# Car Hire prices



## mas (Aug 14, 2009)

I was attempting to get a ball park figure for a car hire in Malaga for next summer (June 6th to June 12th, 2010).  Neither Carjet or Doyouspain will quote that far in the future.  

In order to get some sort of price for summer season, I requested two weeks out (end of August) and for a intermediate car, got a quote of 359 €.  Then I requested for March of next year (as far out as they will quote) and for the same car and same time period(six days) the quote for 107 €; a huge spread.  Is the higher price due to last minute or summer demand?  Is the 107 € realistic(at current euro conversion => ~ $150 which is a pretty good price stateside)?  I'm assuming that the first week of June is the start of summer season, but probably not as high a demand as middle of July?

I also read that one of the major car hire companies went out of business recently, maybe that's affecting the end of Aug. price quote?

I would appreciate info from anyone familiar with car hire prices in Spain.

TIA


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## Keitht (Aug 14, 2009)

July, August and early September are the real peak months for Europe.  UK schools are on holiday during that period so prices tend to move skyward very quickly.
March is most definitely low season for the area so the price quoted isn't unreasonable.  Any income is welcome at that time of year so discounting is likely still to be very heavy.
Not terribly relevant to your search times but anybody hoping to rent a car on arrival in southern Europe during the remainder of this summer really should think again.  Most of the rental companies haven't purchased new vehicles this year and have also reduce their fleets.  In some areas there are simply no cars available at any price.
One company that specialises in renting villas promises a free rental car with every booking.  They admit to having massive difficulty in finding vehicles and to the fees being several times the figures for last year.


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## Sandy VDH (Aug 29, 2009)

Have you tried Auto Europe www.autoeurope.com

They rent cars from various agencies.


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## mas (Aug 30, 2009)

Thanks Sandy, they have the same story.  They don't specifically say the dates are too far in advance:

We do not have any results online matching your request. Possible problems could be:

We do not offer the class of car you requested in the city you chose. Please try another car class or city.
We do not have any cars available for the dates you selected or 3-day minimum rental may apply for this location.

If I change the date to March 2010, I do get a quote.

*On a related subject:* 

What's the story/requirement for International Driver's license?  Is it really required in Europe these days? or is it just a sales/revenue gimmick advertised by the industry as a way to generate added $$?


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## Passepartout (Aug 30, 2009)

Mark, just wait til about 9 months before departure. That's what we'll do. We had good experience with carjet.com on last Fall's week in Portugal. Turned out to be a Budget car and they upgraded the car size- in that part of the world, not always a good thing- narrow streets and parking spaces. Be sure you do a real good inventory of dings, scrapes, etc. With Carjet, extra insurance is included, so you don't tie up the credit limit on your CC.

The In'tl DL is unnecessary. It's just a translation of your US dl.

After your posting this OP, I went and looked at car hire for our own needs, again the week before the cruise. We'd planned to take the AVE high speed train to where our TS is, then rent a car for maybe 3-4 days there then train back to Barcelona. Upon looking (at earlier dates, like you did) we might just get a car for the week. Too early now to worry about it.

Jim Ricks


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## Paul Breiveld (Sep 8, 2009)

Try  www.ChangeMyHotel.com  and look for cars. I see you can book already september 2010 there now. One bad thing though: their cars in the USA can not be booked by Americans (as their prices are probably too low for the US market).


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## lindsey1 (Sep 8, 2009)

Passepartout said:


> Mark, just wait til about 9 months before departure. That's what we'll do. We had good experience with carjet.com on last Fall's week in Portugal. Turned out to be a Budget car and they upgraded the car size- in that part of the world, not always a good thing- narrow streets and parking spaces. Be sure you do a real good inventory of dings, scrapes, etc. With Carjet, extra insurance is included, so you don't tie up the credit limit on your CC.
> 
> The In'tl DL is unnecessary. It's just a translation of your US dl.
> 
> ...





Where I can find the AVE high speed train schedules and cities of service?

Thank you!


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## Sandy VDH (Sep 11, 2009)

lindsey1 said:


> Where I can find the AVE high speed train schedules and cities of service?
> 
> Thank you!



For the route at least.

http://www.raileurope.com/train-faq/european-trains/ave/rail-map.html


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## EZ-ED (Sep 14, 2009)

Mark,

Sol-Mar has cars... at least for early May as we just reserved one for our trip.

http://www.solmar.es/carhire/malaga_airport_car_hire.shtml

Good luck


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## IuLiKa (Sep 27, 2009)

*Doyouspain and record rental car*

We just got back from Malaga, and we rented through doyouspain.com (based on the advice on the board) and the fact that was the around $100 cheaper for the week. Doyouspain is a broker, and the actual company was Record Rental Car
Now, when we got there we waited more than 2 hours in line, and then we found out that we were charged for the gas, and we were supposed to bring the tank back empty. So from 200 euros a week I went up to 265 euros just like that! Not sure if that is the policy at Hertz, or AutoEurope, or in Spain in general (as someone told me), but we pretty much feel we got screwed. (since we did not leave the tank emply, maybe still 20% gas).

Ah, and also there was nobody when we got to the garage to pick up the car, the car was hit pretty decent, in multiple spots, and had around 150000 km on board! When I dropped off the car, there was a person there, and I went to complain about the quality of the car and I noticed that I wasn't the only one. And what is funny is that when we checked in at the counter to pick up the car the person at the desk was very insisted that we should get some insurance to protect us for negligence such as scratches.  My husband was almost ready to give in. When I saw the shape that the car was in, I could not believe. 
We plan to go there in the next couple of years again, we loved it. But I have to be more carefull about the car rental. This is the only problem that I had in Spain. 

Iulika


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## jerseyfinn (Sep 27, 2009)

Car hire in Spain is both a usual process and it has it's quirks. My remarks here are from years of experiences at Malaga airport (AGP).

For Americans, the biggest realization is that if you want lower prices, you better know how to drive a stick as automatic and larger vehicles are more costly. Another quirk is that during peak periods, rental cars turn over very quickly, so expect that they simply splash some water on the exterior and fill the tank before releasing the car. Unlike Ireland, where they treat their rental vehicles with TLC and assiduous maintainance, Spanish cars are gonna have dinks and scratches on them -- it's the nature of the region and how the roads & tight parking spaces create wear and tear.

At AGP, Carjet usually comes up with the lowest price quotes ( they are a consolidator who contracts with several companies located inside of the airport ). Prices at some of these same companies booked directly through the company are higher. Lower prices may be obtained via vendors not located in the airport garage proper. These vendors are located astride the main building ( 1/2 mile or less away -- most vendors offer pick-up drop-off at specified hours). One could walk from these vendors to the airport if returning during early AM hours when shuttle service is not running -- I would not recommend this as it is always dark and confusing at this hour.

Some vendors charge you for a full tank of gas and they tell you to return the car as near empty as you can. Others require you to fill the tank before return. Carjet sells supplemental insurance when you book with them which covers all additional issues. Otherwise one can add insurance as they wish during the pick up. I generally decline extra insurance when we travel, but I have taken extra tire & damage insurance for @ 2.50 Euro a day ( max cost of 25 Euros for the rental ) as some of the roads and drivers are gnarly here.

Malaga airport is under construction which makes driving here a bit confusing, especially in the dark ( sunrise here is always later in the morning because Spain is GMT +1 ). Car return is relatively easy though you must read signs carefully to find the correct garage level for your vendor. There are two periods of stress when driving here. First is when you take the car out and navigate the confusion around you and the first mile of driving until you hit the main roads which take you to your destination. Depending upon which level you pick up your car, you may also have to do a 180 degree turn up an inclined ramp to exit. No problem for me as I'm used to a stick, but for those infrequent stick drivers or those driving a large vehicle, it is an "interesting" experience -- and there are  scratches on the wall that testify to how far one got before scratching their car    The other stress time is trying to park your car upon return. The garage is tight and the spaces tighter -- Americans are definitely not used to this. Early AM returnees will find an emptier garage and easier parking. Key drop boxes are located at every vendor's return place. Always lock the car and drop the keys in the box. Your next challange after so doing is figuring out how to walk to the main airport building.

As to why it is presently difficult to get a car quote for the extended future. Several car companies are feeling a credit squeeze as Spanish banks are tightening their belts and reigning in credit. It's difficult for companies to be assured of sufficient credit to run their fleets, hence they are standing pat on rentals too far in the future until they know what size fleet they can finance. This likely the reason that Carjet and others are not quoting too far into the future. One simply needs to keep checking until you can finally reserve.

Barry


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