Vehicle Hire queries

05-07-2019 10:47am

feedthegoat wrote: »

Renting a car in France - will spare bulbs, hi VI's jackets, breathalyzer kit etc normally included???

This is the question I came in here to ask. There'll be 5 of us in the car, as notified. Hope they have 5 jackets and the required breahalyzers.

LillySV wrote: »

Jesus stay away from these!!! Awful hassle with them in Scotland ... gave me a piece of **** that Broke down, spent hours on side of road and then wouldn’t even refund me for the car or offer any proper apology

I'd claim a charge back on my credit card if that happened.

coylemj · 07-07-2019 5:06pm

Deleted User wrote: »

This is the question I came in here to ask. There'll be 5 of us in the car, as notified. Hope they have 5 jackets and the required breahalyzers.

The AA says you need one reflective jacket and that the fine for not carrying a breathalyzer has been postponed indefinitely. Every rental car in France comes with a high-viz jacket in a packet in the glovebox. And nobody bothers with the breathalyzers, except the likes of the ferry companies who (surprise, surprise) sell them onboard at an exhorbitant price.

https://www.theaa.com/european-breakdown-cover/driving-in-europe/country-by-country/france-and-monaco

jmreire · 19-07-2019 11:15am

I'm planning a trip to Belgrade in the near future, and would like to hear from anyone who has been there recently and hired a car, what was your experience(s) like? ( The Good The Bad The Ugly.....:pac::pac::pac: )
Thanks in advance for your replies.

mgray · 22-07-2019 7:20pm

Sorry if this is covered here but is there a problem with booking on US sites ie. do you require an American billing address.?

Looking to hire a car in Scotland for a few days and the same car is over 100 euro cheaper on expedia.com compared to expedia.ie

Sully · 24-07-2019 8:46pm

mgray wrote: »

Sorry if this is covered here but is there a problem with booking on US sites ie. do you require an American billing address.?

Looking to hire a car in Scotland for a few days and the same car is over 100 euro cheaper on expedia.com compared to expedia.ie

I know on some sites the American website is exclusive of all insurance but local websites include insurance. US customers have slightly different insurance policies that cover driving rentals plus have credit card coverage whereas we typically don't.

mgray · 24-07-2019 9:47pm

Sully wrote: »

I know on some sites the American website is exclusive of all insurance but local websites include insurance. US customers have slightly different insurance policies that cover driving rentals plus have credit card coverage whereas we typically don't.

Thanks. Ended up finding a good deal with the car rental centre, who themselves come with some mixed reviews but hopefully is ok. The free extra driver was the clincher.

jmreire · 24-07-2019 9:50pm

Anyone out there who has experience of hiring a car at Belgrade Airport, or in the City itself??? Or anyone who has had such a good experience with a rental company, that they would use them in any City /Country???

enfant terrible · 24-07-2019 10:28pm

Sully wrote: »

I know on some sites the American website is exclusive of all insurance but local websites include insurance. US customers have slightly different insurance policies that cover driving rentals plus have credit card coverage whereas we typically don't.

How does the insurance work in the US is it the same as Europe, you can buy your own policy?

Do they give you the hard sale like they do sometimes over here?

Is it usually expensive to buy insurance at the desk there?

Thanks

Sully · 27-07-2019 10:43pm

enfant terrible wrote: »

How does the insurance work in the US is it the same as Europe, you can buy your own policy?

Do they give you the hard sale like they do sometimes over here?

Is it usually expensive to buy insurance at the desk there?

Thanks

To the best of my knowledge, if you have insurance in the US it allows you to drive a rental. But that's generally not the case in Ireland (unless it's a breakdown or insurance hire).

US travellers also have credit cards like American Express that covers car hire CDW.

Stick with a major brand and you're generally guaranteed a safer better service vs some of the smaller companies. I wouldn't have thought you got a hard sell anywhere in Ireland tbh.

chases0102 · 30-07-2019 9:24am

Recently was issued with two 25 Euro admin charges from Enterprise for speeding fines - also informed that I'll receive the fines from the Frenh authorities within 60 days.

I'm shocked!

Now, I genuinely, 100% do not think I was speeding excessively other there - the opposite in fact, being the other side of road/car and all.

How can they prove this, or rather, is there any way I can challenge this?

Does anyone have any experience of this?

kerry4sam · 31-07-2019 7:05pm

chases0102 wrote: »

Recently was issued with two 25 Euro admin charges from Enterprise for speeding fines - also informed that I'll receive the fines from the Frenh authorities within 60 days.

I'm shocked!

Now, I genuinely, 100% do not think I was speeding excessively other there - the opposite in fact, being the other side of road/car and all.

How can they prove this, or rather, is there any way I can challenge this?

Does anyone have any experience of this?

Did your hired car have any form of a map-location-device? Some can log and save routes; locations; speed etc etc.

Sully · 31-07-2019 9:34pm

chases0102 wrote: »

Recently was issued with two 25 Euro admin charges from Enterprise for speeding fines - also informed that I'll receive the fines from the Frenh authorities within 60 days.

I'm shocked!

Now, I genuinely, 100% do not think I was speeding excessively other there - the opposite in fact, being the other side of road/car and all.

How can they prove this, or rather, is there any way I can challenge this?

Does anyone have any experience of this?

Should get the details of the fine and who to speak with to appeal. Be very similar to a speeding fine here. Enterprise got told your registration was identified and you matched the driver during that period.

Check times locations and registration to make sure theres no mistake amongst those items

jmreire · 31-07-2019 10:03pm

I'm not too sure how it work's now, but it used to be that when a rental company that I worked for got a parking / speeding fine, they would send a copy of the rental agreement for that date back to whoever had issued the fine. At the time, these would have been primarily American's. They had a standard form " We regret that we are unable to help you, but please find enclosed copy of relevant contract. Best Regards. And that would have been the end of the matter as far as I know. But here in the EU now. it has probably changed and the perceived "offender" can be tracked down and has to answer the charge. One girl in the office would send 100's of these letter's each tourist season.

Skyfloater · 09-08-2019 12:43pm

This happened again to me with Interent in Munich last month. Before that, it was Thrifty in Alicante two years ago.
Has this happened to anyone else? I'm hoping that we can compile a list of companies/locations to be wary of.

whomitconcerns · 09-08-2019 1:57pm

I think you will have to elaborate... There are very limited circumstances where a car hire excess would be that much.

munchkin_utd · 09-08-2019 2:16pm

if you are getting done for 17 thousand euro then its your fault not the company
an "Excess" of this amount is not an excess, you are obviously rejecting all insurance completely and doing like the americans and self insuring, but in their case their credit card covers the cost of repair if you crash the car into a wall and write it off!

There are companies like Budget and Thrifty who have an excess of 1400 to 2000 AND expect you to have a balance on your card to cover this AND normally you cannot split it across cards and it needs to be in the name of the main renter.

Still, its only on your credit card so isnt real money and is just a block (enterprise takes the cash up front and refunds it but are one of the few to do this)

If you want more advantageous terms rent from Avis or Hertz or the likes as they only look for a relatively small deposit, enough to cover a tank of petrol and a few parking tickets, and their excess will be still about 1000 but at least they dont look for a deposit on that up front.

ted1 · 09-08-2019 2:39pm

Skyfloater wrote: »

This happened again to me with Interent in Munich last month. Before that, it was Thrifty in Alicante two years ago.
Has this happened to anyone else? I'm hoping that we can compile a list of companies/locations to be wary of.

I’ve never seen that amount before. Are you sure it’s not 1,700?

L1011 · 09-08-2019 6:00pm

ted1 wrote: »

I’ve never seen that amount before. Are you sure it’s not 1,700?

Some countries allow you to hire cars with basically no insurance. Excess was over 10k for and Audi A1 sportback with Hertz Portugal last summer for me. Most countries require something vaguely sensible

Odyssey 2005 · 09-08-2019 6:03pm

Do you look like someone from the Fast and Furious ??

ted1 · 09-08-2019 6:05pm

L1011 wrote: »

Some countries allow you to hire cars with basically no insurance. Excess was over 10k for and Audi A1 sportback with Hertz Portugal last summer for me. Most countries require something vaguely sensible

I’ve rented cars in the US, Canada , Caribbean,Oman , Malaysia, uk, Spain, France, Italy , Germany, among others and have never seen it. The most was 1700.

Can you provide a link to a car hire that has over 10,000 euro excess

Op what type car where you looking at?

Skyfloater · 10-08-2019 3:35pm

Like a lot of people I get the annual excess Insurance cover, so tend to reject any of the extra insurance offered at the rental desk on the day. This is normally fine as most excesses are in the €1500 range, and my excess insurance cover is €6000.
The car was a base model Renualt Megane, so nothing fancy. Interent did put a €1000 hold on my credit card, which is normal enough.

WIN_20190810_15_00_53_Pro.jpg

The image says "Deductible: 17,000 EUR!"

coylemj · 10-08-2019 5:07pm

L1011 wrote: »

Some countries allow you to hire cars with basically no insurance. Excess was over 10k for and Audi A1 sportback with Hertz Portugal last summer for me. Most countries require something vaguely sensible

Why would governments anywhere mandate that there be comprehensive cover on a rental when a private car only requires third party?

AFAIK, in Europe, all rentals come with third party cover included and this discussion, as I understand it, is about the excess on the comprehensive element of the policy. Leaving a huge excess basically means that most people will have no choice but to accept the rip-off policy that you buy at the rental desk.

dingding · 10-08-2019 5:25pm

I think with some companies, and I had this difficulty when comparing with Ryanair is that they can have no insurance, you need CDW and then there is an additional level of insurance with covers minor damage under a grand or so. The insurance up to a few grand can be covered by an annual policy, I think mine is about 50 per year.

In this case the costs are charged to your credit card and you claim against your additional insurance.

Skyfloater · 10-08-2019 5:26pm

coylemj wrote: »

Why would governments anywhere mandate that there be comprehensive cover on a rental when a private car only requires third party?

AFAIK, in Europe, all rentals come with third party cover included and this discussion, as I understand it, is about the excess on the comprehensive element of the policy. Leaving a huge excess basically means that most people will have no choice but to accept the rip-off policy that you buy at the rental desk.

This is it in a nutshell. I was willing to accept the difference between my excess insurance and the 17,000 most people are not, hence the frustration in the queue in front of me.

coylemj · 11-08-2019 2:40pm

Skyfloater wrote: »

This is it in a nutshell. I was willing to accept the difference between my excess insurance and the 17,000 most people are not, hence the frustration in the queue in front of me.

Your personal excess policy counts for nothing when you're at the rental desk i.e. you still have to cover the whole excess as far as the rental company is concerned.

After the event, you can claim for any money you paid out (minus the excess on your policy, it's €75 with AIG). But the rental company don't care if you have cover of your own or not. So if you're dealing with cowboys who baited you with a 'too good to be true' price and they have a huge excess and/or they won't hand over the keys unless you buy their insurance, your personal excess policy counts for nothing.

CVB · 11-08-2019 10:25pm

CarHireExcess.ie provides far cheaper cover !!!

L1011 · 12-08-2019 7:41am

coylemj wrote: »

Why would governments anywhere mandate that there be comprehensive cover on a rental when a private car only requires third party?

AFAIK, in Europe, all rentals come with third party cover included and this discussion, as I understand it, is about the excess on the comprehensive element of the policy. Leaving a huge excess basically means that most people will have no choice but to accept the rip-off policy that you buy at the rental desk.

Consumer protection to prevent what happens in your second paragraph

coylemj · 12-08-2019 10:15am

CVB wrote: »

CarHireExcess.ie provides far cheaper cover !!!

'Far cheaper' than who?

They just quoted me €48.99 for annual cover in Europe. Which cost me €49.99.with AIG.

coylemj · 12-08-2019 10:17am

L1011 wrote: »

Consumer protection to prevent what happens in your second paragraph

L1011 wrote: »

Most countries require something vaguely sensible

Can you name some countries which regulate the level of excess on rented cars?

ted1 · 12-08-2019 10:23am

coylemj wrote: »

'Far cheaper' than who?

They just quoted me €48.99 for annual cover in Europe. Which cost me €49.99.with AIG.

Use AF21931 to get 10% off carhireecxess.com
It’s just a discount I don’t get anything.

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Vehicle Hire queries