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According to your comments on this forum, when driving in Spain you require, by law, several things. Photo ID, Driving Licence and / or a passport. Two sets of glasses if your vision requires them. A florescent jacket. A spare set of bulbs. Two reflective warning triangles.
When you hire a car at the airport, are the basics, like the triangles, bulbs and florescent jacket provided?
On our last trip to Spain we discovered that they were not provided as standard and they were not offered to you. So when you drive off you are driving illegally!
I asked the hire company if these items should have been provided with the car, the girl behind the desk said “ we don’t put them in the cars because they tend to be stolen”, but told me that if I wanted the three items I would have to leave a 30€ deposit.
So, when you rent a car in Spain remember to ask for the jacket and triangles, because if the police stop you it is your responsibility to have them in the car and you will be fined, as the hire companies will take no responsibility at all.
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You need a jacket for each occupant and I think strictly two triangles.
Mike
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This message was last edited by JeansSis on 5/18/2007.
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Good informative posts 
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Hi Jeans Sis,
We also hired with Gold car, when I asked the girl at the counter about the legal requirements, she said that they did not provide the items and never offered them as an extra. Only after some discussion did they offer the two triangles and one reflective jacket for a 30 € deposit, no bulbs etc. They said that they would not pay for any fines resulting from not having these items in the car.
I would personally like to see an improvement in service from the rental companies; I don’t mind paying a deposit or even a small charge to the hire of all the required items. They should offer, as standard, all the items necessary in the same way they do with car upgrades.
Better this than trying to explain to a Spanish police man why you do not have the items.
Sping..
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Hmm,  Would you have to commit an RT offence to be stopped in Spain.? ( I can guess the answer to that! ) We often see police stopping people near roundabouts.
We were stopped in Portugal(Algarve) several years ago for no reason that we knew of . They pulled over loads of cars, mostly hire cars.The police said the car licence was out of date. We gave them all the documentation they wanted to see. They eventually let us go on our way, and said that they would deal with the hire car company!
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They are frequently on the roundabouts for random checks - breathalyser, documents etc - nothing to stop them and quite within the law to random stop. In Spain it is the driver of the vehicle who is responsible for ensuring that the vehicle is legal and all necessary things such as spare specs, TWO triangles and vests are in the vehicle - funnily enough it is exactly the same in the UK - it is both the owner of the vehicle and the driver of the vehicle that are responsible there and both will be charged if an offence comitted (at least it used to be that way as I know from painful experience - drove a mates car home for him as he was over the limit without insurance or MOT despite him telling me he was any driver and the car MOT'd). So in fact it is not too different here in Spain!
_______________________
Smiley - patrick@marbellamortgages.com www.marbellamortgages.com www.comparetravelcash.co.uk
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So, under Spanish law the hire car companies should provide everything if they are the car owners and it is registered in their name, triangles, spare bulbs, jackets etc....except the glasses!! With the restrictions on baggage allowances/bags it is unreasonable to expect the hirer to bring these out with them. Besides, you never know what car you are going to get! This message was last edited by Tish on 3/14/2007.
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This message was last edited by JeansSis on 5/18/2007.
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Hi Jeans Sis,
We have discussed this before and I think we will again, until people complain to the hire companies and the agents.
Did you look inside the red pouch that Gold car provided?
Next time you are over and hire your car take a look in the red pouch, it contains two triangles, only one vest and no bulbs. So unless your middle name is Halfords, how are we supposed to comply with the law?
Sping, from Playa Golf III
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I always use Crown Car Hire. There has always been hi vis jacket and triangles in the car for me. I never ask for them, and no deposit required - it´s always just there!
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This message was last edited by JeansSis on 5/18/2007.
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Hi Janice
Auriga is the same company as Crown Car Hire. New name is Auriga Crown or something like that. So yes, they do automatically put the triangles, jackets, etc in the cars without having to be asked first!
I can´t believe that there are companies that actually DONT do that. If the excuse is "they are always getting nicked" then why don´t they just make a charge to the client who was using the car with the triangle/jacket/bulbs were nicked in the same way that they would if you had damaged the car. Afterall, they have your credit card details on file.
I don´t understand what you mean by a full/full arrangment. I guess you mean that the tank is full when they give you the car, and you have to return the tank full. If so, that is the case for Auriga Crown.
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Hi Janice, I used Auriga at Murcia for the first time last month. Snow here cut short the weekend planned - so it was a quick 24 hour Sun - Mon to get to the solicitor mon am. Paid for full tank, returned car after using for the day, fuel gauge still registering full and had 50 euros credited back to my card. Just had statement and it is there. Also surprisingly, the boot contained all the required safety stuff - no problems at all.
It's just a shame that the mini-bus system seems a bit erratic. Ok on arrival, but when leaving had to wait 20 mins as arrival customers dealt with. That leave me a little nervous as I'm not in control of getting to the airport in good time - but that's personal preference I guess. I would recommend them for all of the good things above, but don't think I'll use them again. Any one selling a cheap car!!
Jane
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Jane
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hI jEREZ GIRL GOTTA TELL YOU THAT ON THE COAST CROWN USED TO OPERATE THE SAME PHILOSOPHY ABOUT THE ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS BEING NICKED SO DIDNT PUT THEM IN THE CAR - PERSONALLY I CANNOT SEE THE BIG DEAL AS THEY HAVE YOUR CREDIT CARD DETAILS AND YOU SIGN THE AGREEMENT STATING THAT THE CAR WILL BE RETURNED IN THE SAME STATE - THEY SEEM HAPPY TO PUT MATS IN THE FOOTWELL TO PRESERVE CARPETS AND IF ONE WAS STUPID ENOUGH TO STUFF THEM IN ONES CASE NO DOUBT THEY WOULD BILL THE CARD.
FULL/FULL MEANS PICK THE CAR UP WITH A FULL TANK AND RETURN WITH A FULL TANK SO THAT YOU DONT GET CANED ON FUEL COST - CROWN HAVE ALWAYS OFFERED THAT FACILITY SO IF THEY NOW OWN AURIGA I AM NOT SURPRISED - CROWN ALSO PUT THEIR CARS OUT THROUGH BROKERS AND IT IS USUALLY CHEAPER TO HIRE THEM THROUGH A BROKER RATHER THAN DIRECT -
_______________________
Smiley - patrick@marbellamortgages.com www.marbellamortgages.com www.comparetravelcash.co.uk
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This message was last edited by san miguel on 3/19/2007.
_______________________
 STOP CYBER-BULLYING
 AND PRACTICE WHAT YOU PREACH
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This message was last edited by JeansSis on 5/18/2007.
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If you don't mind using an agent, try AMS_travel , used them often over the last 5 years. Their service is personal and excellent. Mostly have very competitive deals with europa gold car or solmar, better than booking direct.
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Jane
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Hi All, Just going back to the question of hire firms supplying triangles etc.
I have had a response from my usual agent regarding these issues.
Q. Hi, we have hire cars through you on several occasions now and have
been very satisfied with your service, so thank you.
I do however have an issue that I would like to raise with you
regarding the hire companies that you deal with.
Every time we have hired a car from Alicante airport, we have assumed that the car was hired to us fully legal under Spanish law.
In fact this is not the case; most of the cars that are hired to your
customers are not complying with Spanish law. They do not have the
required two triangles, the spare set of bulbs or the Florissant
jackets. If you pester the staff at the airport, then they will
provide these, subject to a 30€ deposit, (two triangles and one vest).
All it would take is for an addition to your booking form and provide the required extras as standard, with a refundable deposit, as you have all the credit card details already in your system.
A. Thank you for your feedback, however, the Spanish law states that it is the driver's responsibility to provide these items and not the car rental agents. Due to popular demand of these items, our suppliers will provide them for a refundable deposit of 30€ the items must be requested at the time of signing the rental agreement.
Q. Just a quick question please. If I request a Fiesta, and so take over spare bulbs, and then receive a Picanto, how do I overcome that, or do the Police not bother with the bulbs part? 
A. As you are aware we are unable to guarantee the exact make and model of vehicle that will be supplied. The suppliers will include spare bulbs
in their own packs or alternatively these can be purchased locally in
most garages.
What hope have we got! 
Sping.
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This message was last edited by JeansSis on 5/18/2007.
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