I booked a car for a trip to Croatia for four days. I decided to go with sixt since the price was unbeatable, $82 all in. Now that part of the story is fantastic.

However that's about all that was pleasant about the experience. First off the agent at the desk starting pushing me to buy a full gas tank telling me that there were no gas stations for 50km around the airport. I became slightly disoriented by the absurdity of his claim and after I came to my senses politely declined the fuel. He then read my request listed on the reservation of a 2.0tdi golf if possible. I didn't know what they had in their fleet but I requested it hoping for the best. He then proceeded to inform me that that car was a different class to what I had booked and so it was not possible. I would instead get a Peugeot 208. I thought it was odd but cars are often substituted in the same category and so I went along with it. I was however very confused how a small engined golf was CLMR but a bigger engine put it outside CLMR.

Here is where I have a question for all of you. Does the Peugeot 208 actually fall under CLMR? From what I can find it is in fact CDMR at best. I wish I had known it's actual classification at the time. Is there an actual place where I can look these things up?

Next he asks about insurance. I told him I would like to decline all insurance as I would be using my credit card to which he said that is fine and informed me there would be a deposit of ~$1600.

Which brings me to my next question. Is this a reasonable deposit considering the rental amount? I think it's absolutely absurd. Furthermore the guy jammed my credit card in and charged my card before I even told him that I agreed. He had asked for a credit card when I first walked up to the counter. I assumed he just needed since it was the card which I booked online with. I didn't think he would use it for the deposit without warning.

Luckily the rest was pretty smooth until I forgot my international driving permit in the car. They claimed they couldn't find it which is the cherry on top but I am certain it was there. My fault, but man does it really irks me on top of everything else. Next time I will be booking europcar, Avis, Hertz, or anything and pay more. It's a shame because the service itself as a car rental is alright but picking up the car was just unnecessarily unpleasant. Also was certainly not expecting anywhere near that large of a deposit. It was quoted in Euro at the counter and when he started with one-thousand... I probably looked at him like he was insane.

Also to note that pending deposit doesn't go away as soon as you return the car. I read it can take up to 10 days!? I don't know what world they live in that a $1600 deposit on a $80 rental is okay and not released immediately post inspection.

what do you guys think? I'm curious to hear whether or not the vehicle given and the deposit were fair. Perhaps I should have read some fine print somewhere more carefully? I consider the guy fearmongering at the rental counter semi standard for a rental experience but still a strike against sixt especially with how bold his lies were. There was a gas station no more than 5km away.

If it's a CC, it's very unlikely to be a deposit and rather a hold on your CL which simply shows as pending. Thus, only an issue if you have a low CL.

Yes, it's reasonable for a foreign renter because the hold has nothing to do with the cost of the rental but the cost of repairs if you damage the vehicle and your CC doesn't have a sufficient CL to handle the repairs.

If the CL is an issue, I would suggest calling your CC issuer and asking for a temporary increase of $2K or thereabouts until the pending item resolves itself. Presuming that you've got good credit and no hassles, it's likely to be granted (unless you are asking for a $2K increase on a $1,700 card!).

I thought I had read sixt generally does 2-3 times the rental amount? In this case we are talking 20x which is quite a bit more. Europcar for example charged me a 500 euro deposit last rental on a 240 euro rental which seems reasonable. I also declined insurance in that case.

It was irritating as he didn't ask for confirmation before putting it on the card. It put me over my limit but oddly went through. I would have preferred to use another card and avoided that issue altogether.

The rental agent was clearly a bit of a shady character, but it's not uncommon at all to have a high deposit if you decline the insurance. With an all-in price of $82, it's not surprising they try to push add-ons and upgrades. That's not to say it's right, but it is reality.

Seems par for the course. Most rental agents I have encountered have came off as a bit sleazy.

Thrifty at SFO told me that the getting fuel outside the airport was more expensive than prepaying for the whole tank. My Gasbuddy app confirmed that was a lie.

An agent at Enterprise told me that their promotions are based on how often they sell upgrades and the CDW, so hence why so many agents are so aggressive.

Their goal is to milk as much out of you as they can before you leave the counter. Just decline everything, get the keys, and be on your way.

Well then appears I've just had very good luck in the past I guess. Does anyone know where I could find the Peugeot 208s classification? Thanks for the responses!

Well, at least in France, the Peugeot 208 is an Economy, or EDMR. The Peugeot 308 would be CDMR (as is the Golf in Croatia).
https://www.sixt.com/php/fleet/vehic...p_list_dynamic

That's a bit upsetting. I'll have to give them a call about that.

In my case, in Peru, it was a fixed amount, $1200, which is the max that you're liable for if you take out all the coverages that Sixt provides. It doesn't mater whether you're renting for one hour or one month, it's still $1200, so it has nothing to do with the rate you're paying. (The coverages that lower it from the full value of the car down to $1200 may vary depending on the cost of your rental, but the uncovered $1200 doesn't change with the cost of your rental.)

My guess is that anything that's a round number (exactly 500 Euros or exactly 1200 USD in my case) is likely to be a flat amount, and not really related to the cost of the rental. So I'm not sure it's really correct that Sixt does 2-3 time the rental amount. That's probably just an average based on average rental prices, but the lower the rental price, the higher a flat fee is going to seem by comparison, of course.

"A deposit of up to three times the hire price is charged to the chosen means of payment as a security. The exact deposit is determined on collection since the amount is dependent on the vehicle."

However it turns out there's a different policy for each country. I believe while searching I came across this from another country. Hmm I do wish this was more clear upon booking on the website.