Ins and Outs of renting a car in England, need advice.
Dec 11, 2019, 6:50 am
#16
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Even in the UK, though, your problem is twofold once you have your car. First, other than the modern motorways, Scotland and the UK have roads that were built long before the modern automobile. I've found the roads to be quite good, but it's intolerable at busy times inside the cities, and the rural areas can present challenges as well. Right-side driving is not always easy to adjust to, and as a result, you may find the occasional scrape with a car will occur.
That leads to the second problem. The damage discovered when you drop the car off at the end of your trip will generally require that you work through your credit card company. After you've left the country. And can no longer check the car for the damage that is claimed to have occurred. That makes it tough to contest much of anything--if the rental car company says you owe $2000 for damages on the car, you have scant resources for contesting that assertion.
Yes, insurance over there is generally two or three times the daily price of a rental. That doesn't mean the insurance isn't worth taking out. Get as much information as you can before going. Understand that the risk of damaging a car is probably higher over there than in the US. Realize that the UK/Ireland/other foreign country rental car agency has the "home court" advantage. And I agree with the advice others have given that renting directly through the agency rather than through a third-party website is preferred.
Written by someone with over twenty rental experiences in the UK/Ireland.
That leads to the second problem. The damage discovered when you drop the car off at the end of your trip will generally require that you work through your credit card company. After you've left the country. And can no longer check the car for the damage that is claimed to have occurred. That makes it tough to contest much of anything--if the rental car company says you owe $2000 for damages on the car, you have scant resources for contesting that assertion.
Yes, insurance over there is generally two or three times the daily price of a rental. That doesn't mean the insurance isn't worth taking out. Get as much information as you can before going. Understand that the risk of damaging a car is probably higher over there than in the US. Realize that the UK/Ireland/other foreign country rental car agency has the "home court" advantage. And I agree with the advice others have given that renting directly through the agency rather than through a third-party website is preferred.
Written by someone with over twenty rental experiences in the UK/Ireland.
Roads are old all over Europe, but even smaller A and B roads in the UK have been resurfaced since the invention of the automobile!
Dec 11, 2019, 7:18 am
#17
Moderator: UK and Ireland & Europe
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I think you greatly overstate the issue with 'damages.' It has become fashionable on FT to repeat the mantra that European car rental companies are persnickety in this respect. In over 25 years of renting cars all over Europe I have never had more than a trivial discussion about this. Of course you'll be charged if you scrape the aluminium wheels or put a dent in the bumper, but that's about it. Be smart, take detailed pictures of the car at the start and end of the rental, including the odometer, and there will be less arguing. Compare a recent Alamo rental in Honolulu where at check out the agent gave me the an empty duct tape roll (the cardboard bit) and told me to take a picture of any damage bigger than that hole!
Roads are old all over Europe, but even smaller A and B roads in the UK have been resurfaced since the invention of the automobile!
Roads are old all over Europe, but even smaller A and B roads in the UK have been resurfaced since the invention of the automobile!
In the year following my purchasing the insurance, I got charged for a puncture (screw in the road) a windscreen chip (kids with stones on a bridge) and a written off van due to a ladder coming off a pickup on the motorway and coming through my windscreen (I kept control thankfully). Read into that what you will.
Dec 11, 2019, 9:29 am
#18
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I think you greatly overstate the issue with 'damages.' It has become fashionable on FT to repeat the mantra that European car rental companies are persnickety in this respect. In over 25 years of renting cars all over Europe I have never had more than a trivial discussion about this. Of course you'll be charged if you scrape the aluminium wheels or put a dent in the bumper, but that's about it. Be smart, take detailed pictures of the car at the start and end of the rental, including the odometer, and there will be less arguing. Compare a recent Alamo rental in Honolulu where at check out the agent gave me the an empty duct tape roll (the cardboard bit) and told me to take a picture of any damage bigger than that hole!
Roads are old all over Europe, but even smaller A and B roads in the UK have been resurfaced since the invention of the automobile!
Roads are old all over Europe, but even smaller A and B roads in the UK have been resurfaced since the invention of the automobile!
Insurance, in the absence of laws requiring it, probably wouldn't be necessary for a lot of drivers--I'm 65, and other than an incident involving minor damage when I was just learning to drive when I was 16, I've never hit another vehicle. But I've maintained insurance the entire time for reasons more than just the legal requirement. There's no way to know that you'll have or continue to have an unblemished record, you can't always avoid accidents caused by the carelessness of others (I've suffered three rear-end accidents while stopped in my life, including one in a rental in California several years ago), and cash flow considerations may make it sensible to delegate to a third-party the risk of payment should an incident occur.
And I think it's valid for a driver renting a car in an unfamiliar country to take into account all of the risks that may be presented to him--including those that may be addressed by proper precautions. I always decline coverage in the UK and rely on CC coverage because I know through multiple experiences that the risks on the roads there are either similar to what I see in the US, that I've become accustomed to the quirks, or that my CC coverage, including the documentation required to pursue a claim, is more than sufficient without requiring but so much intervention from me that I don't need to worry. I contrast that to my experience in Ireland where I now take the super cover on every occasion because the roads outside the motorways and some N roads can be tricky at best.
As the OP mentioned, the typical experience picking up a rental car for an American arriving in Europe is compounded by grogginess from an overnight flight. The converse of that, the dropoff experience, is compounded by the typical decision to arrive at the rental car center with just enough time to make your flight. Hearing then that the rental company wants to charge you for damage you may not have been aware of at a cost that's difficult to contest since you'll be thousands of miles back home within the day is difficult, especially if you haven't taken ordinary precautions, such as pictures of the car taken on pickup or knowing more about your CC coverage than that using it means you don't have to pay two or three times your quoted rental price to get your rental car.
Dec 11, 2019, 2:11 pm
#19
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: London
Posts: 1,546
"I think you greatly overstate the issue with 'damages.'"
My experience different. Example 1 - an unpleasant (many month) fight with Europcar over damages that I found before accepting the car (and had documented by Europcar) but they still charged me for. Example 2 - last month I was charged £171 by Avis for a new tyre, for a small scuff mark on the tyre that I am convinced would not even have been glanced at in North America.
That said, now that Hertz and Avis have moved to fully digital (including pictures for Hertz) records, I've found much less scope for disputes..
My experience different. Example 1 - an unpleasant (many month) fight with Europcar over damages that I found before accepting the car (and had documented by Europcar) but they still charged me for. Example 2 - last month I was charged £171 by Avis for a new tyre, for a small scuff mark on the tyre that I am convinced would not even have been glanced at in North America.
That said, now that Hertz and Avis have moved to fully digital (including pictures for Hertz) records, I've found much less scope for disputes..
Dec 13, 2019, 12:58 pm
#20
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2019
Posts: 8
I appreciate the posts above. I found a great link to an article that seems to explain the sort of "fees", I'm talking about. Auto Europe - Car Rental Fees . https://www.autoeurope.com/travel-tips/car-rental-fees/ Also in my perusing, I found a "Premium Location Fee" that was about 25 pounds for London Heathrow and a UK "Road Tax" of about 2 pounds per day. Got to love the hidden additional costs. I ended up booking an Avis car through Expedia and reviewed all the fine print. All taxes and fees are covered and I have it in writing, although it's no guarantee, I did print it out and will bring with me. Hopefully, I don't stand there arguing with the clerk when I show up to the Avis counter.
Dec 13, 2019, 1:08 pm
#21
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I appreciate the posts above. I found a great link to an article that seems to explain the sort of "fees", I'm talking about. Auto Europe - Car Rental Fees . https://www.autoeurope.com/travel-tips/car-rental-fees/
Also in my perusing, I found a "Premium Location Fee" that was about 25 pounds for London Heathrow and a UK "Road Tax" of about 2 pounds per day. Got to love the hidden additional costs.
I ended up booking an Avis car through Expedia and reviewed all the fine print. All taxes and fees are covered and I have it in writing, although it's no guarantee, I did print it out and will bring with me. Hopefully, I don't stand there arguing with the clerk when I show up to the Avis counter.
Also in my perusing, I found a "Premium Location Fee" that was about 25 pounds for London Heathrow and a UK "Road Tax" of about 2 pounds per day. Got to love the hidden additional costs.
I ended up booking an Avis car through Expedia and reviewed all the fine print. All taxes and fees are covered and I have it in writing, although it's no guarantee, I did print it out and will bring with me. Hopefully, I don't stand there arguing with the clerk when I show up to the Avis counter.
Why did you not book direct with Avis?
[Avis UK or Avis USA]
Dec 13, 2019, 4:04 pm
#25
Join Date: Aug 2013
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Dec 13, 2019, 11:17 pm
#27
Join Date: Jul 2019
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I am renting a Hertz one-way from Bath to Holyhead, and I am unclear about the term “meet and greet.” Is that simply a location that shuttles renters to the car lot? I need to drop off our car as close to where we will board the Stena and with as little grief as possible (8:00 office opens, 8:55 sailing). Enterprise is also an option but proximity to Stena is paramount over cost. Has anyone had direct experience with Hertz Holyhead?
Dec 13, 2019, 11:26 pm
#28
Join Date: Nov 2006
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The main difference in renting over here (as pointed out above) compared to the US is that the vast majority of vehicles are manual [stick shift] and an automatic is a premium vehicle that has to be especially booked.
Consequently driving on "the wrong side" of the road in a stick shift requiring using your left hand to change gear comes as a learning shock to some the first time!
Dec 14, 2019, 6:01 am
#29
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Just remember that in the UK and Ireland we do Left-side driving! That should keep the scrapes down
The main difference in renting over here (as pointed out above) compared to the US is that the vast majority of vehicles are manual [stick shift] and an automatic is a premium vehicle that has to be especially booked.
Consequently driving on "the wrong side" of the road in a stick shift requiring using your left hand to change gear comes as a learning shock to some the first time!
The main difference in renting over here (as pointed out above) compared to the US is that the vast majority of vehicles are manual [stick shift] and an automatic is a premium vehicle that has to be especially booked.
Consequently driving on "the wrong side" of the road in a stick shift requiring using your left hand to change gear comes as a learning shock to some the first time!
Adjusting to driving on the left isn't hard. Watch out for your passenger side mirror, go clockwise into the roundabouts and don't be too shocked if when signalling a turn your wipers go on instead.
Dec 14, 2019, 11:25 am
#30
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Just remember that in the UK and Ireland we do Left-side driving! That should keep the scrapes down
The main difference in renting over here (as pointed out above) compared to the US is that the vast majority of vehicles are manual [stick shift] and an automatic is a premium vehicle that has to be especially booked.
Consequently driving on "the wrong side" of the road in a stick shift requiring using your left hand to change gear comes as a learning shock to some the first time!
The main difference in renting over here (as pointed out above) compared to the US is that the vast majority of vehicles are manual [stick shift] and an automatic is a premium vehicle that has to be especially booked.
Consequently driving on "the wrong side" of the road in a stick shift requiring using your left hand to change gear comes as a learning shock to some the first time!