Cyprus car hire

[mike325112]

Anyone recomend any local (and cheap) car hire companies in Cyprus? The big companies (avis etc) seem pretty expensive for something focus sized (around £250 a week) and I've never been before so I'm warey of using local companies without a recomendation.

Ta

[Zebrs]

I've used these guys a few times now http://www.economycarrentals.com, and did so in Cyprus last year. Found them to be the cheapest on most occasions.

Might well end up with one of the bigger companies through them although I don't think you know until you book. We got one of the local places but you can't get the same rates direct. They dropped the car off to me and picked it back up again with no problems. I even had someone reverse into the side of the car, but was not a problem as no excess to pay through ECR. Contrast this against the st fight I had with Sixt in Germany in a similar situation.

I recall I paid some additional amount to cover windscreen/tyre damage etc when out there as some Cypriot roads are tracks at best but this was only about €1 a day.

HTH

[.Mark]

How about easycar.com? Used them when I went to Guernsey - super cheap and it was Avis in the end iirc. They may do Cyprus.

[randlemarcus]

Always used this lot when over there. http://www.paforentals.com/

Depends where you are on the island though

[S7Paul]

As we can't name & shame, I'll just tell you about my experience of using Force Car Rentals and leave you to work out how satisfied I was.

I needed a car with at least 6 seats. The first car they delivered was an ageing Mitsubishi Chariot. This had a wheel nut missing (because the stud had been sheared) and overheated on the way back to the depot to get it changed. There was no replacement available for a day or two.

The replacement was a slightly younger Mitsubishi Pajero (Shogun). We got most of the way up the Troodos Mountains before this one started dumping its coolant. I kept it going by buying most of a handy ice cream van's stock of bottled water. On closer inspection, I noticed that the rubber seal on the radiator cap was damaged, but figured that it might still seal if I turned it over. Luckily it did. I took this car back too, and the boss haggled over refunding me for the days we didn't use (because I returned it early).

We then hired another car from Sixt, which was a nearly new and utterly faultless Honda Mobilio (weird looking but very cleverly packaged).

Given the problems I've also had with hire cars in Zante & Corfu, it seems that advance booking with a small unknown company is a minefield. Good luck.

[.Mark]

S7Paul said:

The replacement was a slightly younger Mitsubishi Pajero (Shogun). We got most of the way up the Troodos Mountains before this one started dumping its coolant.

A Pajero for the mountains - pah! There were only 3 of us so we hired a Hyundai Atoz what a ball on the unmade gravel roads the thing would actually go sideways if provoked and all that happened to it was a slow puncture, the rear wiper arm fell so it wiped the number plate and the rear bumper worked a little bit loose.

[Amateurish]

I used www.holidayautos.co.uk via www.quidco.com for cashback. £60 for the week IIRC in a "Nissan Note" which turned out to be a Astra Cab via Europcar.

[Fidgits]

damn... we used a "mate" of my dad's, a small independant - based in Larnaca, 3 doors up from either Avis or Hertz just off the main road to the motorway.. very good, very cheap..

[Gareth79]

I travelled to Paphos with my parents a few years ago, he booked a "4x4" with Avis and confirmed it would be something like a Nissan X-Trail. We got.... a Suzki Jimny, not big enough for four people and our luggage so two of us had to get a taxi to the hotel. I think he got a decent amount of vouchers after complaining when we had returned home, £100 or so.

[GreatGranny]

I went through Opodo when hiring a Zafira in Malta in May. Paid £156 for the week and got the excess insurance cover separately online for £13 for the week. Turned out to be a Hertz car and only a few months old.