Me and a group of friends are going to Spain this August for a mate's wedding. We need to book car hire but I've never actually hired a car before, does anyone have any hints and tips to avoid potential problems, heard a fair few watchdog-stlye horror stories, hidden costs, back-charges etc. Also if anyone can vouch for good car hire (local/independent?) from Alicante airport that would be helpful! :yes:

It's gonna be so hot, I am thinking about going convertible although that would probably involve a 207cc, 308cc or Megane Convertible

Alicante Airport is easy to hire from, give me 10 and i will look at who i rented with last time i was out there!

Also it might be worthy noting that getting a convertible out there would not be the best idea! It sounds great dont get me wrong but i think if your not careful you might end up with heat stroke lol That's why its rare to find a convertible out there lol

Just what i think though

These are the people i normally go with, they are mostly reasonably priced!

http://carhire.centauro.net/?ref=GOOG080229GEN&gclid=CNPLgZu3-Z8CFUIA4wodczyLWw

Most of the time they either operate on a Return empty or Return Full!

Basically they will charge you (on top of what you pay for the car) for a full tank of fuel! So when you return the car you have the choice of either leaving it empty or filling it back up and they will refund you the amount that they charged you for the fuel at the start of the rental! If you get me?

Cheers,

Dave

Convertibles are very rare and hence difficult to hire in southern spain due to the weather. The typical rental car is a small sized hatchback, which is usually a Ford Focus or simillar. Anything larger costs a fortune to hire, and will have a large excess applied.

Something else to keep in mind is that hire cars in spain are increasingly scarce due to the financial situation. Hire companies are struggling for credit to replace cars at the end of their lease so run out of cars quiet quickly.

Holidayautos are a good starting point, try and avoid the big players like Avis or Hertz directly as they are quiet expensive.

Just looked to book a Ford Focus for one week will cost you 97 euros! Not too bad really!

Thanks, points about the convertibles duly noted! And yeah they are pretty expensive! Looks like it'll be blinking Matiz, or hopefully I can convince the others to spend a bit more on a Focus or similar.

I always use Javea cars from Alicante , they are cheap

You tend to find there is shed loads of the car hire places based in the car parks , pick up and drop off there

LOADS of them

But I have always used Javea cars

Sarah

Thanks, points about the convertibles duly noted! And yeah they are pretty expensive! Looks like it'll be blinking Matiz, or hopefully I can convince the others to spend a bit more on a Focus or similar.

If there's 5 of you, you will NEED more car than a Matiz. I'm not that big a guy, and a lady friend who ussed to run one and I played shouldersie with each other and the B-posts every time we went anyplace in hers cos it was so narrow.

I've always used Avis over hear to book there. Always booked group b, and ended up with a Megane, Ibiza etc the other end. Always worked out cheaper doing here than there as well.

I assume europes groups are different to ours?

If there's 5 of you, you will NEED more car than a Matiz. I'm not that big a guy, and a lady friend who ussed to run one and I played shouldersie with each other and the B-posts every time we went anyplace in hers cos it was so narrow.

Well there'll be 7 of us but we're doing 3 cars so the couples in the group can have some freedom

I got a recommedation from someone I know to use "doyouspain" .com

He was using them a few times a year from Alicante and I used them from Gran Canaria about 2 years ago without any problems

I used www.doyouspain.com for 11 months on the trot whilst living in Costa del Sol, they are usually the cheapest. They actually use the Auriga Crown cars, so you will be getting a decent car, well they did about 2 years ago. They cover Alicante airport as well. Don't pay extra for a full tank of fuel, as they charge loads more than what the fuel actually costs.

1 tip for you, never go alongside a Spaniard on a roundabout, no matter how many lanes it has they will cut across, had so many near misses over there!

Edited 18 February, 201016 yr by peter0976

I used www.doyouspain.com for 11 months on the trot whilst living in Costa del Sol, they are usually the cheapest. They actually use the Auriga Crown cars, so you will be getting a decent car, well they did about 2 years ago. They cover Alicante airport as well. Don't pay extra for a full tank of fuel, as they charge loads more than what the fuel actually costs.

1 tip for you, never go alongside a Spaniard on a roundabout, no matter how many lanes it has they will cut across, had so many near misses over there!

We used Holidy Autos when going to Majorca a couple of years back. As they are just a broker you do not know who the hirer will be. This time turned out to be Record Rentacar. I'd never heared of them but my concerns were unfounded. We were given a new Merival which was an upgrade on the cheapest group car we booked.

The whole experience was a positive one.

Arguscarhire.com