GlenP

Sorry to ask, but I'm wondering if anyone has any experience of using Europcar, in Luxor, or anywhere else in Egypt for that matter?

They've got various options available, which would allow me to move around the East and West Bank monuments in my own time; bearing in mind that very early morning starts would be the order of the day, just to avoid the frenetic traffic in the city itself. However, the list of country specific T&C's doesn't include Egypt and there's no indication of what sort of level of deposit they'll reserve on the credit card, which I'll be using as an emergency back up, for hotel payments, etc., if needed.

Any help of advice would be most appreciated.

AutoSlash

You can click here to see the T&C's for Egypt but unfortunately it doesn't really say anyting for deposit amount. They do have a general policy here though which basically says total rental amount plus EUR300 which is not uncommon.

GlenP

Thanks for the reply.

At least that sheds a bit of light on their policies and 300 Euros isn't that big an amount; there were online rumours of a US $900 deposit being charged.

Probably wait until closer to the travel date before finalising plans on whether to hire a car or not, due to the International Driving licence only being valid from 3 months before the date you intend to start using it.

AutoSlash

Sometimes it depends on whether you take the insurance from the rental company or not. We've seen instances where they (and I don't only mean Europcar here) will take a deposit of up to $3,000 if you decline their insurance coverage so worth asking.

GlenP

No choice in the matter of insurance, as Egyptian law requires that 3rd party, fire and theft be held as a minimum. Collision damage waiver is included in the quote and there's no option to add additional insurance.

I suppose, being very familiar with Egyptian driving habits; think the chariot race from Ben Hur, but less restrained, that it's only to be expected.

cestmoi123

Egypt may be the only market in the world where the horn is considered a periodic maintenance item like oil, tires, and coolant.

AutoSlash

I'm guessing you've never driven in India.

GlenP

Sorry to drag up my own, old posting; thanks to one and all who replied.

The General Policy link, generously provided in the quoted response contains a by country list of those not covered by the Euro 300 standard fee, which only applies in those countries where Europcar directly operates the hire service - basically this equates to Western Europe.

However, it then goes on to list the details for all the countries where Europcar operates on a franchise basis; in the specific case I was looking for it states the following:

EGYPT total rental estimate+20%+371 USD.

This would indicate that you're looking at something in the region of £400 - £500 on top of your rental fee, depending on the model of car you hire (I'll admit to having gone for cheapest option, simply because all the more expensive vehicles have a automatic transmission and I've not got a clue how to drive one )

All in all a very useful link and just a shame there doesn't appear to be a means of making it sticky, so that it's available to anyone who uses Europcar outside of Western Europe.

BTW. Don't forget that all vehicles destined for the Egyptian market must be modified in the factory to ensure that all controls, the radio and even the window winding mechanism, be it manual or electric, are directly linked to the horn (think of the brake pedal on James May's Rolls, during Top Gear's India trip).

GlenP

Just a quick update to run through the actual experience.

Arrived in Luxor at approximately midnight 14/08 and, once the Europcar Rep realised I'd exited the International, rather than the Domestic Arrivals, was taken over to the car.

Although, as with just about any car in Egypt, there were dents and scratches, these were carefully logged on the on hire form; I mean really carefully and without any prompting.

Car was supplied on a full - full basis, more on this later, and wasn't all that bad, considering it's sold as a Renault in Egypt and a Dacia in the UK.

Only glitch was that it turned out that, although I'd specifically requested a manual transmission, they had an automatic waiting for me. I'd never driven one in my life and so was rather nervous of this, but the Europcar Rep kindly spent 20 minutes taking me through the basics before jumping in to accompany me on the initial 3 - 4 miles of the journey into town; no chance of swapping it for the manual, BTW, as it had been specially brought to Luxor, from Hurghada, which is 4 hours away, on the Red Sea coast.

The deposit blocked against the credit card was US $500, so nowhere near as bad as the website indicated it might be.

Returning it, was a doddle, although the Rep was a bit later than planned, as he'd had to walk 3 miles to the airport (if I'd seen him whilst driving there I could have picked him up and possibly avoided the fine toothed comb inspection of the car and documents by the Central Security Police, before I could actually enter the airport car park.

I'd paid for the hotel to take the car and have it cleaned and topped up that morning, but was charged LE 100 (less that £5 and approx. US $5) to cover the fact that it wasn't actually quite full by the time I got it to the airport (probably because the auto box seemed rather reluctant to change up).

Damage was inspected for; only a wheel trim having come off whilst driving down the Kings' Valley Road, on the West Bank, and getting scratched, but it appears no charge has been levied for this.

Overall, apart from the, initial, sheer terror of driving in town, where you are the dangerous one, due to not knowing the rules everyone else is working to, and encountering some massive speed humps; that aren't always signposted, not as bad an experience as I was expecting.

I can't fault Europcar, but I'd advise anyone to think carefully before hiring a car in Egypt unless they are a quick learner. Yes, I might think about repeating the experience but I'd have to opt for another vehicle, perhaps stretching to a Kia, with 5 doors and rear seats that can be dropped and make loading luggage easier.

AutoLook

It should be easier to learn how to drive a car with automatic transmission, when you already know how to drive a car with a manual one. Going from automatic to manual is harder

Driving in countries like Egypt or India can be crazy. Some would even joke "that is part of the travel experience".

cestmoi123

You're a brave man. It would never cross my mind to attempt to drive in Egypt, when you can hire a car with driver for $30-50/day.

GlenP

This may be the case, but combined with the fact that you're driving in a country where it's almost impossible to find out such basic rules of the road as priority on roundabouts (apparently they use the French system of giving priority to those wanting to come onto the roundabout, rather than the UK system of priority for those already on it, but it can be rather disconcerting to then find a motorbike, with 3 people on it, coming at you the wrong way), it's preferable not to have to learn an unfamiliar method of driving the car itself, at the same time.

Needless to say, on the few times I ventured out when there was any likelihood of being a even a reasonable amount of traffic; Luxor is nowhere near as busy as Cairo, though I always approached the roundabout at the bottom of Television Street with a degree of trepidation, and the West Bank can be incredibly quiet, I tended to revert to attempting to change gear manually.

All I can hope is that my frantic attempts to grab the, nonexistent gear knob didn't result in my making any unintentional rude gestures to other drivers

GlenP

Oh, I know what you mean.

However, there have been frequent queries received on another, travel related site, regarding the feasibility of self-drive, in Egypt, to which my response has always been pretty much the same as yours; although perhaps worded more along the lines of, "Tell me, when did you develop this death wish?"

However, after one person claimed that driving oneself was an easy option, I thought it only right that I report back, based on personal experience (the operative word being experience, in both senses).

It wasn't quite as bad as I expected but it is not an easy option by a long chalk; nothing to do with the car hire company, I should add, who offered a very good service.

TBH. With the drop in the value of the Egyptian Pound, following its flotation on the international markets, it's even cheaper to take the local ferry (approximately US $0.10 / £0.05 each way) and hire either a cab or tuk tuk on the West Bank, when visiting the tombs and temples on that side.

Choose the right hotel and it's easy to walk to most places on the East Bank; go one street back from the Corniche and Khaled ibn Waled, and you can avoid the calleche drivers and felluca captains to a great extent.