spacemoth

Hello!

We are a family of 7 heading over together to Ireland. We are looking at renting an 8-9 passenger because the 7 passenger vans don't seem to have much room left over for luggage. But the reviews on Sixt in Dublin are horrible, offering the best rates. We are willing to pay a bit more for an automatic but not a deal breaker, just hoping to figure something out so our whole budget isn't eaten up. I have tried numerous codes with the big name companies but can't seem to find car rental coupon codes that slash prices the way that they do here. Thanks for any advice! Cheers!

Kelly

rcspeirs

That class of vehicle is a real rarity on the roads of the U.K. and Ireland. You’ll struggle to find availability, let alone secure a discount.
If you don’t mind being split, two “ordinary” cars will probably be cheaper.

stut

You may also struggle on some of the roads! While it's not quite the road system of the 80s, it's hardly the wide-open freeways of the US. A 7-seater is a large car; a 9-seater is a small bus - there's a step change in vehicle size.

As you've noted, you'll also pay a premium for automatic transmission.

One thing that may bring the price down - rental prices in Ireland include CDW and insurance by default, as domestic insurance policies don't include those over here. If you can find a way of getting quotes without these (assuming you have it elsewhere) that may help.

Another thing to watch out for is the law on children's car seats, which is quite strict in Ireland:

https://blog.myvehicle.ie/2017/02/ch...tands-ireland/

Raffles

This can only end in tears.

You want a 9 seater bus .... and automatic (rare in UK / Ireland), which will be right hand drive (which you are presumably not used to) to drive in a country where the road system is often not great outside major towns.

Obviously it can be done but I wouldn't be keen.

lwildernorva

I'd second the two vehicle recommendation. Although that may mean you have two drivers who may be unfamiliar with driving with a steering wheel on the right side of the vehicle, you'll find more availability at a cheaper price. Driving on the narrow rural roads can be nerve wracking. I've only driven econoboxes, and it's pretty intimidating to encounter a lorry or bus coming the other way in one of those; I can't imagine what that encounter might be like driving a small bus of your own.

Another factor against the larger vehicle: parking. Many times, it's an issue searching for a parking spot in a small vehicle. It is only worse the larger the vehicle you get. And this remains true whether you're in a large city or a small town.

And although you don't mention if you intend to use such a vehicle in Dublin, if you do, here's my brief advice: DON'T! I never take a vehicle for any portion of a trip where I'm staying in central Dublin. The streets are ill suited for vehicles, parking is difficult to find, and just like in a number of large US cities, parking can be extremely expensive. If your lodgings are a couple of miles outside of central Dublin, it can be done, but you should not use the vehicle to ferry folks into the central part of the city. I don't do it when I have an econobox and certainly wouldn't do it if I were renting a larger vehicle. Just arrange to get in to central Dublin from the airport and rent the vehicle when you leave. If all your travels are outside of Dublin, then good, rent the vehicle upon your arrival in Dublin.

And I regularly send folks heading to Ireland to this thread which highlights many of the issues renting a vehicle in Ireland: Car Rental Insurance in Ireland -- Very Confused. The TL;DR version: don't assume that you can stroll up to a rental counter in Ireland as you would in the US and waive local insurance so you can rely on insurance offered by your credit card. You can use insurance afforded by your credit card, but it's almost certain the rental car company in Ireland will require written proof of the coverage afforded. That thread covers that issue and more.

I've used this link to rent cars from Dublin my last several trips: https://www.connsirelandcarrental.com/home. You rent through Hertz with this company. "Super cover" insurance (another issue covered by the above thread) is included in their price, and I've found that so long as I rent more than 30 days in advance, their prices are lower than the prices offered with "super cover" insurance by Hertz itself.

WorldLux

^ While a vehicle with 9 seats is still considered a car with regard to driving license classes, the only vehicles that come to mind are the Mercedes Sprinter and Volkswagen Crafter which are mini-busses.

They can be rented but I've never sat in one with an automatic box.

Just wondering: Have you done any driving in Ireland or Europe with similar road systems? A 9-seater you're not used to will get you in trouble quickly. You can trash the small cars I often rent around backroads but anything bigger will be a pain in the .... .

Driving on the wrong side will not be particularly difficult in a car. It will be in a wider mini-bus driving on narrow roads. When switching sides it usually takes a couple of miles before I'm used to driving on the right/left side. The first time I made the switch from left to right-hand drive I took a whole day getting used to it.

pauldb

Would you manage with a larger 7 seater? I appreciate your concern as we often travel as a 6, and small 7 seaters like a Touran or Zafira have pretty poor boot space left with all the seats in use.

You'd have to look in detail by company but Hertz do Standard and Full-Size 7 seaters. The latter is described with twice the luggage capacity and the example is a VW Caddy Maxi Life which I've had before as a rental and the boot is generous. https://dynimages.themotorreport.com...wide-12a7s.jpg

henry999

Of course, one always checks over the vehicle carefully before leaving the rental yard and documents any existing damage. In Ireland, especially (because of the narrow roads), whatever size car you get, be sure to look at the off (i.e., left-hand) side hubcaps! They may well be badly scraped or gouged and you don't want that coming back on you.

Worcester

I have never seen a van of the size suggested with an automatic gearbox.

Just a word on the insurance. When I turned down the additional insurance on a car in Dublin they took the whole deposit (not just blocked the amount) which I have never seen else where. This was with Avis.

expatboy

A family of 7 in a 7 seater will leave virtually no room for the luggage you'll likely be taking - we are a family of 6 and have always struggled. Particularly when you book into a class of vehicle, and the dreaded words "or similar" appear, and you can end up with what is really a 5+2 (e.g. Ford S-Max) or a people mover (proper 7 seater, VW Sharan etc). I would go for two cars in this scenario, assuming there's 2+ drivers in your party. If you're just using it for day trips, then a 7 seater might be OK, but again it's highly likely to be a manual gearbox...

Good luck!

TribalistMeathead

Speaking from personal experience...

1) The Ford S-Max will accommodate seven passengers, but not as comfortably as a minivan or 7-passenger SUV in the US
2) The trunk is pretty spacious, but certainly not spacious enough to hold luggage for 7 people (for what I'm assuming is a trip of a week or more)
3) Renting 2 cars is definitely the way to go, BUT
3a) If you've never driven on the left side of the road before, or in Ireland before, then I don't recommend adding the complication of learning to shift with your left hand on top of that, but then that also means:
3b) The only way you'd be able to economically rent two cars with automatic transmissions is to rent two compact cars, which means you're getting two VW Golfs, which definitely cannot hold 3-4 adults and their luggage for two days.

Frankly, I'd price a MPV/people carrier and a compact car, the MPV to hold 5-6 adults and some luggage, the compact car to hold 1-2 adults and the rest of the luggage.

CurtainRingSalesman

I’ll cheerfully disagree with all the nay-sayers.