Hire car advice

[Ubiquitous2024]

Hello all just some advice if you please. I am going to be booking a hire car abroad (first time) for next year in Sardinia. We fly into Cagliari in August. I have not booked one abroad and wondered whether there is anything other than the usual to consider. My plan is to go with a known firm, but I did wonder about breakdown or problems that may occur as some of the roads we will be driving on look a little rough and stony. I am also guessing some beach access will be off the beaten track. Do they cover this when you book and any things to watch out for or consider over and above the normal things? Thank-you in advance.

[Jaguar99]

Damage to tyres and the underside of the car won’t be covered so stay on tarmac if you can

They will want a credit card (not debit card) when you collect

If you can stump up for zero excess cover I always think it is better when on holiday as you don’t need to worry about numpties bumping into you

Check their fuel policy. Some add on extra charges and/or a higher pence per litre if you don’t fill it back up (assuming a full to full booking) whereas others are much fairer and just charge retail to top it up

[E63eeeeee...]

Take lots of pictures of the car when you collect it and when you drop it off, debating whether some damage is new or not is quite tedious otherwise.

You can buy separate excess cover insurance, it was cheaper for me to do that for a year than to pay the excess waiver for a week.

[lost in espace]

Check they take Amex if using. Make sure you have a excess policy much cheaper.

[Ubiquitous2024]

Thanks. I have just looked at the small print for Avis which was a package deal with the BA flights I was looking at. It said that the cars must "not be driven on unpaved surfaces". Some of the roads and access to the villa I have booked is unpaved and gravel. In fact the maps show a lot of the island roads are like this. I wonder how this plays out, for example in the event of a breakdown or flat tyre, where you use the roadside assistance option but are found to be on an unpaved surface. I mean, I am sure this is worst case scenario but I can see it causing issues.

[anyoldcardave]

Ubiquitous2024 said:

Thanks. I have just looked at the small print for Avis which was a package deal with the BA flights I was looking at. It said that the cars must "not be driven on unpaved surfaces". Some of the roads and access to the villa I have booked is unpaved and gravel. In fact the maps show a lot of the island roads are like this. I wonder how this plays out, for example in the event of a breakdown or flat tyre, where you use the roadside assistance option but are found to be on an unpaved surface. I mean, I am sure this is worst case scenario but I can see it causing issues.

If that is the case, it is your choice, take the chance or do not hire a car, you can only drive on the roads on your route.

As already said, take out a car hire excess insurance policy, they are cheap for an annual policy, so a week or two is probably a negligable cost, you need to have enough balance on your CREDIT CARD, to cover the hire costs and excess. Tell them to poke excess charges. Take pictures again when dropping off, especially out of hours or if nobody inspects it on return.

Make sure you inspect the car, point out any damage, and make sure it is marked on the paperwork, take pictures of any damage and the car in general. Check the tyres for wear and damage.

If the Island has lots of unpaved road, they must know, drive carefully on them, enjoy your holiday, and do not overthink issues that quite likely will not happen.

[ThomasH01]

I always book through Zest as you get extras like 2nd driver and no excess often thrown in. We then use a local group through them when we come to the Algarve called Masterkings (when I’ve asked them they say you’re better booking through Zest because of these other benefits)

[Douglas Quaid]

I have driven around Sardinia in a hire car as I had a 2 week holiday there a while ago and hired. Most of the roads are completely fine. We had a Skoda 4x4 and it worked perfectly down the gravel tracks too. It’s pretty quiet and you won’t have any problems.

There are some great Roman ruins there to check out and make sure to eat plenty of seafood, drink some of the orange liqueur that they make on the island which is delicious and of course eat plenty of gelato too.

[2Btoo]

As said, book a separate policy to cover your insurance excess. This means that if the hire company try it on with charging for damage then you don't have to have the row with them.

It's a while since I hired a car but Google is your friend. Here's one (no recommendation, it's just popped up on Google).

https://www.carhireexcess.co.uk/

[Ubiquitous2024]

Thanks hadn't thought of the excess row.

[Douglas Quaid]

It’s cheap enough. I think it cost me £15 last time I did it. Well worth it for peace of mind.

[fourstardan]

I've got a car booked at cagliari at the end of Sept with moventur.

The normal brand names seem way over priced there so went with a local firm. I'm expecting something hardly road worthy and with bald tyres tbh.

I will always get excess insurance anywhere with a hire car.

[Ubiquitous2024]

fourstardan said:

I've got a car booked at cagliari at the end of Sept with moventur.

The normal brand names seem way over priced there so went with a local firm. I'm expecting something hardly road worthy and with bald tyres tbh.

I will always get excess insurance anywhere with a hire car.

Do please report back!

[Desiderata]

I know that the hire companies' excess insurance is... excessive , but it's a holiday, I don't want any hassle at all. I prefer to pay an extra couple of hundred pounds ( as opposed to a tenth of that for a home booked policy) for the hire companies' all singing and all dancing " no excess" policy knowing I'll drop off the car in whatever condition it ends up in and not have to bother about arguing with a local rep or spending my first day back home on the phone claiming and counter claiming.
In the grand scheme of things, I'm paying thousands for a couple of weeks total relaxation and a little extra for peace of mind with the hire car is well worth it to me.
I love rolling up at the airport and just dropping the keys onto the desk and strolling off without giving it another thought.

[anyoldcardave]

Ubiquitous2024 said:

fourstardan said:

I've got a car booked at cagliari at the end of Sept with moventur.

The normal brand names seem way over priced there so went with a local firm. I'm expecting something hardly road worthy and with bald tyres tbh.

I will always get excess insurance anywhere with a hire car.

Do please report back!

Why did you not try the Brokers? airlines are on of them, but loads of others, and you pick the company you rent from with the non airline ones, you can pick on price or preferred company.

[FiF]

I once asked about this unpaved roads clause, though this wasn't where the OP is going and was Hertz iirc.

We were going somewhere that was accessed by gravel roads. The reply I got was that as long as the road was on a map and marked as a road, even if only access to a place eg effectively the property drive then there would be no issue. Likewise in such as a national park or tourist attraction, access to the public car park although on gravel roads again no issue as long as being sensible.

The point was to stop people being stupid and doing some genuine off roading is how it was described to me..

[popeyewhite]

E63eeeeee... said:

Take lots of pictures of the car when you collect it and when you drop it off, debating whether some damage is new or not is quite tedious otherwise.

You can buy separate excess cover insurance, it was cheaper for me to do that for a year than to pay the excess waiver for a week.

You can buy excess cover in the UK for your hire car abroad. £15 I believe.

[Jader1973]

Desiderata said:

I love rolling up at the airport and just dropping the keys onto the desk and strolling off without giving it another thought.

Same here.

But this is PH, where the only acceptable way to manage a hire car is to get your own insurance; photograph every square inch of the car inside and out when you collect it; spend your holiday taking photos of it every day to check there is no additional damage; gearing up for the argument with Johnny Foreigner when you drop it back; and then spending days and weeks trying to recover the claim cost when you get back home.

Anything else is madness apparently

[popeyewhite]

Jader1973 said:

Desiderata said:

I love rolling up at the airport and just dropping the keys onto the desk and strolling off without giving it another thought.

Same here.

But this is PH, where the only acceptable way to manage a hire car is to get your own insurance; photograph every square inch of the car inside and out when you collect it; spend your holiday taking photos of it every day to check there is no additional damage; gearing up for the argument with Johnny Foreigner when you drop it back; and then spending days and weeks trying to recover the claim cost when you get back home.

Anything else is madness apparently

Don't forget you can only drive it on tarmac. Which unfortunately rules out most of the Greek Islands and properly exploring Sardinia, Corsica, Malta etc etc

[fourstardan]

anyoldcardave said:

Why did you not try the Brokers? airlines are on of them, but loads of others, and you pick the company you rent from with the non airline ones, you can pick on price or preferred company.

I did and local firms were cheaper.

Tbh im not too bothered, reviews were not too bad and it looks like the roads are a bit like the canaries so car quality won't be high anywhere.