Dazedwards

It looks like Thrifty UK are falling out of love with BMW or Audi giving them some great prices.

The prestige cars are listed as 320d, 330d, 520d, 530d and 7 series.
Most of these were in the M-Sport range when you picked them up..

Just picked the replacement up fro my 320 M Sport and received a top of the range Audi A4 TDI S-Line - Every extra on the car. navigation, Auto Box, Full parking System with Graphics Displays, Air Con, Auto Lights/wipers - Flappy paddle geer box for fun manual driving. Leather. Telephone.

And to top it off they are the S-Line version with metallic grey paint and upgraded alloys...

They are also replacing the 5 and 7 series with A5 and A6/A8 apparently.

senna60_94

I reserved a week's rental with them for early April & I booked a 330d. I emailed them earlier asking what car can it be & they replied that they're not sure atm. That's probably the reason why.
As u rented a 320d from them & got a A4 TDI as replacement, so what will the replacement for 330d be? A4 3.0TDI quattro? Is urs the facelifted model?

Dazedwards

Brand New Facelift A4 - S-Line Spec. LED lights front and back. 12 plate with 7 Miles on the clock when I picked it up.

If they are going like for like it would be the A4 3.0 litre TDI S-Line Quattro as a direct replacement as the 330D were M-Sport they used to have.

They have the A6 S-Line and A6 Quattro on prestige line, so maybe they will have the 3.0 A4 Quattro, if they dont I'd ask for the A5 as I know they have some of those arriving very soon, the local contact asked if I wanted to upgrade for an extra £80 a month.

7 of use booked long term rolling 28 day rentals from our local branch and they did them on the Christmas/January rates. into March and still being charged the same rate.

I must admit the spec of the A4 over the BMW is 10 fold, every extra is on the A4 that we have all been given.

Good luck and update once you know what you are getting..

senna60_94

Is urs the 143ps or 177ps version of 2.0TDI? Where's ur local branch? The only problem with Thrifty UK are the far out locations. I'm picking up from Abbey Rd London which seems accessible only by bus.

Dazedwards

I have no Idea, sorry can't help. I do know however it performs far better than the 320d m sport I had and it as a flappy panel gearbox for manual use.. If thats any help..
Local branch is in the midlands and they do a delivery service cost about £10 each way I think if thats any help.. (obviously not from the midlands ) but maybe your local branch can do one.
I must admit that the service and billing from thrifty is excellent, far better than the avis preferred we used to use and no hidden charges..

stuabroad

Any idea what the Premium Auto Audi A4 is like in terms of trim? I was thinking we might upgrade to the BMW M-Sport estate...not sure what the Audi quality is like?

We're renting for 20 days and I want a decent car to travel in! In emails to Thrifty at the rental location, they said they can't guarantee anything. If they have no Audi's available - does anyone know what else they would substitute with?

Thanks in advance...

Dazedwards

I deal with them on a weekly basis, I own a UK computer company and we hire long term from them.
The 3 Series they have are the old spec 3 series, we gave all our 3 series back in March 2012 as BMW did not let them have any of the new model 3 series released in UK March/April 2012. They were all snapped up by private consumers. I gave my 11 plate 3 - M-Sport Touring back and they gave me an a4 s-line with 7 miles on the clock.

Audi gave thirty a good deal, the cars in the premium range are all S-Line specification (google audi site). They replace the BMW's on 11 or 61 plates with the new audis. The only BMW models they have are the January/February Old Spec 3 Series still on a 12 plate, that at the time are 5 years old in design. They are just waiting to hit 12,000 miles and be returned to BMW.

Where are you picking the audi up from? All thrifty dealers in the UK are independent? They also charge airport premium by the DAY, so if you don't need to pick it up from the airport and can make your way to the hotel/relatives etc you could save £7-£10 a day by using a thrifty not based in an airport.

They Take a £150 deposit and you can pay at the end, they work on full fuel return so fill it up as they charge a premium if they fill it back up.

Recovery is included on all rentals.
Tires and Glass will require a payment if they happen, if its a tyre, take it to a garage in the UK and get it repaired they will match the tyre and charge you half the price than the service they send out under repair that is in the contract.
Glass will blow out the excess that can be up to £600 on a UK vehicle, so Autoglass will save you money.

If you report glass or tyre to Thrifty they will charge you and not accept the repair/replacement.

Another tip, if you get anything clipped or scratches, have it repaired before return BY A MAIN DEALER!

I had my wing mirror broken on my 320 M-Sport, BMW charged me £105 for a replacement and I got the Main Dealer Bills etc, Thrifty would have taken the £600 Excess if I had returned the car with a damaged wing mirror.

When I Swapped it for the Audio, I just Gave them the receipt from the Main Dealer and that was it, it goes on the history of the car, they are happy...

I hope the above Helps.

Dazedwards

In emails to Thrifty at the rental location, they said they can't guarantee anything. If they have no Audi's available - does anyone know what else they would substitute with?

Thanks in advance...

You are more likely to get an Audi Upgrade for the BMW, if you were to book a BMW touring you may (I say May) get the A6 Avant, Audi is the preferred premium range for Thrifty, If you booked in advance they will ship the A4 to you location in advance.

It will most probably be Gun Metal Metallic Grey, with the Thrifty sticker on the right hand side of the bumber or boot lid.. If you peal that off and open the boot you can place it on the metal part of the boot lip (trunK) and then replace it when you return the vehicle. It is then out of sight.

I hate to say this about the UK but some undesirable people target Hire Cares as an Insurance scam, they will pump into you and then you are in the realms of UK insurance.... A nightmare... If going to court you will be back out of the UK before it even gets to court, so an expensive trip back or Thrifty will charge you...

We not all like that in the UK... Honest...

stuabroad

Thanks alot for that detailed reply - it got lost in my spam folder and i just found it today.

I hear you about the repairs etc, will watch out for that.

As for the Audi trim level sounds like we should get a pretty decent car. Was interested in your comments about the Airport charge - we fly into LGW and returning it there. When i compared the costs to Oxford, they were identical...so is that an additional charge not shown in the final price? We were going to stay with my brother for a couple of days in Oxford and then pick up the car to head north but decided to just pickup the car first and then drive.

Thanks for the replies.