Car Hire in Spain

[pollution]

I am looking at car hire this September for a fortnight in Seville and am absolutely bemused by the huge number of car hire

companies and the price differences between them for the same type of vehicle.

Then there are the different types of insurance add on's, voluntary excesses ( or not voluntary ) and the fuel policies of full to full

or pot luck with what is left.

Then there are on and off airport sites and so on.

The local Spanish firms appear to be the cheapest but there are so many stories of rip off stories about. Better to stick to the

big names and pay more?

I think I will look in August when prices come down, usually.

[Bristolhibby]

We flew into Barcelona in February. Like you I wanted to go with a recognised company.

We used Sixt and have no complaints.

Drove up to Andorra for a bit of skiing, no problem taking the car over the border.

Used my Amex and got the free top up insurance thrown in.

J

[speedy_gonzales]

I've used Centauro a few times now. From small cars to minibus/people carriers. Always competitive, never pressured in to taking extra's and the cars have always been under a year old.
If you're concerned about insurance/excess, you can buy a top-up policy here for a few £ that will cover you for any shortfall should the unthinkable happen.

[JeMeSouviens]

I am looking at car hire this September for a fortnight in Seville and am absolutely bemused by the huge number of car hire

companies and the price differences between them for the same type of vehicle.

Then there are the different types of insurance add on's, voluntary excesses ( or not voluntary ) and the fuel policies of full to full

or pot luck with what is left.

Then there are on and off airport sites and so on.

The local Spanish firms appear to be the cheapest but there are so many stories of rip off stories about. Better to stick to the

big names and pay more?

I think I will look in August when prices come down, usually.



Car hire prices generally don't get cheaper nearer the time and usually the cheapest way to book, even with the big providers(Avis, Hertz etc), is via a broker. (Auto Europe, Holiday Autos. etc).

Definitely go full to full. The alternative is you've paid for the fuel in advance, so to get value for money you have to take the car back as near empty as possible, which is a pain.

Definitely get full excess insurance, but usually the cheapest way is just to take the basic CDW/TP with Avis/Hertz/whoever. This will leave you with a damage excess of typically £1000 or so. Then buy separate excess insurance. The brokers usually sell this as a daily add-on or you can buy it separately. I've got an annual policy with insurance4carhire.com, this is cheaper after 10 days or so. Make sure you then decline everything you're offered at the airport car hire desk (tell them you've got your own insurance).

Useful tip when you get there (as long as you're not solo) - while others collect your bags, you go ahead to the car hire desks. There's often several others on your flight about to queue at the same desk and they can be annoyingly slow as they try to sell all the extras to everyone.

[Jack Hackett]

I am looking at car hire this September for a fortnight in Seville and am absolutely bemused by the huge number of car hire

companies and the price differences between them for the same type of vehicle.

Then there are the different types of insurance add on's, voluntary excesses ( or not voluntary ) and the fuel policies of full to full

or pot luck with what is left.

Then there are on and off airport sites and so on.

The local Spanish firms appear to be the cheapest but there are so many stories of rip off stories about. Better to stick to the

big names and pay more?

I think I will look in August when prices come down, usually.

Tripadvisor Spanish forums are full of horror stories about local firms. Not all of them, but peace of mind is worth a lot more than a few euros off the top

[JimBHibees]

Done it a couple of times in Spain, Once with Hertz all very straight forward and got a brand new car from the airport. Other time a local firm and while didnt get ripped off not as straight forward.

[pollution]

I took the chance of booking later than normal and found a BMW 3 series for £377 for a fortnight.

From Avis, all included. All others were offering a Leon for that price. It was worth the wait!

[southsider]

The bus service is great. You can travel from say, Malaga airport all the way down to Gibraltar (and all the stops on the way) for 8 Euro's. The only downside is the last bus leaves Malaga Airport at 9pm.

[G B Young]

I've always found it a tad bemusing that the mere possession of a UK driving licence deems you qualified to hire pretty much any model of car abroad, in particular if you've never driven outwith the UK before. While I'm well used to it now, the first time I ever attempted it many years ago was an unnerving experience. Stepping off the plane and being instantly set loose on often extremely busy roads while getting used to sitting and driving on the 'wrong' side can feel pretty dangerous, especially if you end up losing your way. The way some folk talk about 'just picking up a car' abroad would make you think it's a lot less stressful than it actually is. It's not something you're really warned about though.

[speedy_gonzales]

I've always found it a tad bemusing that the mere possession of a UK driving licence deems you qualified to hire pretty much any model of car abroad, in particular if you've never driven outwith the UK before. While I'm well used to it now, the first time I ever attempted it many years ago was an unnerving experience. Stepping off the plane and being instantly set loose on often extremely busy roads while getting used to sitting and driving on the 'wrong' side can feel pretty dangerous, especially if you end up losing your way. The way some folk talk about 'just picking up a car' abroad would make you think it's a lot less stressful than it actually is. It's not something you're really warned about though.

I nearly came a cropper the first time I hired a car abroad. Agreed to hire a people carrier and ferry the family/parents to and from a villa quite a few years back. Arrived at Menorca airport, was given a lovely Mercedes people carrier, drove out of airport, arrived at first roundabout and took a left towards Ciutadella. Even though driving on the right, I managed the roundabout with no issues, except the roundabout filters in to the main ME-1 road. Coming off the r-a-b I wasn't aware I had juggernaut flying down my inside (right) who had priority. We nearly got wiped out on the first junction from the airport!

Nowadays, I always take my time, familiarise myself with the controls, revise my route even if I have a sat nav and ask my Mrs just to keep an eye on me. Sometimes you process that much info you miss things (like the time I drive the wrong way down a 1-way street in Puerto Pollensa),,,, happens to the best of us!