Solmar Car Hire Charges

if you hire through economy car you can pay £7 and that covers you for Glass, Wheels, Tyres & Underbody Cover.

And yes upgraded from a Ka to a Focus 1.6, paid €61 for a full tank, tank holds 55lts???   It would seem that they are all making a killing.

The car company was Auriga Crown which I've used before with no problems, but this time at the desk I was asked if I wanted the usual insurance.  If not the deposit charge to my credit card before i could have the car was 300 euros!  i paid the insurance.  Not funny tho.

Used them at Murcia in February and booked through doyouspain. I noticed the sign that mentioned the €300 deposit if you didn't take the insurance but it wasn't charged to me when I refused the extra insurance. I am going out again next week and using Auriga Crown again, let's see what happens then!

Mark

My stepson booked a car with Solmar in Murcia via the internet.  When he went to pick it up he had no problems, and again when he dropped it off there were no problems, in spite of him not speaking any Spanish!

Sue

I uaually fly into either Alicante or Murcia and use Carjet

They use all the well known companies such as Solmar. Auriga, Goldcar and Centauro.

Prices are reasonable and have never had a problem.

regards

Hi

We have just returned to Uk having used Solmar through Carjet and had no problems at all.  This was at Alicante airport. We didn't pay anything other than the hire charge and yes, the expensive charge for petrol.

We always use Carjet or Doyouspain.

Having left booking car hire for Easter quite late I couldn't find any cars available anywhere. Eventually I tried an American site, although it was called Auto Europe it was definately an American site and prices quoted in US dollars. Yippee i thought, they have a car. We wanted a big one to do a trip to the blue and yellow menace in Barcelona so booked it, quite expensive at £230 for 7 days but hey, we had a car. The sting in the tail? It did not include insurance and on picking the car up at Europcar they charged us £58 PER DAY for insurance PLUS £300 deposit. The insurance on this hire car (Audi A4 2.0 TDI) for a week was £100 more than my annual insurance on my car in the UK.

A lesson learned the hard way methinks, feel like I've been mugged.

Regards, Poppyseed.

Hi There

I agree with the Toffees, use carjet.co.uk or doyouspaim.com.

Both excellent companies in my experience.

Regards

Nigel

Both ARE good Niglam 1 BUT, at the end of the day, they both are only the agents & it's the companies that they put you with that call most shots, certainly often regarding extra cost for the insurance for tyres etc & the fuel arrangements.

I went through doyouspain but still got conned into the 'super insurance' by Auriga. Have since looked on the aurigacrown website & they do now quote that a deposit of €300 is obligatory if you do not wish to purchase this insurance.

Can't see it on solmar website hence my question has anybody found this condition with any other rental company?

I am going to contact DYS about this as their website tells you that you have fully comprehensive cover. I know this insurance is supposed to be for wheels/ underside/ etc, but even so, it is unacceptable if compulsory.

Mark

It feels as if all the car hire companies are finding things difficult. They seem to be following the Ryanair business model. So which one is going to be the first to charge extra for a steering wheel?

I just wish one could get an all inclusive price, no extras and be charged for the fuel used. Maybe someone reading mine and other contributors might see there is a chance to start a business by just playing fair!

Hi Kev

Those using Econorent (only available at Alicante & Murcia though) through hirecarsinspain don't seem to be posting bad cr*p about them, no matter which forum you look in. In fact they never mention the fact that you CAN take out extra insurance for tyres etc for only 16€ per hire period. When I mentioned this (as we always take this out) I was told they don't push it ! (I suggested however that they should 'mention' it as we really should cover ourselves). They do full/full too, not an issue. They do very well. Emails to help@hirecarsinspain.com are also answered promptly.

Hi morerosado, I've already booked them for our trip in June. So fingers crossed they are as good as everyone seems to say. Is it easy to find them at Alicante, I tried to find them in March and failed! Going again this weekend and using crownauriga for a 3 day rental. I will have a look and see if I can find their van. Thanks

Kev, when you received your voucher they sent a map of the airport with their location & directions separately (or normally do to us & we use them a lot) so check your emails again. If not email them for this. We use Murcia ourselves.

Edited to add: Enjoy your trip.

HI Kev

May see you in the Auriga Crown queue, as we are going this weekend too!! Don't forget on a 3 day trip, you are entitled to full/ full on the fuel too! I looked at HCIS for tis trip too and they wanted over €100 for the 3 days compared to the €45 through DYS. Using HCIS in June/ July though.

Mar

Hi Mark

I think those of us who hire regularly play them at their own game, don't you ? Everyone should check each &, if one is so much cheaper than another, you choose which one suits best. That was a great 'find' wasn't it with DYS ? Well done you, mate.We just haven't found such a deal yet.  however, Martin has told us to advise him of any lower priced ones & he will see to it with E ! Fair enough.

Just a note for regular hirers that you can get a year's 'excess' insurance cover for £49 from insurance4carhire.

(And you can get £10 of that back in the first year from Quidco cashback.)

This covers wheels, tyres, glass, keys, etc. in addition to any 'excess' which may be on the basic insurance offered by the hire company.

It's not usual to have excess on the basic insurance in Spain, but I have known it - Victoria Car Hire at Alicante for instance.

As for the discussion on full-to-full versus full-to-empty, in my experience the full-to-full brigade charge €10 to 20 more anyway.  So, for me, the ease of just turning the car in without worrying about it being checked over is more beneficial. 

I looked at that insurance, but it is only in one person's name at that price. My Wife and I sometimes travel separately and if I took the cover, my Wife wouldn't be covered if I wasn't there too. For this option it is £79.

Mark

Although I haven't found it in writing, the Auriga desk told me that they would still require €300 deposit even if I already had seperate excess insurance. The deposit is added to your credit card bill & refunded at the end of the rental if no damage incurred - still nervous about the whole thing though.

On another point the car we rented was the worst car we'd ever had. Made very strange noises even for a diesel & I had to pump the clutch three times to get the ignition to work - whats that all about ? Very nearly returned it but knew there was a shortage of cars at easter &, as we were picking up at Murcia & returning to Alicante, didn't hold out much hope of a replacement. Maybe they were offloading the 'banger' onto the Alicante office LOL

Apart from this thread (& others to do with car hire that are often in General Chat ) there's heaps more in various threads in the thread I would expect car stuff in, which is the  Driving in Spain board under General Discussions. The usual full / empty fuel policy &, lately, the 300€ deposit on your CC or pay for insurance to cover tyres etc is one of the top topics of conversation in many other forums. Every thread appears to go round in circles. So much is within car hire firms terms & conditions though certainly I can't find it in Sol-mar's site.

As a matter of interest I've just had this email in from hirecarsinspain (these are agents & use many car hire firms so they're in 'the know' ) .............. it's not just them who are saying this either.

 Car Availability throughout the Summer
 
Unfortunately this summer there is going to be a shortage of cars in Spain due to all the suppliers (except Econorent) buying less cars due to the credit crunch and the banks unwilling to lend money to buy cars. Goldcar and Aurigacrown are both buying approx. 4,000 less cars this Summer and this is the same for other suppliers as well. The best solution is to book your car hire as soon as you book your flights that way you get the car you want for the right price.