Auriga Crown/Alicante- No new Fleet!

Hi I can't seem to find anything reasonable either.  Prices have doubled over last year for the same period. The cheapest I've been able to find is aorund €800 for 3 weeks, July/August. I tried the suggestions below and if they are cheap they don't have the cars.

Anybody got any ideas?

I spoke to our local car hire guy and he says that the reason car hire is expensive and hard to find this year is because, the car hire companies buy their cars on 6 month contracts and then they get exported, but the export market has died, so they are not buying as many cars.  I am getting silly money quotes for August from San Javier airport.

Alyson

 Well I listed the amounts I've got from Auto Europe for you in a previous post. Thanks Kevin

Nope.  Entered the dates correctly.  Travelsupermarket.com from 30th July to 12th August at 13 days and those were the prices that came up for a people carrier.

 bobaol, You must have entered the dates wrongly. I just did it and the prices were from £465.12!

Cars available for pick-up in Alicante, Spain at Alicante Airport. A 12-day rate is shown below. (1 Aug 2009 @ 12:00 - 13 Aug 2009 @ 12:00). Search Another: Country | Date, City or Class | Location

Citroen Berlingo with ac Manual Economy (EVMR) 4 Doors, A/C  Price includes zero excess insurance		465.12 GBP  discounted rate of the day! original rate: 553.71 GBP
Citroen Berlingo with ac Manual Economy (EVMR) 4 Doors, A/C  Price includes zero excess insurance		468.00 GBP  discounted rate of the day! original rate: 557.14 GBP
Ford Focus Estate with ac Manual Compact (CWMR) 4 Doors, A/C  Price includes zero excess insurance		522.72 GBP  discounted rate of the day! original rate: 622.28 GBP
Renault Scenic 5 pax with ac Manual Midsize (IVMR) 4 Doors, A/C  Price includes zero excess insurance		642.86 GBP
Citroen Picasso 5 pax with ac Manual Midsize (IVMR) 4 Doors, A/C  Price includes zero excess insurance		649.70 GBP
Volkswagen Touran 5 pax with ac Manual Midsize (IWMR) 4 Doors, A/C  Price includes zero excess insurance		776.17 GBP  discounted rate of the day! original rate: 924.01 GBP

Actually you got me thinking so I checked.  They do have a full/full policy so one up to them.  However, that 3,400 quid DOES NOT  include excess insurance and has a 1110 euro excess on it.  You can pay extra for top up insurance but it doesn't say how much.

I wonder how many bookings this company actually gets?

Hi bobaol

Wow did you add the fuel on?

Right, here we go.  I reckon this one has to be the best yet.

Looked for a people carrier for 13 days in August.  Yes, most of the quotes are ridiculous but this one must beat the lot.

13 days beginning of August with Auto Europe from Alicante airport quoted at...............£3,411.  Good God, I wanted to rent the thing not bloody buy it!!!

CarHire3000

£1,459.96

AutoEurope

£3,411.48

Ayrez,

           CDW is if you have a scratch on the external paintwork etc you pay nothing ,most brokers deal with companies that operate that system ,but with F&C ,you pay the first 250 euros of any claim.

The 300 euros that Auriga Crown want is for lost keys,under car damage and windscreen,tyres .

Therefore whilst F&C  give a cheaper quote,you have to live with the chance that you might be bumped in a Supermarket car park etc

Hi All

I always thought all car hire firms charged an excess unless you paid for extra insurance. We hired from lots of companies when visiting Spain and they always took a copy of credit card in case of accident / damage.

It is even worse when we hire in UK. They take 500GBP from your credit card unless you are willing to pay a ridiculous daily amount for no excess. All this and nearly 200GBP per week for smallest car off season!

Jean

Our keyholders were telling us last night about a couple that hired a car for two weeks from Murcia and on arrival were only allowed it for 4 days! They then had to hire a car locally for the remainder of the stay and our keyholders ended up taking them to the airport. Not sure of the companies involved though.

Mark

Please keep telling your stories on this thread and then use the companies that are fair and open,and do not let you down. Short term they might win ,but long term we will be the winners. Name ,names.

I know that this web-site has helped brokers and hire companies,it can also do the reverse.

I would never hire a car that had a 250 euros CDW,you would be driving around petrified of  the slightest scratch,so F&C,you had your moment of fame. Read the small print.

 I got a nice quick reply from FC rent a car. A tankful of fuel for a Matiz is 48 Euros. I asked about extra insurance to cover the excess and I post their response here

'We do not have any extra insurance, it is fully comprehensive insurance and the excess if you have any accidents or car is brought back damaged, you are responsible for certain things like cost of tyre repairs, loss of hubcaps, loss of keys, radio etc'.

Sounds like you could be liable for any mark on the car? What have others found using them?

Yes happened to one of my clients last week, arrived at San Javier airport and no car, an other company had a car and ended up with a very expensive taxi to resort plus no car for the 5 days

Plus

Atesa (booked through doyouspain) who turned away 2/6 groups last Wednesday even though one had paid in advance!(they used Expedia) and would not honour the extra driver promise....they charged an extra 7 euros a day!!

If we summarize this thread,we have Auriga Crown who want 300 euros off your credit card ,then return it via your credit card for CDW.

We then have Gold car who are having a laugh with fuel charges.

We have F&C who have a 250 excess excess hidden in the small print.

We have concerned posters who have heard that Auriga Crown have turned customers away at the Airport ,when they had a voucher.

 I've just sent an e mail to F & C to check how much extra it would be for a zero excess and the cost of a tank of fuel for a Matiz. 

We used Goldcar in March, I started of with a voucher price of 72 Euros and by the time I walked away it was 220 euros! I was charged 92 euros for fuel. You have been warned.

Jean,

           Just a word of caution F&C  have a 250 euros CDW ,THEREFORE IT IS NOT A LEVEL PLAYING FIELD

                                               REGARDS KEN

I have a Peugeot Partner booked for the 2 middle weeks of July directly Auriga Crown from Alicante.  I'm concerned that there will be no car when we turn up very late on a Saturday night....with our 3 year old. 

I've e-mailed Auriga and they have advised it is just a case that their 'Summer fleet' has been delayed which has caused the recent problems.  The new fleet is expected early July and they can therefore '!00% guaruantee that our booking will be honoured. 

Can anyone else provide a further update on this?  I would rebook elsewhere but cannot find a similar car at a reasonable cost.  We need a car that can seat 4 adults and a child in a car seat in comfort.....and we had budgeted the €270 we have booked with Auriga for.