Recommendation for a car hire company at Malaga airport.

I've rented cars in Spain for nearly 30 years now, for roughly 6-8 weeks every year.

Having been a regular user of "Do You Spain" and "Carjet" for many years to book my car hire from the airport, i'm getting sick of the hidden "Add On" charges the rental companies now make, that dont appear on the booking confirmation.

Last week took the biscuit......Record Cars at the airport charged 40 euros for supplying the car with a full tank of petrol.....this is taking the p*ss! and took euros 900 security deposit as i have my own £40 annual indemnity insurance policy, rather than paying the 100 euros for their daily cover for 8 days! 

I returned the Car full, so they didnt even have to fill it for the next customer.....i'll now have to go into another battle to get the 54 euro petrol charge refunded, and thats before i start on Do You spain to get a refund for the car hire i orignally paid for and cancelled.....they always convieniently seem to forget to refund as probably 50% of people dont bother to check or complain....  

So the purpose of this post is to try and find a rental company that doesnt rip you off, has a good service and competative prices......over to you 

hi there,

i know what you mean and they say you get a full tank return empty if only it was full as soon as you drive off the needle is down below.On my car i can drive for atleast 40 miles before it starts to move !!!

Anyway in answer to your question i used a new company this year and i was really impressed they met me at the airport a little walk to the car park and was given a 2013 corsa with 3/4 tank of petrol so you know what you have and what to put back...no hidden extras no stupid amount stopped on your card even though it was a little bit more expensive than usually i didnt have a clapped out vehicle and felt safe.... look up bmetcarhire

mark

I totally agree with both of you about car rental in Spain. Spain is a fantastic country and great people but after 9 years of have very long periods living there i have come to the conclusion that Car rental and Banks are both vehicles (forgive the PUN)for ripping off the Brits.

Yes car hire has become a big rip off.

If you come to Spain a lot it has to be worth considering buying a car and leaving it at the airport.

Many companies offer annual parking for approx 350€ per year and cover both San Javier and Alicante airports.

Do the sums, no more hire car greed / hassle and of course the convenience.

terrance 43

.....................for ripping off the Brits.

It is not just ripping off the Brits but anyone who hires a car there is no "special rip off Brit policy" by car hire firms just rip off as many people as they can

I posted a few weeks ago that hirecarsinspain are offering "all inclusive" rental deals with some of the rental companies. They say the price you are quoted is the price you pay on arrival, with no extra fees. Not tried it myself yet, but am sure I will be looking at it next time.

As I posted this morning on another thread,If you are flying in to Malaga have a look at the Malga Car website, I've heard nothing but good reports about them both from our vistors and others. New cars, fuel policy etc

Totally stunned!  I've been going to Spain and renting cars for over ten years now, so maybe I've been lucky -  up to now that is!  I booked a car through DoYouSpain and paid for it in advance on a full/full policy, that was back in February for a visit in April, you can imagine my face when I opened my credit card statement yesterday to find that Firefly had also charged me for the hire of the car, therefore I've been charged double what I was originally quoted!  I have emailed DoYouSpain, but the automated response says it might take up to 3 weeks to respond!  I was unable to email Firefly because I didn't make the booking directly with them!

I hope DoYouSpain will respond soon and put this right as I wouldn't want them to get a bad reputation as I've always found them good in the past.   Fingers crossed, stiff upper lip and all that!

Inzalloz, good luck with that one, I also had the same issue last year with Firefly getting petrol costs charged twice back...never respond, also had an email from DYS that they had implemented a car hire refund to my account, and it would be in my account in the next few days.....still waiting and watching........

DYS really do get the costs down....Record car hire from the airport, last week 5 door fiesta only €30 for the week (7 days) +€40 to fill the car up, €900 deposit as I didn't want their excess insurance and €55 for a full tank of petrol that would be refunded when returned full......I wait and watch my account again with interest!

hirecarsinspain in looks interesting and Malaga and yellow cars look like they will be worth a look, but I'm still sceptical about hidden extra charges for own excess insurance, deposits and excessive petrol charges ie 90€ for a small car from one hire company!

trying to narrow the market down if anyone can clarify the finer details.

We did Solmar and found them to be quite good all inclusive full  insurance around 200 euros for 12  days complete and full return full.  We found other companies a con when we arrived. We once had gold Car and they refused to accept insurance we took out in the UK for £30 . Seems it was illegal according to them? Cheaper than when we go to Portugal for car hire in Spain 

We did solmar last week.New team there now! Had booked it for 14 days costing 87 euro . They would not acceot the UK Excess insurance, though they had on 6 previous occasions.. Wanted 1,000 euro deposit if we didnt take thier Insurance cover.. Also 90 euro for fuel if we did Full/empty.... and 50 euro if we did full/full.

Ended up paying 297 euro.

Yes that is quite a bit different! But we paid a lot more with Gold car... 346 euros with them for Two weeks.And full tank return empty. And we had own insurance...they also refused saying it was not legal. Makes you wonder who to go with then... We're bringing our own car on the ferry next time as we're going for 3 months.  As it will work out cheaper in the long run I think. And could be more fun stopping in France for a day or so. Take our time driving to Costa Blanca. Going back to car hire it looks like they change the rules to suit whenever they feel like it. Guess it depends on how busy they are and then want to cash in.

I will endeavour to remain optimistic - manana perhaps?!  Anyway, I've now heard that car hire in Spain is set to become even more difficult with some code the driver will need to provide (from the UK) - you will need to provide this code on arrival and then get an updated code every 72 hours - apparently this is to come from our DVLA so that the hire company is kept up to date with any driving offences/convictions??!!  Has anybody else heard about this?  Apparently they say you can get your updated code from the internet or Smart phone, but the question asked by many will be what if I don't have access to either of these??!!

The train or bus is now looking more and more favourable??!!

Can definately recommend espacar.es they are based in Estepona but will meet you at the airport. When i lived in Spain i used them a lot and never had any problems and they don't charge extra for fuel, you basically need to return it with the same fuel level as when you collect. so if half a tank return the same. Not the cheapest headline rates but less add ons.

The code from DVLA is replacing the paper part of your licence. It allows the Hire company to immediately check who you are, if your licence is valid and if you are able to hire a car from them under their t&c's. You will need to request a code online or i believe by phone, which will be valid for 3 days (72 hours) once you have given this to the hire company on collection of the car, there is no need for an updated code every 72 hours its just a one off on each hire so that the EU driving agencies can also forward on any speeding fines and points to us....how nice of them.

Its a bit like all the police sitting on the tourist area roundabouts, stopping every car, breathalising and checking for driving in flip flops knowing that there is a cash dispenser close that they can accompany you to for any on the spot fines to be paid. 

Enjoy Spain this summer......

Hi all,

I'm a bit confused with this paper part of the driving licence, all the years of hiring a car in Spain I've never had to show it. I always carry it with me but no car hire company has asked to see it. Wonder if that will change?

Tech.

Hi there,

Has anyone heard of or actually used 'bmetcarhire'?  According to their website they charge a hire fee which allows up to four drivers and child seats at no extra cost.  

For many years we have used Malaga Car and have also recommended them to friends who have also used them numerous times.  They certainly did stand out from the crowd in terms of reasonable rates etc. DID  being the operative word!   The last time we hired from them was April this year and sadly it seems they are  going the way of the others.  Yes their fuel policy - half a tank - is better than paying for a full tank but can't say the same for the add-ons.   When we started visiting Spain over ten years ago we used to purchase an annual policy which covered windscreens etc rather than pay the €3/day the hire company charged.  Now the excess insurance is €12 per day and if you decline they take additional money from your credit card.  I believe this is refunded at the end of the hire but not sure how swiftly it is paid back.  

Also they now charge for all subsequent drivers whereas the second driver used to be free.

We are due to return to Spain this summer and this time will need to include a car seat and at least one additional driver - have no idea what that will all cost but it will probably be double the quoted price.

Mountie

Hi all,

I'm a bit confused with this paper part of the driving licence, all the years of hiring a car in Spain I've never had to show it. I always carry it with me but no car hire company has asked to see it. Wonder if that will change?

Tech.

With you on this one, hired many many cars over the years from all different hire companies in Spain, I have the old paper one and will have it until that runs out,  to date not one hire company has ever bothered to open my licence from the way I have folded it to show only my name and address.

Spain knocks houses down with very little interest in the paperwork or it seems legalities,   double checking a UK licence must be very low on the to do list.

i used bmetcarhire in April very impressed met me took card details as i paid for it there and then and my partners driving license because she wanted to drive aswell, it was all done within 15 mins and i was on the road.2012 corse with 3/4 tank of petrol and i returned it with the same amount it was a bit more expensive that delsol that i usually use but no hassle of weeks waiting for the fuel money to go back on the car and as i said it was a new car...very impressed will be using them again in july

As always it takes me to sort it out OK

http://www.carmalaga.com/

Thats it just take my word on it 

ENJOY