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This is how it's done....


Wingz123

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So was after a car to use on holiday or to rent but was u successful on borrowing one so had to rent. So what would you expect? A newish Kia thing? A Seat Leon? A Golf? 

Nope that would not be the autoshite way now would it? 

I am renting this little baby.... ???

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Now....the clutch is high, the exhaust is blowing, the gearbox is more vague than a politician and it has no aircon BUT I LOVE it!!!! 

Autoshite in my blood I tell ye!

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Last hire car I had in Spain was a 15 year old Clio. Amazingly the lacquer was still intact, and the only damage was the lower front bumper trim was held on in a couple of place with colour coded duct tape. And a couple of the odd wheeltrims were broken in places. But it was brilliant!

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How does one go about hiring a car abroad, are their any pitfalls to look out for? I'm thinking about when I go to Ibiza in October. I really want a shit Eurobox with a minimum of four wheels and working a/c, the left hooker arrangement will be novel enough for me.

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I was in California a couple of months back, doing a road trip from San Francisco to Los Angeles via Highway 1 and a load of old planes. 

So I rented a 'Full Size' through Europcar, who sub-contracted me to EZRent/Advantage.

 

It was neither E-Z or an advantage. 

 

They tried to give me a battered Camry that had done nearly 60k, and smelt like someone had died in it. So after another half an hour in their office filling out war and peace i ended up with this...

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Its a Hyundai Elantra, and you know what, despite being a downsize I quite liked it. It had a few dints and scratches, but a decent stereo, and drove pretty well. I guess its the equivalent of an i30 over here.

Also in LA traffic a smaller car works so much better. Especially parking! 

However......

I'd driven down as for south as Pismo, then cut inland to Mojave (which I swear is Sandy Shores in GTAV), where I had rented an orchard ranch, and had noticed stickers or the remainder of, on all the panel gaps. You can just see one at the top of the 'B' pillar.

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On closer inspection, when bored, i noticed this...

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So, having rejected a Camry that smelt like someone had died in it, I'd rented a car that someone probably had - the boot was quite large for a vehicle of it's class.. 

I mate of mine had the following comments..

"Oh, its California, so probably a drug related crime.. Or a drug murder.. A cartel are probably still looking for that car...."

 

I have since bought a model of the car, just need to add the 'extras'

 

 

 

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6 hours ago, warch said:

How does one go about hiring a car abroad, are their any pitfalls to look out for? I'm thinking about when I go to Ibiza in October. I really want a shit Eurobox with a minimum of four wheels and working a/c, the left hooker arrangement will be novel enough for me.

Watch out for some of the hire company scams if hiring one from the airport. If they can't get you to buy their overpriced insurance, they will "find" some damage upon you returning it so you wont get your deposit back. Likewise read their fuel policy-full/full is better but no guarantee they wont sting you with a refuel charge. 

Check out online to see if there are any smaller rental companies in the area- in my experience are so much better to deal with rather than the big holiday hires companies such as Goldcar etc. 

Whatever, enjoy your holiday 

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10 hours ago, warch said:

How does one go about hiring a car abroad, are their any pitfalls to look out for? I'm thinking about when I go to Ibiza in October. I really want a shit Eurobox with a minimum of four wheels and working a/c, the left hooker arrangement will be novel enough for me.

Credit card. Photo driving licence. National insurance number.  Go DVLA website and get.code number which you give to hire car people who use it to check you are banned.

Book on line is usually cheaper. 

When you arrive at Avis office at Some Airport. Reject the Scenic ng because French. Watch them smile and find the kg yes to something interesting. 

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If you buy from comparison sites check reviews. Buy third party cdw online before you go, don't get bummed by the hirer for it. They will put a massive hold on a credit card but you should get it back. Only get full to full fuel policy or they will charge you for fuel. I don't think I've ever got the car promised in hundreds of hires. Last time in Spain promised a Qashqai got a Dacia Lodgy!

Will cost a bit more but if possible go with a local small business. E.g I hired in Albania from a local bloke in a shed. Slightly more than from comparison sites multinational chains and totally legit. Got a Hyundai i40 that survived me ragging it over Albanian mountain passes (including the one from Top Gear).

Within Europe big chains are fine if expensive, outside Europe is a lottery.

Hired from Europcar in Morocco and got scammed.

 Hertz in South Africa promised a Golf but got a shit Indian made Fiesta which shat its immobilizer in the middle of nowhere, nearly got me killed.

In Azores Europcar promised a Vitara got a Micra! Got in a battle with them over damage not my fault.

Weirdest ever was OMGHGF in a 90s Toyota Hiace on the wrong end of Ascension Island in middle of day in 40 degree heat. So much fun.

Too many similar experiences to recount. 

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5 hours ago, warch said:

Cheers all. So get a collision damage waiver sorted in advance then? As I said I don't care what I get as long as it goes and has working air conditioning.

You can buy it online separately. Search for it. Just get the smallest cheap piece of crap and be glad with what you get. 

If it's not bouncing off the limiter on every gear change you're not getting your money's worth.

"There's nothing faster than a hire car"

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On 8/3/2019 at 2:12 AM, Jerzy Woking said:

If they can't get you to buy their overpriced insurance, they will "find" some damage upon you returning it so you wont get your deposit back. Likewise read their fuel policy-full/full is better but no guarantee they wont sting you with a refuel charge. 

Europcar in Luton airport did both of those things to me. Lost 350 pounds for a scratch on the bonnet of a Focus, only visible with a lantern shone on it from the side (at night, the girl getting back the car from me camed prepared and "found" the scratch within 5 seconds of being close to the car) which I never seen in 10 days of using said car.

Also got stung with 1/4 of tank because a shit Astra didn't show full when filled to the brim, and my plane was departing. Filled the bastard thing at the Shell just down the road from the carhire place.

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On Saturday, August 03, 2019 at 9:00 AM, warch said:

Iheers all. So get a collision damage waiver sorted in advance then? As I said I don't care what I get as long as it goes and hIworking air conditioning. 

Be aware that even with getting this cover seperately (which is far, far cheaper than from the hire companies) you won't get your deposit bacķ should they discover any "fresh damage" and you will have to claim it back through your seperate collision waiver policy, which could take a bit of time.

Do what research you can on google etc to see if there are any companies at or near your destination that do all inclusive hire and airport delivery/collection. It costs me €30 extra to collect from the airport, but the infrequent and unreliable bus service costs €18, so I consider this worth it, as no hanging around for the bus at the airport, or waking the mile to my gaff from the bus stop.

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My garage has one of these as a courtesy car.

I feel like they've done me a great discourtesy whenever they hand me the keys. It's absolutely fucking awful to drive, gutless engine, shite brakes and no feel in any of the controls. Giffertastic.

They have a diesel 207 which is far, far superior in every single respect and which I quite like.

...Excellent hiring, well chodded.

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I'm probably one of the few who treats a courtesy car well, as I am grateful that I don't have to walk or worse use public transport. Fairly recently I was loaned a Corsa that looked like it had had a very hard life, the garage was surprised to get it back washed, polished and vacuumed (no I didn't do it myself I paid the lads at Tesco a tenner to give it a quick once over) they were even more surprised that it wasn't running on fumes. Next time I was upgraded to their Defender 110, yes I had that cleaned as well.

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Sorted out my hire Car locally in Kefalonia, Perfanis or something.

Anyway paperwork says “Diahatsu Courer” NOT SIMILAR. so I was excited.

Man come to drop off Car. Don’t get the usual spiel. “You drive? Car has dents and scratches don’t worry”

Pay in cash, no deposit, no credit card on file with instructions to bung the keys in the glovebox and leave the car open when finished.

Car is. Brand new fiesta.

I r disappointed...


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

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3 times been to usa and picked the smallest thing on hertz/avis site

chevy spark or similar

twice been given new elantra one had 200 miles on it put 1300 more on 

other had 8k put another 600 on in two days - other time was a nissan versa

got a nissan note in canada - they did it right :D had 1800 miles on that

possibly a focus in a month - hope so

coulda hired a mustang conv but 40k car - shit scared :D

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That mustang I hired in Tenerife was ace. Yes it had polish plates, I didn’t really care. It cost 110 euro for a day but didn’t realise they required a 300 euro deposit....felt a bit scared handing over a credit card on the street outside a hotel but it did come back to us eventually. I took pictures of every panel of the car in the car park of the hire company....because of horror stories of scratches made up etc. Was a fun day hiring that! 

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