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Rental car in Spain

LAX Mom

LAX Mom

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We are thinking about a trip to Spain (probably Marriott Marbella) and have looked into renting a car through carjet. I've done a search on this forum and it looks like many of you recommend carjet.

I've checked out their site and have a question. Can you book a car without paying for it in advance (like in the US) without a cancellation penalty.

I'm wondering because we'll be flying stand-by and I'm not sure if we'll fly to Madrid or Malaga. If possible I'd like to have a reservation in both places. But if they require you to pre-pay for the rental that won't work.

Any suggestions?
Thanks!!
 
Lisa, Why not ask them? I rented from Carjet in Portugal last year. Turned out to be from the Budget counter, and they ran my card when I got the car. I wrote back and forth with some questions and they got back- not always immediately because of the time difference, but my questions were answered.

Jim Ricks
 
spain

I think you are ok in Malaga etc but not in the Canary Islands (which are owned by Spain). For some reason they require prepayment.
 
Europcar does offer a pay now or pay latter plan with the pay now a little cheaper. While I found them the cheapest, the did nit pick on slight dents and tried to overcharge for their repairs. Amex credit card, whom I used for ins, shot them down and they dropped the extra charges.
 
Thanks for the suggestions! I emailed carjet and they said they allow cancellations. They also require a pre-pay for Madrid, but at Malaga you pay when you arrive.

Derb, That's not a good situation when they try to charge you for some slight dents. Most rental cars have some dings & scratches. We rented from Alamo once in Munich and they tried to charge us for a cracked windshield. We disputed the charge and were sucessful, but I sometimes think they figure they can just stick extra charges on foreign renters.
 
LAX Mom said:
Thanks for the suggestions! I emailed carjet and they said they allow cancellations. They also require a pre-pay for Madrid, but at Malaga you pay when you arrive.

Derb, That's not a good situation when they try to charge you for some slight dents. Most rental cars have some dings & scratches. We rented from Alamo once in Munich and they tried to charge us for a cracked windshield. We disputed the charge and were sucessful, but I sometimes think they figure they can just stick extra charges on foreign renters.
Click to expand...

I had that almost happen in FRA with Thrifty; it was like they were going over the windshield with a magnifying glass.
 
LAX Mom said:
. . . Most rental cars have some dings & scratches.
Click to expand...

Actually it depends upon the region. In Ireland, those cars are assiduosly cared for & you are wise to take the extra insurance as opposite side driving combined with Irish tidiness means that you better return the car as you found it ( they note every scratch before & after ). That said, we had an "incident" in Ireland, & they were extremely helpful with processing paperwork -- then again, we took the extra insurance & all parties knew it was all covered, so we had a happy ending. And the Irish know that many Yanks will inevitably have a problem & they always suggest the additional waiver coverage as much to help you out as well as covering their situation.

In Malaga, the cars are gonna start out dinked & dented as that is the nature of life for all cars in the region. I always do a walkaround & have had a couple of instances where I go back to the rental desk to assert dents etc. They shake their head and say it's OK ( we've always rented via Carjet with no problems/issues BTW ). Although carjet ( or the company ) provides insurance on each car, you might want to take the extra coverage on tires/rims as these are not covered & given the roads etc. it might not be a bad idea if the cost looks right to you. Also a good idea to rent smaller-sized vehicles given the tight garages & crunchy parking in general. So long as you don't smash something in, they do not seem to say very much at the vendors that Carjet deals with.

And yes, you can reserve without paying in advance. Carjet actually communicates very well with it's customers, so you can relax so long as you keep in touch with them for any changes.

Enjoy your visit. There is a lot to see out there.

Barry
 
jerseyfinn said:
Actually it depends upon the region.

In Malaga, the cars are gonna start out dinked & dented as that is the nature of life for all cars in the region. I always do a walkaround & have had a couple of instances where I go back to the rental desk to assert dents etc.
Click to expand...

Not true about cars from Malaga airport. The car we picked up was immaculate, not a mark on it anywhere. It was through Carjet, but I can't remember the actual company we got it from on site.
I definitely agree with the advice to check over before you leave and to notify of any problems at that time.
 
Thanks for all the suggestions! The extra insurance is a great idea!

Driving on the other side of the road in Ireland scares me! I've been to London many times but have never rented a car. Of course you don't want one in the city, but we've used buses/trains for trips outside the city. I'm too old to start driving in the UK! I can barely cross the street without getting hit there.
 
Carjet rental

I booked through Carjet just a few weeks ago out of Malaga Airport

Carjet is a booking agent and the actual rental company was SOLMAR.

THey didnt charge my card until I arrived and picked up the vehicle but want to share a few issues and give you a heads up as this was a bit of a challenge

1- On Arrival , the rent a car desk at the arriving terminal for SOLMAR was closed with a sign that was almost impossilbe to read and as my spanish is non-existance I asked a few English speaking airport representatives for help and non- of them knew where to pick up the car.

2- By trial and error ( and a few shouting episodes with my wife) we found that the rent a car pick ups where in the parking structure accross from the terminal in the 2nd lower tier ( actually the lowest floor in the parking basement)

3- YOu had to pay for a full tank of gas upfront ( no fill it up before you return like we do in the states) . Since they upgraded me to a larger vehicle it took 60 liters or petrol at 1.5 Euros or I prepaid $90 bucks for gas. The vehicle was so efficient that I barely used 1/2 a tank. Recommend you rent the smallest vehicle that you can comfortably fit into to conserve the gas charge. It also will be handy when driving through the narrow streets and parking.

4- THe car was a brand new French car which took a while to find the various buttons and switched but overall it was a great car. THere was a few dings in the passenger side door which i didnt notice when I pulled out of the dark garage at the airport but noticed later when i got to my resort. I worried for most of the week about the dings and visioned a fight when i returns but they passed me without questions. Obviously they had records of the prior damage but would have been nice if they pointed it out on pick up.

OVerall, Carjet worked in getting a reasonable priced quality rental . I bought top-up insurance from carjets wide site. THe SOLMAR clerk told me that if i had any damage that I would have to pay for it and Carjet insurance would have reimbursed me.

BTW the highways and roads are good in southern Spain. Would recommend you have a GPS unit as the signs are difficult to transalate

Good luck:)
 
Lately, I have found the best prices on European car rentals at www.economycarrentals.com They take a very small deposit upfront and you pay most of the rental fee when you pick up the car.
 
I generally found carjet to be the cheapest, but I need an automatic, which makes a big difference in price over there. Also, I can't tell from the carjet page whether they provide full insurance coverage or whether I have to purchase additional coverage to be safe.
 
Just looked up Carjet on an upcoming rental in Austria and Economy Car Rentals had them beat on price, which is generally what I have found. I have not rented in Spain in a long time, but have in Germany, France, UK, and Austria.
 
Carolinian said:
Just looked up Carjet on an upcoming rental in Austria and Economy Car Rentals had them beat on price, which is generally what I have found. I have not rented in Spain in a long time, but have in Germany, France, UK, and Austria.
Click to expand...

I only know about Spain. For my one-week rental in Malaga next summer, Economy Car Rentals is 340 Euros, while Carjet is 210. Edit: I saw lowest rates from other companies as high as $1,500. :eek:
 
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Keitht said:
Not true about cars from Malaga airport. The car we picked up was immaculate, not a mark on it anywhere. It was through Carjet, but I can't remember the actual company we got it from on site.
I definitely agree with the advice to check over before you leave and to notify of any problems at that time.
Click to expand...


I don't know Keitht, I guess one of us is either lucky or unlucky. :shrug:

In 13 rentals over 6 years, we've had two "clean" ( no dent ) cars & the rest either had noticable wear & tear dents/scratches & on 3 occassions, significant damage upon pick up. All rentals booked via Carjet, and through either Europa Goldcar or Auriga. They are indeed mechanically sound vehicles however. I've always been surprised at Malaga's nonchalent attitude towards the dents & scratches as the places I rent from in the States always have you sign off on a damage form during pickup & dents are carefully noted & accounted for on return ( usually Dollar ). At Malaga, the rental form has a diagram of the car, but no indications of damage except for the times I return to the dest to note it. A lot of the vehicles around Malaga have dents & scratches as tight parking makes for "incidents".

Another thing we've observed at Malaga is that often, the cars are simply gassed up & hosed down quickly with little attention paid to the interior ( more so with Goldcar as Auriga tends to clean the vehicle more thoroughly ). But we travel in July & late September, times when demand is high & waiting lines can be long as cars literally turn over after being returned.

I've always been curious about how the Avis & Hertz rental cars look as those companies tend to emphasize service ( and their rental rates are significantly higher than what Carjet brokers for us ). Then again, when one looks at the rental car exit ramp & sees the paint scratches on the walls, you know that someone is not having a good day in Spain ;) .


Barry
 
can we add this thread to the sticky

MOD-Since we already have info on the sticky about car rental, can we add this thread too?
 
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