Has anyone used 'Car trawler' for car hire

Just got a quote through Car trawler which I accessed via the Cheap Car Hire link on EOS.  Good price but I can't see which car hire company it would be with.  Has anyone else used it and if so, at what stage in the booking do you find out which company you are dealing with?

Yup,used them for last couple of years in Costa Blanca,no problems;they tell you the company when you get to the final stage,all the companies they have put us with have been well known local ones.

Hi Crackers

We used Car Trawler for the first time in Feb and have booked again with them for our trip this month. Flying into Malaga we have to collect the car from Sol Mar desk which is  under the arrivals hall, last desk.You will get this info when you get your voucher after booking.

We were very pleased with the whole package from Car Trawler, we even got exact car we asked for(not similar), this was important this time because we were moving household items.

One downside, we got to the Sol Mar desk, it was a Sunday there was only 1 girl working and with three of four groups in front of us it took nearly a hour to get the keys.

Steve

Thanks.  That's sounds good. 

How about insurance?  The quotes give an optional rate  of  'inclusive - no excess' .  Are there any hidden/additional charges that you are asked for when you pick up your car?  I'm querying this as there is limited information provided up to the point of booking.

Hi

The only 'Extra' at the desk is the option of buying insurance for tyres, wheels,glass,underbody and lost keys, this is 20e for the booking. We normally take this as it means 100% peace of mind.

Steve

One thing to be careful of..........

A number of car hire firms are asking ( and not always !! ) if you want to pay in pounds or euros.

Make sure that you pay in euros or else you will get hammered with a poor exchange rate and charges.

Richard

As far as 'extras' go,or excesses we have been taking out an insurance for years now to cover various excesses,but the best one,and they do pay up,is   :-  Insurance4carhire      its worth it if you hire cars on a regular basis,I think it was £45 per annum when I last renewed,they have a web site,same name

Be careful they might want you to pay for a full tank of petrol which is far more expensive that the petrol stations outside.  carmalaga is the only one that charge you for a half tank of fuel and return it empty 

Hi

Car hire has been a favorite topiic for Spanish forums for years, its good to get a up to the minute feed back regarding price and the latest terms and conditions, however the most important thing on most peoples mind as they leave the plane is 'lets get out of here'. In all honesty if one company is 20e more expensive, so what, it is not the end of the world.

Richard

Understand your comments but all car hire companies require to pay with a credit card so british customers must have a exhange rate issue.

Caresafe

Good idea but when i take my car back to Malaga airport early on a Sunday morning with the only thought of getting back home, I dont want to expalain some alternative scheme ive got to a Spanish car hire girl who does not speak English. For 20e per trip its 100% peace of mind, drop and dump.

Maggii

Car Trawler (Sol Mar) done us half full out half full in in Feb

In essence

The difference between the good and the bad is probably only a meal out for four, not really important .

Steve

They can speak english. A meal for 4 in these times, is not to be sniffed at.

We used  cartrawler in Jan at murcia aiport very cheap and no problems.

I think once you book it will show the company. ours was victoria it depends on the the price of car you pick.

Jeanie.

Have just booked a car via 'Car Trawler' and have been allocated it through Goldcar at Malaga airport.  Has anyone got any feedback, good or bad, on this company .

Hi crackers,

I use goldcar every time I go to Spain,don't know about malaga airport but at Murcia airport you can collect your car keys while you are waiting for your bags.Never had any problems.when you return the keys we either give them to a goldcar worker in the car park who parks the car for you , or if late at night just put them in the letterbox at the pickup desk.

PS when you collect your car you have to pay for the fuel by credit/visa card.

Hi Crackers

So you didn't get Sol Mar, they must spread it about. As I said we are back Friday and got 'our van' again through Sol Mar, Goldcar are the first down the arrivals ramp at Malaga, always seem to be busy, we booked direct with them a couple of years ago.

Although all went well with Goldcar, we always had to LOL (my daughter told me what this means) that we never every got what we ordered, Will be intresting to hear what car you have booked and what you get.

Steve

Have seen some bad reports re Goldcar on another site so we are a bit worried and are hoping for some reassurance!  We have booked a Ford Focus but will report back on what we actually get

Hi crackers,

I usually book a ford focus from goldcar and have always got one.

Have never had one that has been more than two years old.

I was in  Spain in October and as we had 4 cases I ordered a berlingo/kangoo which is what I got .

Never had any problems with goldcar.

I must be missing something !!

I've just used cartrawler for a quote for 5 days in April at alicante and found them expensive compared to other quotes.

I've just booked with  Auto-europe and got the car £25.00 cheaper  than quotes on cartrawler  fully inclusive.

another good site which is worth a look is carrentals.co.uk

Happy driving folks

Team GB has mentioned the extra insurance at 20 euros for the trip.  Carjet have just told me that Goldcar now charge 3 euros per day which soon mounts up.

PaddyW

We have used 'cartrawler' via EOS the last 4 times we have been to UK.

Prices good, service good,insurance good, call out service good. Free upgrade each time. Additional driver payment fixed.

No Problems.........................thanks EOS.

Like Sterling we compared prices a couple of days ago & car trawler on EOS was a lot more than the big ones we check.

Grover, I think you'll find that Goldcar have a ceiling of 42€ (14 days) but steep all the same. Econorent (only available though at Alicante & Murcia) through  http://www.hirecarsinspain.com/ charge only 16€ per hire period for tyres/windscreen/underside etc plus have a full/full fuel policy. All hire firms have cut back on buying their new cars & all are charging a lot for their hire we've found.

Have no idea ( or interest as I live in Spain !  ) about costs of hiring in Spain.......................BUT certainly for UK 'cartrawler' via EOS has been good for us !!

We have used econorent through hirecarsinspain the last half a dozen or so times out of Alicante with no problems and with a full in and full out fuel policy. 

Regards

funluvin

1. They debit your credit card immediately when you book with them. (They held my fee for 4 months
2. If you cancel the booking they deduct €25 from the refund as a cancellation charge.
3. They cannot tell you what make or model of car that you will get. (As we were going on a golfing holiday I needed to know that the golf clubs would fit into the boot.

This message was last edited by foxhunter on 4/21/2009.

I agree with Foxhunter .

CarJet are the best. What I like is that you can print your hire voucher off and not get charged until you reach your destination,then pay on your credit card. More often than not you get a good exchange rate on your card which makes the hire cheaper!!

They are reliable and if there is a problem they deal with it straight away.

I have checked Car Jet for our trip to UK in May and they want 331.20  pounds for the hire and 119.68 pounds for one additional driver.

Car trawler quoted 290.51 pounds for the same car plus Maximum 65 pounds for an additional driver..........................can't see how Car Jet come out of that one on top?

Karensun,

Your right I have just got a quote from Carjet and had a quite expensive , now that is the first time ever I've had a higher quote.

Just tried www.amigoautos.com and got an excellent quote and you dont have to pay until arrival.

Said I would report back re our recent car rental with Goldcar via Cartrawler.

We paid for a Ford Focus but they were happy to allocate a bigger model which we declined.  The charge for petrol was very expensive, the bigger model would have been 75 euros plus a diesel tax.  The one we took was about 70 euros and as they operate 'return empty'  they always gain.  Other than that everything went well.

Think I would probably be more inclined to use car trawler for last minute bookings as this is when their prices look more competitive.  Not keen on paying in advance and not knowing which car company you get until you have actually made the booking. 

I can never seem to make Econorent car hire full / full cheaper than the full empty car hire companies.

OK perhaps they are cheaper on a 3 or 4 day hire but no way are they cheaper on a 7 day hire.

With an average of 300 km on a 7 day hire they work out lots more expensive !!!

And they never seem to have enough cars available.

I also thinks that the state of the Spanish economy is showing in some of their hire cars !!!

Might be just me but over the last 6 months or so some of the hire cars are looking a bit battered. Doesnt really matter to me as long as the dings are marked on the hire sheet........and they cant really tell if you put another one on ( hehe )

Just booked a car with Auto Europe - it was £67 for 3 days instead of £90 with other firms - car will be provided by Europcar apparently - trip in a weeks time so have no experience of their service etc

Ian

Hi - We find that Doyouspain has worked out the cheapest for us.  Tried carjet, car trawler and direct with auriga, centuro etc and still doyouspain comes up trumps.

jk