

Dublin airport is a much bigger hub and will have way more rental cars than Navan. So when it's quiet renting from Dublin Airport will be cheaper as they reduce the cost to encourage uptake. Navan's prices I'd say are fairly stable.

Use a comparison site to book car hire and use all of Dublin not just the airport as options. I got a car from Thrifty for €60 for 4 days with full insurance a year ago.

scudzilla

Del2005 wrote: »

Dublin airport is a much bigger hub and will have way more rental cars than Navan. So when it's quiet renting from Dublin Airport will be cheaper as they reduce the cost to encourage uptake. Navan's prices I'd say are fairly stable.

Use a comparison site to book car hire and use all of Dublin not just the airport as options. I got a car from Thrifty for €60 for 4 days with full insurance a year ago.

Thanks for that, just checked comparison site and cheap as chips, but main (and only) driver doesn't have a credit card so that may now pose a problem

RiseToMe

scudzilla wrote: »

Thanks for that, just checked comparison site and cheap as chips, but main (and only) driver doesn't have a credit card so that may now pose a problem

Do you have a credit card? Could you rent it? Ie pick it up and drop it back and put the main driver on as an additonal driver?

Dravokivich

If they are coming in April, they've 5 months to get a credit card and can cancel it after.

lawred2

Coming by ferry and not bringing their own car..

Bit odd that

scudzilla

lawred2 wrote: »

Coming by ferry and not bringing their own car..

Bit odd that

How so? Live 30mins from Holyhead, return ferry for 2 adults, 2 kids and a car is 480sterling. Foot passenger with stena paddy day offer is 30euro all in return and 100euro to rent a car, saving of over €350.

Rather be odd and save that sort of cash

Bob Harris

Whatever you book do so well in advance as prices can get very steep closer to the dates your want and if it's Easter when they are travelling even more so.

Pay later and you can cancel free of charge. Pay now and you'll get a refund less an admin charge.
This is from a recent booking I made with Hertz:

CANCELLATIONS

You can cancel your reservation online through the View/Modify/Cancel button or through Contact Us on our web site.
If you made a pre-paid reservation and cancel no later than midnight two days before the date of your scheduled pick-up we will refund your reservation in full. An administration charge of 30.00 GBP / 45.00 EUR (or local equivalent - see 'PRE-PAID ONLINE CANCELLATION AND NO SHOW CHARGES' below) will apply if the cancellation is made after this time and will be taken from the credit/debit card you used to make your booking.

NO SHOWS/ LOST RENTALS

If you pre-paid , fail to cancel your reservation and do not collect the vehicle on the pick up date, we reserve the right to make a No Show / Lost Rental Charge of GBP 70.00, EUR 95.00 (or local equivalent - see below) which recovers our administration costs and compensates the Hertz company providing your rental for their inability to rent the vehicle when it was reserved for your use.

---

Fully comp insurance will add 30 odd quid per day to the cost.
You can get excess cover (less than a fiver per day) but if there were damage you would have to pay up front and then claim back.

Take photos before you move the car when you pick it up. It has saved me a couple of times from paying for mickey mouse marks on the car that were there before I picked it up.

lawred2

scudzilla wrote: »

How so? Live 30mins from Holyhead, return ferry for 2 adults, 2 kids and a car is 480sterling. Foot passenger with stena paddy day offer is 30euro all in return and 100euro to rent a car, saving of over €350.

Rather be odd and save that sort of cash

Fair enough.. didn't think a family could travel as foot passengers for that.. that's crazy cheap.

That return ferry cost of £480 is outrageous. We go to Scotland from NI regularly on Stena and usually pay about €250 - €280.

listermint

Op

Go to Google play store, Download and app called Fleet. It's and Irish company and search cars.

It's like go car except it's private individuals rent their cars to you. Insurance etc review the details on fleets app.


You'll find alot cheaper deals there.

lawred2

listermint wrote: »

Op

Go to Google play store, Download and app called Fleet. It's and Irish company and search cars.

It's like go car except it's private individuals rent their cars to you. Insurance etc review the details on fleets app.


You'll find alot cheaper deals there.

Private people as in me and you?

Thought most private insurance policies were voided by doing that?

listermint

lawred2 wrote: »

Private people as in me and you?

Thought most private insurance policies were voided by doing that?

Yes as in me and you. AFAIK fleet had a deal down up with axa.


Read the details on it. Been some months since I checked.

TuringBot47

scudzilla wrote: »

Have family coming over in April by Ferry from Wales....

A 5DR Fiesta, picking up and dropping off at Dublin Airport

If they're arriving by ferry then why rent a car at the airport ?

lawred2

listermint wrote: »

Yes as in me and you. AFAIK fleet had a deal down up with axa.


Read the details on it. Been some months since I checked.

Interesting.

lawred2

TuringBot47 wrote: »

If they're arriving by ferry then why rent a car at the airport ?

There are rental companies down by the IFSC. Think Europcar have a location down there. Easier than the airport.

gk5000

Use rentalcars.com or arguscarhire.com to check prices and book across all rental companies, though Dublin airport shall still be the cheapest €7 per day off peak season.


Then buy car excess insurance from AIG for €50 per year and don't buy extra insurance from the booking or rental companies, as it costs about €10 per day.


Bear in mind that extra driver is probably €10 per day also, and some companies charge once off €30 if you plan to drive into the north.

Philb76

480 sterling seems awfully expensive is this to pay for stenas new ship i was reading about yesterday and it seems awfully cheap for foot passengers as well barely get on a Dublin bus for that

Dravokivich

They probably want trucks and buses to go across.

beauf

Sometimes put family and friends on my own insurance when they come over. Not always possible obviously.

R.O.R

Try running the local (Navan) collection price including a Saturday night. Always used to be a much better rate when a Saturday night was included, when I worked in Car Hire.

rameire

get onto Irishcarrentals.com

Here

I have used this site before, very good prices, never had an issue.

scudzilla

Philb76 wrote: »

480 sterling seems awfully expensive is this to pay for stenas new ship i was reading about yesterday and it seems awfully cheap for foot passengers as well barely get on a Dublin bus for that

It's normally about €35 each way for a foot passenger but Stena always do a sale on paddy's day, €3 each way, limited amount of these prices per sailing so have to book quick

redcup342

scudzilla wrote: »

Only think i've ever hired 1 car in my life so new to this and need some advice

Have family coming over in April by Ferry from Wales, instead of bringing their car they're going to hire a car here, need it from Mon - Fri but they're arriving Sunday and going back 6 days later on the Saturday

These are both with Europcar

A 5DR Fiesta, picking up and dropping off at Dublin Airport, from Sun 26th April to Sat 2nd May costs 102euro pay up front of 114euro pay later

Now it would a LOT handier if i could get a car from Navan on the Monday, dropping back on the Friday, so 2 days less rental, thought it may be slightly cheaper

A 5dr Focus comes in at 365Euro pay now or 405 pay later!!!!!!!!!!!

How come there is such a huge price difference and it's the same company

Any tips on why the first is so cheap and anything we should look out for?

Might be the same name but a different company, many of the are Franchised, hence the count it as having to be driven back.

mycro2013

redcup342 wrote: »

Might be the same name but a different company, many of the are Franchised, hence the count it as having to be driven back.

Try Contacting toyota navan, all Toyota dealers are offering a hire service it may be a better option in regards flexibility.

Darc19

Irish ferries and stena line ALWAYS have regular 20%/25% off offers.

You can be certain they'll have one for black Friday.

So probably £350 return (cheaper if you take off peak sailings)

Drive on, drive off, no messing with baggage, no waiting about, no worries about scratching a door.

No brainer. Just keep an eye on the offers and book when one is live.

Currently showing €478 (euro)
So after discount it will be about €383

redcup342

Darc19 wrote: »

Irish ferries and stena line ALWAYS have regular 20%/25% off offers.

You can be certain they'll have one for black Friday.

So probably £350 return (cheaper if you take off peak sailings)

Drive on, drive off, no messing with baggage, no waiting about, no worries about scratching a door.

No brainer. Just keep an eye on the offers and book when one is live.

Currently showing €478 (euro)
So after discount it will be about €383

I'd 100% agree with this, you'd be bonkers to fly over with all your luggage and take a rental car when you can stick everything in your own car and have no hassle