Hire Car - Warning Triangle, Jackets and First Aid Box

Hi EOS readers!

Hubby and I have just got back from a lovely holiday at our place in Rojales. We always hire a car (pick up and return to either Murcia or Alicante airport) and will book through various firms (hubby trawls through the internet for the best deal) - this time through Dickmans. Anyway, we had a little problem with the car this last visit (ran out of fuel just off the AP7 returning from a lovely day in Valencia) and it was only then that we discovered there were no jackets, a first aid box or a warning triangle in the car. As people will know, these are required by law in Spain and if the Police stop drivers to undertake checks on the driver and vehicle and these items are not in the car, you'll probably get a fine (I think about 100 euros minimum but not sure on the amount).

Fortunately, the petrol station was just off the motorway so my hero went and purchased a petrol can and enough fuel for us to drive the car to the petrol station to feed our thirsty car! It was a hairy and stressful experience though as other cars and lorries coming off the motorway junction where our car died on us (just on a bend) were not sufficiently forewarned of our breakdown through a warning triangle.

When we returned the car to Dickmans at Alicante airport this morning, we raised about the lack of warning triangle, jackets etc to be informed that they dont put them in their cars and if people are stopped by the police and are fined, that Dickmans will pay the fine. I pointed out that the lack of a warning triangle and jackets is firstly against the law, and secondly dangerous. The very nice Spanish man agreed (!!) but said that was their policy.

So what is the moral of this story?? A/ Watch out for digital fuel guages (one bar is likely to mean that your hire car is getting very thirsty), B/ Check with the car hire firm about whether the car is equipped legally, and C/ Perhaps take over all the necessary jackets/triangle etc on your trip with you in your suitcase (which is what we will be doing from now on)

As an aside..Aldi (in UK) started doing boxed kits last week with standard EU stuff you need (so only one triangle instead of the two that I believe you need in spain).. only £14.99

You are required to keep (in the car, not in boot) one hi vis vest for every passenger travelling. For this reason we carry four as we often have friends with us. Hi vis vests are sold on every market in Spain I've been too, 2€. Our local pound shop in the UK sold a triangle, very flimsy but police see it as a warning triangle. (We bought two). Don't forget your spare specs if you use specs for driving.

 Are car hire companies required by law to have the vis vest etc in the car when you hire it.

The various car hire companies we have used do not have it in the car and when we ask about, we are either told we need to buy the kit or put a deposit down up to as much as €50. 

The problem I see is that the car hire companies have you in a bind. If you kick up a stink they cancel your booking and basically there you sit without a car. 

I have my own vis vests but not the other stuff and to take it along means extra weight in your luggage, which means something less you normally take with.

At the end of day my carry on luggage gets heavier and bulkier.

I might be wrong but..........

As far as I am aware the it is the legal responsibility of the car DRIVER not the OWNER of the vehicle to have

all the necessary safety equipment in the vehicle.

All trhe cars that I have hired in the last 18 months have had the warning triangles & a couple

of hi vis vests in them.

 Thanks for the info Richard, but I think I shall still take my own, just to covey my "asda". 

Which car rental companies did you use that had the kit, I assume they did make you leave a deposit.

Centauro & Auriga Crown both had the triangles & 2 hi vis jackets........& no they did not ask for an extra deposit to cover the items.

I only have one more car hire later on this month then I am importing my own car into Spain.

I have got fed up of the massive car hire prices.

Was quoted £35.00 per day in August plus fuel !!!!!

There is going to be trouble with the car hire companies again this year.

Big outfits like Carjet are sold out of the small cars even now.

Hi Richard4848uk / all

My OH and I have used Centauro and Auriga Crown a few times and because the triangles and hi vis jackets were in the car, we sort of just assumed this was the case with all car hire companies (oops). It wasnt until we needed to use the traingles on this latest trip that we realised they werent there.

We always travel light (just hand luggage) to Spain and intend to take over all the necessaries with us in our hand luggage for all future trips if the car hire company dont provide them. Our intention is to ask the question at the time of booking whether the triangles / jackets / first aid kits are provided. My main concern is the safety aspect for future trips if we are unfortunate enough to break down on a busy main road / motorway such as the AP7 (etc) and giving other drivers sufficient forewarning of the breakdown. Ive only just recovered from our last trip through seeing how close the lorries and coaches came to hitting our hire car !!! (I needed quite a few sangrias to calm the nerves heehee - but I dont need much of an excuse to sup on the stuff!!).

I've now bought a car, in the 6 1/2 years I've been hiring cars I had spent £8k.

I can now leave my triangles, first aid kit and hi vis jackets in car.  Some people have reported that you need a jacket for every seat in the car even though less people may actually be travelling.  I also leave "driving shoes" in the boot as well.

When I hired cars I carried my hi vis jacket in hand luggage, when I arrived at the house loaded up the car with triangles and extra jackets.  I took a chance that I wouldn't need to use them on the journey from and to the airport.

Hi semi, we have had our Spanish car over a year now. Hope you're well & managing to get out here quite a lot. We're here now, had internet with phone installed in March, it certainly makes our lives here more complete. When are you next over, let us know, maybe we can catch up.

Morerosado - Ok will do.

Wend691...Econorent (hirecarsinspain) and Torrecars both have hivis vests and triangles in cars, unfortunately the later does not have cd/radio in car something I really miss as I travel by myself normally (O/H still works  so he joins me at the weekend when he can)

I suggest you buy your triangles in Spain as the red box will contain 2 triangles and comply to the regulation standard.  I bought some kits from Aldi ages ago, then they were only 6.99.  They were yellow with handles and contained large gloves, safety vest and triangle.  I managed to get two triangles in the same bag and took them out to Spain in my suitcase.  I think they are a lot lighter than the ones that came with my car and as these rules are there for our safety I'd go for the heaviest ones that are designed for Spanish roads/traffic.

Hi Semi

Thank you for the information - I will check out the hire car companies you identified (may have to go for Econorent as Im not sure my OH could cope with my singing as a replacement lol) and its good advice about buying the triangles etc in Spain or Aldi / equivalent in Uk if they have them.

I certainly dont want to be caught out again like our last trip .... mind you, if I keep a check on the petrol guage and feed the car in time the same thing wont happen again!!

UPDATE - Just so everyone who may be interested in this thread are kept in the loop ...

Separate thread from Martin this evening:

Hi

 my Daughter had a car booked for next monday for one week  from econorent when she tried to print of the voucher it came up as cancelled phone calls revealed that they have shut down .

martin o

Thanks for letting us know Martin

Wend

See new post by Harley though, Wend

http://www.eyeonspain.com/forums/posts-long-11015.aspx

Was very shocked to read that Econorent had closed down, Wendy.  I thought that the news had come from MARTIN from HIRECARSINSPAIN who deals with bookings in UK, not a poster on here who's name is martin o.

They are a popular company so I couldn't understand why they would close down.

Thanks Morerosado for confirming that it was a mistake and they are still in business.

Back to the original subject of warning triangles, buy them in Spain not Aldi's here in UK.

We bought a C3 in Spain and I find the fuel gauge very misleading.  I like to keep it 1/2 full and when it's down to 2 bars I put 20e of fuel in.  Sometimes this shows an extra bar lit looking like it's 3/4 full but within a short drive that extra bar goes out.  It is confusing but as it's our own car we know how much fuel we've put in.

That's also why when I hired cars I would use Econorent or a company similar, the cars had to be returned with a full tank so you paid for the fuel you used in your rental. 

Re C3's we always had those but, yes, the fuel guage isn't accurate & we've had problems thinking we had more than we had though never needed to let petrol get too low as we could just top it up for Econorent (full/full). However, we still had the guage showing not full when we couldn't get more in & Econorent knew the problem existed as we told them we'd JUST filled the car up at Santiago, a stone's throw from Murcia airport so we knew it WAS full! Others there taking C3's back in said the same!

Regarding hi vis vests we understand you need one for every person travelling at the time so we just always keep four in the glove compartment. We have our own Spanish fiesta here now since June 1009.

Also with reference to the triangles we had bought two in the UK from the pound shop though Lidl's & Aldi's were very lightweight too & not suitable for anywhere unless you put sandbags over them! When we bought our car (18 months old) it had the pack of two triangles in with everything else you legally require & these triangles are very much more weighty. 

More

That fiesta's done well to last that long

Surely it's a model T if it's that old

Oh ****, fingers slipped, that's the trouble with long nails & not checking my posts before posting. 2009, of course. Go annoy someone else! ha ha!!

I'm recently back from holiday in Malaga.  No hi viz or triangles in our Centauro hire car.

Good value at 85 Euros per week thru' CarTrawler, Dublin.  Ripped off though--paid 67 Euros for a full tank of diesel

and was told by Centauro to have an empty tank when the car was returned.  Well I used about a third of a tank leaving about 50

Euros.

Other people returning their vehicles and had a full tank were being refunded with their initial fuel deposit. Centauro were blaning

Car Trawlers and vice versa.  Who gets my 50 Euros??