iahphx

Very reasonable rates, especially for automatic transmission vehicles.

AutoEurope uses them, so they must be respectable, but the rates seem lower if you book direct.

http://www.goldcar.es/en/

Any reports? Thanks.

Palal

I haven't rented from them, but based on experience renting from non-major agencies, you just have to make sure you can get to their location, or that they have a shuttle from somewhere.

rotanes

however you have to expect additional charges for what they say "optional" insurance. In extreme cases this can be more then the actual rental.

And you have to pay a full tank on departure and will not get a refund for any fuel left at the end of the rental

iahphx

Yeah, and I read they charge you somewhat above market rates for the fuel. So, realistically, it's going to cost you about 10-15 euros for fuel if you can get it down to "near empty" for your return.

I also found out they charge 8/euros day if you want to drive the car into France.

These 2 charges would eat up about half my savings over Sixt. On a six day rental, I would only save about $50. Not sure what I'll do. If I were staying only in Spain, the difference would be enough to make me try them.

I've also found a link to this wholesaler. They seem to get good reviews, and give you a little more insurance coverage.

https://www.economycarhire.com

exerda

We went with AurigaCrown for a recent trip to Spain. Automatics were about 1/3 what Hertz and Avis wanted for them. Very reasonable rates IMHO; we paid something like €130 for 3 days' for a mid-sized automatic--and that included the full damage waiver (paint + glass + tires was €20 on top of the rental rate) + collision insurance. They did charge up-front for a full tank of diesel--at basically the pump price, too, around €70--but refunded that when returned full.

They happened to be the first place I found which had automatics (no, my stick-shift skills are too rusty for refreshing abroad) and weren't €300+, but I can't say anything bad about the experience with them and would rent from them again.

iahphx

Thanks. No AurigaCrown in BCN for me, though.

I decided to go with National (Atesa) after leveraging the low rates I found with Goldcar into a "beat rate" through AutoEurope (if you find a lower rate and call AutoEurope, they often will beat it). Once I had to pay Goldcar's daily surcharge to drive into France, they weren't going to be any cheaper than National.

I've certainly learned a lot about finding cheap automatics in Spain from this experience. With Spain often offering the cheapest airfares to Europe these days, I suspect others will benefit from the info.

MiBau

Hi

I had really bad experiences with Goldcar last December when I used them via DoYouSpain on a trip to Gran Canaria.

What seemed to be a really good offer really wasn't. I ended up paying more than 72 euros than what was originally agreed with DoYouSpain. The queue to the counter @ Goldcar was mile-long and we'd been underway for many hours so I decided to pay and then try to reclaim the money later with DoYouSpain. That approach proved to be quite naive, so I can not recommend either company (quite the contrary, actually).

-oh, and the car I was presented to was a dented wreck with a rear side window that couldn't be properly shut. I asked for another and I got -another dented wreck(!)

I wish you good luck.

Cheers

iahphx

Thanks. But I went with more expensive Atesa -- and got a nice car -- but then I seem to have gotten stuck with an expensive repair on a flat tire (you can see the related thread). Maybe there is no good solution!

Carolinian

I agree that Goldcar is a company that pops you for multiple frauds. I rented through Economy Car Rentals and Goldcar was the provider. I complained and got a very small reimbursement. I have never had a problem before with many rentals through Economy before but they really let me down on this one. I posted my experience on a UK timeshare board and some of the members there posted that the cheap car rental company in Spain that does not rip you off is Auto Reisen.

Well, here is what happened to me. I went to the desk, and like most they asked for drivers license, passport, and credit card which I handed over. They indicated a machine to sign with a special pen, sorta like at Walmart, so I did so. That machine put my signature on a contract that I was not shown ahead of time, and when I looked at it, I noted that they were charging me more than the voucher from Economy said they were supposed to, the charge for a tank of fuel, and worst of all, it said I had been offered a choice of currencies and chose their conversion to US$ at a very bad rate. I immediately objected to the currency conversion as that is one of my pet peeves in life and also to the overcharge on rate, and questioned the price of the fuel. I was told that was all ''in the computer'' and they had no way to change it, and my only option was to cancel the rental, in which case I would not get my deposit with Economy back and would have to pay walkup rates elsewhere. I hoped Economy would straighten this all out, but except for part of the rate overcharge, they did not. I am very disappointed with them.

Later, I looked up the fuel capacity of the car I was given, multiplied that by the highest gas station price of fuel I saw and compared that to the price they charged me for the full tank. I found that I was overcharged by 40% on fuel, and when you add the currency exchange ripoff to that, I paid over 45% more than if I had bought the fuel myself at the highest price gas stations I saw on the island.

So, yes, Goldcar are scam artists of the worst order. Avoid them like the plague. And be aware that if you use Economy and get a bad supplier you will not get any help from them. Another consolidator that I am aware uses Goldcar is Carjet.

Fortunately, the car I got was not a dented wreck, but it was the dirtiest rental I have ever received, apparently not cleaned at all from previous rental as it still had trash from them in the back seat and trunk, as well as a significant amount of dirt / sand on the floors.

Carolinian

Wish I had looked up TripAdvisor on Goldcar. Here is what they have to say:

http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowTop...y_Islands.html

stablemate77

but have rented from record car rental in mallorca spain and was brand new car an reasonable rates....they are on main land spain aswell.....20 euros a day seem like fair rate for me.....i paid 10 euros but was not an auto car...they charge you for the petrol even if you not use....soo bring car back empty as possible.....smile)

Carolinian

Did Record charge you the real price of the gas or a vastly inflated amount like Goldcar does? Or did you check? Did they pull any of Goldcar's other scams like changing your currency on the contract against your wishes at an awful rate or charging more than what had been promised?

While the ''return empty'' policy is a scam in and of itself, if Record charged the real price and did not pull any of Goldcar's other scams, at least you came out ahead of what Goldcar would have done to you.

I have never used them, but the Spanish car rental company that is being recommended on many boards as one that does not pull any of these ripoffs yet gives a good rate is Auto Reisen, sometimes referred to as TopCar Auto Reisen.