Looking to hire a car for 6 days in Portugal.

I’ve spent hours on the comparison sites (carhire3000 and the like) as well as the big names – Avis, Hertz, Europcar, Budget.

Obviously you get much better prices on the comparison sites, but when you add on child seats (need 2) and so on it creeps up, but often without telling you how much by (payable locally on collection). And you often seem to end up at one of the shadier hire companies (eg. Goldcar, which according to almost every review I can find are utter shite).

So is it better to play safe(r) with the big names or go cheap?

I’ve never had an issue with Carhire3000. They usually book you with a major brand. Phone ’em to confirm prices before you book. Ask for an extra discount too. You’ll be surprised.

CH3000 is now called something different I think

they offer cashback via quidco etc too, though still waiting for some from last August 🙄

Personally I would go for one of the big companies for peace of mind

We hired a car (Merc A class) for 8 days in Germany last month with Europcar for £215. Did wonder about going via the brokers but wasn’t too sure and didn’t know anyone who’d used them.
The excess with Europcar was E800 😯 (for an extra £50 it could be halved) but found out you can get policies against rental excesses and we got cover for £17 with http://www.carhireexcess.co.uk

Personally I would go for one of the big companies for peace of mind

+1 I wouldn’t trust the smaller Portuguese outfits either.

Thanks.

Went with Europcar, £150, and would have been half that if it wasn’t for the car seats, so not too bad I don’t think.

Thanks for the heads up on the excess cover.

Just double check your excesses too – ours in iceland were £1350 cheapest – I had to get a bloody credit card just so I could give them one to use for it! Plus £300 for a weeks rental. Ouch.

Many of the internet hirers with less well-known names are just agents for the big ones so you may hire from Eurorent or someone but be directed to collect your car from Alamo.

Went with Europcar, £150, and would have been half that if it wasn’t for the car seats, so not too bad I don’t think.

Or take the seats with you?

tbh Having turned up for hire cars all over the world which; weren’t there / no auto / 2 doors / etc, I wouldn’t trust any of them to get it right. We always took the seat(s).

And if its personal hire, pay for all the protection and anything else where they could ‘screw-you’ after the event.

And if its personal hire, pay for all the protection and anything else where they could ‘screw-you’ after the event.

Or get your wallet pinched the day after you get back, cancel you cards, then watch them try it… This happened to me – that thief was very convenient 🙂

Goldcar rental charge you for a tank of fuel upfront and you return the car empty. Sounds ok if you think you will use a full tank up.

The catch – I got charged €155 for fuel that would have cost €80. 48litres of diesel @ €1.67 locally).

Add to that the hard sell on insurance and I will never use them again.

CH3000 were a raft of hidden charges when I last used them about 6 years ago – that was how pissed off I was….

I went with Avis for a 4-day hire in France recently, simply because they provided the most information on extra costs, deposits etc. Everyone else seemed to be very secretive about how much deposit, what extra insurances were available, full and frank costs etc, Avis at least had that available, though it took a but of digging across their different international sites to get the most precise estimate. Basically, for what I got told and the actual collection confirmed, take out the optional extra insurance (SCDW) and there’s no deposit to pay.

Personally I would go for one of the big companies for peace of mind

How, though? Since when is big company a guarantee of good service? I’ve never been given a raw deal by independent operators and I’ve been hosed by big firms lots.

<finger in air> I would have thought a small fleet operator would actually take better care of their vehicles, as they’ll have them until they conk out. The big chains just pass them from branch to branch so they’re never anyone’s problem.

Take the seats with you – carry them onto the plane as the kids hand luggage.
Get third party hire car insurance and then choose whoever is cheapest. If you are going for longer than a week, then worry not about the full tank of fuel scam.