PageyUK Posted April 1, 2015 Share Posted April 1, 2015 Hi, I'm looking to hire a car to drive to Spain in from Somerset. I will be traveling to the Circuit de Catalunya (approx 1,000 miles). Ferry, etc is booked. Here are the requirements: Must be an estate or bigger Big enough for 4x people + Camping gear Diesel or Petrol Auto or manual Must be less than £500 Has anyone done this before or similar? I've looked on hire company websites but there are so many options and worrying things I've read about excess's and extra payments. Is my criteria realistic? Can you recommend companies to use, things to look out for, etc. Obviously the 350Z would be perfect for this, apart from it only has 2x seats and a boot only big enough for a box of matches! Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekona Posted April 1, 2015 Share Posted April 1, 2015 Buy a shed and sell it when you get back, will be cheaper than anything you can hire. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoogyRev Posted April 1, 2015 Share Posted April 1, 2015 I guess you have tried looking at the car hire websites Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GMballistic Posted April 1, 2015 Share Posted April 1, 2015 Buy a shed and sell it when you get back, will be cheaper than anything you can hire. I'd agree with that tbh. Two cheap motors that would probably do the job: http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201503242007011/sort/pricedesc/maximum-mileage/up_to_100000_miles/channel/cars/price-to/500/radius/1501/postcode/cf158rl/page/2/onesearchad/used%2Cnearlynew%2Cnew/body-type/estate/usedcars?logcode=p http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201503252061751/sort/pricedesc/maximum-mileage/up_to_100000_miles/channel/cars/price-to/500/radius/1501/postcode/cf158rl/page/2/onesearchad/used%2Cnearlynew%2Cnew/body-type/estate/usedcars?logcode=p Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Akiragost Posted April 1, 2015 Share Posted April 1, 2015 Somehow that kind of makes sense Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iwanprice12 Posted April 1, 2015 Share Posted April 1, 2015 Totally agree with the above comments. And even if the cars don't sell, heavy weight to weigh in for scrap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stutopia Posted April 1, 2015 Share Posted April 1, 2015 (edited) It's god advice. A mate bought an XKR to tour down to Italy and back, did just short of 6k miles, sold it for 500 sheets less than he paid when he got back. Winning, if you've got the 20k to drop in the first place I've just rented an X3 for two weeks in Denmark, £835 If you do rent from the UK, I rented on and off for a few years with Enterprise and they were cheap and decent service in my experience. Watch out for excess waivers though, they don't push them aggressively but they are fiercely priced (e.g. £1k excess) to scare you into them. They did me a Diesel Estate Passat, it was a superb mile cruncher and super relaxing to drive, if a little bit of a boner killer. Edited April 1, 2015 by SuperStu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekona Posted April 1, 2015 Share Posted April 1, 2015 I checked Enterprise, they specifically exclude driving outside of the UK & Ireland on their website. Of course, they may well be more accommodating if you ring them, but that's all I could see on there for now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PageyUK Posted April 2, 2015 Author Share Posted April 2, 2015 Hi, the reason for hiring a car is my friends BMW compact isn't reliable. And spending £500 on a car to do a 1,000 mile trip each way isn't likely to last. The last thing I want is a shitter of a car to ruin the trip or make me late. It's going to have to be an estate hire car. It seems going in to the local branches is going to be my only option! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stutopia Posted April 2, 2015 Share Posted April 2, 2015 I checked Enterprise, they specifically exclude driving outside of the UK & Ireland on their website. Of course, they may well be more accommodating if you ring them, but that's all I could see on there for now. Well that sucks Never seen this product before but it sounds interesting. Palm off your excess to a third party for less than the rental company charge. I might use this for Road Trip Scando as it's waaaaaaay cheaper then their own excess waiver - £50 worldwide for a year! http://www.insurance4carhire.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekona Posted April 2, 2015 Share Posted April 2, 2015 Spend £500 fixing the BMW? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PageyUK Posted April 2, 2015 Author Share Posted April 2, 2015 I checked Enterprise, they specifically exclude driving outside of the UK & Ireland on their website. Of course, they may well be more accommodating if you ring them, but that's all I could see on there for now. Well that sucks Never seen this product before but it sounds interesting. Palm off your excess to a third party for less than the rental company charge. I might use this for Road Trip Scando as it's waaaaaaay cheaper then their own excess waiver - £50 worldwide for a year! http://www.insurance4carhire.com Yea, read about that excess stuff, I think I'll aim to get that elsewhere tbh as the hire company try to sting you with that. Spend £500 fixing the BMW? Nah, its a BMW Compact, £50,000 wouldn't improve it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekona Posted April 2, 2015 Share Posted April 2, 2015 You don't have to make it wonderful, just reliable What's wrong with it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PageyUK Posted April 2, 2015 Author Share Posted April 2, 2015 You don't have to make it wonderful, just reliable What's wrong with it? It's a rotten, battered old shed. In the last couple of months both engine mounts failed and a ball joint gave way! I'm not risking driving that, breaking down and ruining the trip. I doubt it will be big enough anyway due to the amount of camping gear, etc plus 4 people. 2 of the people going are girls and we all know how minimal they pack! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekona Posted April 2, 2015 Share Posted April 2, 2015 Fairy muff Get the crossing over by foot, then hire in Spain at the port? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chips Posted April 3, 2015 Share Posted April 3, 2015 I've hired many times from goldcar in Spain. never had any troubles, real cheap. And i never take out any excess cover, just the basic hire. All of em will bleed you dry for excess though. I take out icarhireinsurance for excess cover. couple £ a day. Only experience with them is that I got a flat in Scotland and I made the executive decision to change it on the spot(although that's not allowed in the t&c's but I was in highlands and wasn't prepared to wait around for the RAC man) and the hirer - think it was Europcar hit me for +£100 for my troubles. icarhireinsurance came to the party and reimbursed with a standard paperwork application. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.