Jump to content

Car Rental hidden extras ?


neo

Recommended Posts

Never hired a car before but may need to do so in a couple of weeks, are there any hidden extras that i need to be aware of ???

 

Enterprise rent-a-car are the cheapest by miles, are they any good tho ?

 

3 days hire for £63 inc unlimited mileage sound too cheap for a "vauxhall insignia or similar" ?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

thats a good price.

 

When I hire a car, I always take out the full cover as its a nightmare IF something happens, if you have a CC/separate insurance which says it covers hire cars check the fine print. There was a case where where someone thought they were covered, hit a man on a bike and now have to pay his hospital bill. watch out for things like cost if you return the car with out fuel (depending on contract) and options such as sat nag (if its inbuilt in the car they may try and charge you for it)

 

Also inspect the car thoroughly before driving off, make sure you mark any dings/scratches/chips on the bit of paper

Link to comment
Share on other sites

When you get to Enterprise there will be extras. I have very recently hired a van from them and you have to pay more to reduce the excess in case of damage.

Because I didn't want to pay the extra £150 I drove around knowing any damage bigger than a tennis ball size I would have to pay £850 excess out of my own pocket NO exemptions.

It was £5 a day to reduce the excess on the windscreen which I paid.

I too chose this company on price but my advice to you would be to phone around but include excesses to get a true price.

The vehicle I hired was good but the worry of some moron Dinting the vehicle in a car park would put me off this company again.

If you pay to cover the excess it just about doubles the price to hire.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Make sure you check the vehicle with the driver and agree all damage inside as well as out! Be really careful when you hand it back as well make sure they agree no damage before you leave it, one hire company even tried to claim I had stolen the headrest's!!!!just be careful!!!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just remember if you hire a van with Enterprise, the extra insurance you pay for DOES NOT cover driving into a car park that is too low for the van height...

 

dare i ask how you know this :blush:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I rent cars about 10 times a year in Spain and Hertz standard rental is with a 900€ excess - which they want about 15€ a day to waive!

 

On the basis I have a good record for not crashing hire cars too often - I've winged it up to now but I've now got an annual policy that I bought in the UK that covers the gaps in hire car cover and it costs about £50 per year.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Pretty much all the main points are covered but don't forget that YOU MUST refill the car with fuel before depositing back. They will charge you twice the amount for what's missing from the tank. So find a station local to the hire company for the last refill.

 

Its imperative to make sure that ALL marks are identified before hiring the vehicle.

 

Windscreen chips are the worst because a screen will cost you a fortune. All it takes is a pot hole hit by accident and the chip them turns into a full crack.

 

Hire company's provide a partial and full damage collision waiver. Get the full cover for peace of mind.

 

I've hired so many cars, vans and even a Chrysler Crossfire once in Austria using pretty much every conceivable company out there today. Enterprise are good, thorough and trustworthy. Its people like Budget who will have many hidden extras to draw you into the sale.

 

Recently in Hungary I hired a car for a month, the car got broken into and tyres slashed it was a messy affair with a broken drivers window. I didn't pay for the full CDW as it was €12 a day and 30 days would have been expensive. It cost €450 for the damage which was the excess which wasn't bad. Ok it was a little more than paying for the CDW for the 30 days, but you never know.

 

So get the full CDW as you just never know.

 

Also whilst driving said car you hire, it's always fun to give it the Clarkson review whilst driving along :lol:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

i used to use enterpise vans on a weekly basis for my team until they tried to takes us to court for not paying a 8 grand bill relating to some damage which we proved was marked on the documents when we sign off collection of the van,

 

and another time where we had 3 vans for a site job and 2 had there cats nicked the insurance company had the vans for a month and they tried charge us for the rental for a month, which we told them to stuff it as it s in the hands of the insurance company chase them for the loose of income as it them that are taking there time over it not us,

 

At the end of the day its business just like most business car related try to legally scam you, main dealers insurance companies there all the same,

 

Aslo another note if the van is dirty or its raining make a note on the paperwork unable to inspect vehicle due to rain etc

Edited by StevoD
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Before I bought the Zed I rented from Enterprise for about a year, usually in 30-day lumps. The branch I used was good and their up front prices look good, but they do like to take your pants down on insurance. £700 excess unless you pay £12 ish waiver which cuts it down to £100.

 

That's saving you £600 for a claim, so as a long term renter I baulked at the £12 per day as I figured that over any decent length of time, if I managed to not crash/be crashed into more regularly than once every 50 days the £12 wasn't worth it to reduce the excess. Conversely, if I rent one now for a long weekend, I pay the £12 per day, because it's not worth the ball ache and it's only a few days.

 

A colleague had a tyre go pop on his, he dutifully rang the number and they sorted it but took the whole £700 excess and then refunded him £600 about a month later. He could have gone a got a ditchfinder put on himself for next to nowt. I rented last weekend and there was a chap in there who had his rental's windscreen cracked by something off the back of a lorry and they took his entire £700 for the new windscreen :(

 

By and large, I got a great service and the chance to try loads of different motors. Over the year, I didn't need to claim so I saved roughly £60 a week not getting the excess reduction. Like any point of sale, strap on insurance, it's a pure profit generator so they sh!t you up with numbers like £700!!!!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...