I’m booking a hire car at fairly short notice and have just got what appears to be a too-good-to-be-true deal. Can anyone suggest what I might have missed, and for what I’m likely to get bent over for when I go to collect it? I booked through Argus Car Hire, and for a Berlingo for 9 days it’s £33. I’ve declined the excess insurance as I have an annual policy. Fuel policy is full-full, so not going to get screwed on fuel costs.

Is it really that cheap these days, or have I missed something? I’m sure it was well over £100 last time for a week.

Cheers

I’ve just looked at them myself as we are going to Spain next month and I want a car for 7 days.
Berlingo comes up at £160.93 . Collect and deliver to Gerona airport

Strange. Maybe Alicante is just a lot cheaper at this time of year.

I just had a look and they do have some cheap deals with Goldcar. They’re not the best company but I have used them and it’s been ok. They will charge up front 1,100 euros on your card and refund it if there’s no damage, make sure you look over the car really, really will and get them to make a note of any marks, take pictures as well.
Don’t under estimate how hard they will try and push their insurance !! they’ll tell you yours is worthless and you won’t be covered, not true just stand firm. Apart from all that it seems legit.

I’ve just got a Berlingo/Kangoo for a week for about £75 from Europecar. (It was anotehr £75 if I wanted another driver though…)
Good times to be hiring cars then?
Oh, and +1 on Goldcar being really pushy with their insurance. We’ve got a Direct Excess policy from DirectGap that offers a full excess coverage up to £2000… and I think they accepted that last time.

Hmm. Just found all the thousands of terrible reviews for Goldcar. Wonder if I should risk it…

Have you considered a mix of public transport and taxis? Unless you have a lot of heavy stuff you have to carry everywhere everyday a hire car can be more hassle than it saves.

Goldcar – no way!

I just had a look and they do have some cheap deals with Goldcar. They’re not the best company but I have used them and it’s been ok. They will charge up front 1,100 euros on your card and refund it if there’s no damage, make sure you look over the car really, really will and get them to make a note of any marks, take pictures as well.
Don’t under estimate how hard they will try and push their insurance !! they’ll tell you yours is worthless and you won’t be covered, not true just stand firm. Apart from all that it seems legit. [/I]

Presumably if you have your own cover they’ll only ‘release’ the EUR1100’s once your insurance policy has paid up, if there’s any damage etc?

Avoid goldcar and pay a little extra for someone like Hertz or Sixty.

There is a complaint system in Spain, and if the vendor refuses to comply, you can call the police to ensure that they do. It could affect their operating licence.

Centauro are excellent.
I used them after they were recommended on here on a similar thread last year.

Presumably if you have your own cover they’ll only ‘release’ the EUR1100’s once your insurance policy has paid up, if there’s any damage etc?

They’ll take the excess there and then, you then have to get the money back from your excess insurer separately. There are no dealings between your insurer and them at all.

There is a complaint system in Spain, and if the vendor refuses to comply, you can call the police to ensure that they do. It could affect their operating licence.

That’s interesting. Do you know where I might find some more info on the details? My inherent tightfistedness means I’m tempted to take the risk and save ~£50+.

Hoja de reclamacion.
Personally I’d use Pepe Cars for cheap reliabilityness.

OK, I’ve sacked off the Goldcar reservation. Switched to Firefly for a similar price but tbh they don’t sound a whole lot better. Hertz, Avis, Europecar etc are all £100+

I’ve used a lot. Never had a problem. I had a £17 week with Firefly and no twist in the tail.
Just take photos before and after specially of the mileage and fuel gauge. Firefly queue at Malaga is awful. Go with gold car at that price.