Which car rental company to use in Croatia?
Oct 10th, 2013, 05:54 PM
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Which car rental company to use in Croatia?
Which car rental company should I pick in Croatia? Should I choose an Auto or Manual Car? There are many horror stories on the Internet; people with bad experiences..but I understand that if I search for it, I will find it...I know there are many people who have driven in Croatia and did not encounter any problems with the car or safety. Which car rental company did you guys pick?
Oct 10th, 2013, 07:33 PM
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Remember, AutoEurope and Kemwel are BROKERS who make the reservations for you. In 2009, I rented a car in Zagreb (returned in Dubrovnik) through AutoEurope but the car was through the company Sixt. That car was fine (if a little old). In 2011, I found booking directly through Sixt didn't cost more than AutoEurope or anyone else, and that car (a lot newer this time) was fine also. Both cars were manual transmissions (which is what I preferred actually). Automatic transmissions are almost always a premium option (more expensive) on European rental cars.
I'd rent from Sixt again if they had the best price again. I didn't love them or hate them.
I've also used American Express's Premium Rental Car Coverage on the last few rentals in Europe - it gives you $0 deductible on collision and comprehensive for a single fee of $24.95 per rental. I haven't needed to make any claims with it, though, but I've heard good things about the coverage from people who had made claims.
I'd rent from Sixt again if they had the best price again. I didn't love them or hate them.
I've also used American Express's Premium Rental Car Coverage on the last few rentals in Europe - it gives you $0 deductible on collision and comprehensive for a single fee of $24.95 per rental. I haven't needed to make any claims with it, though, but I've heard good things about the coverage from people who had made claims.
Oct 11th, 2013, 07:01 AM
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Read this thread: http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...le-company.cfm
I have used http://www.economycarrentals.com/ (a broker) in Sicily, Turkey and Poland with no problems. However, when I changed the contract by reducing the days of rental in Sicily, the new contract was more expensive than the old one--I should have simply returned the car earlier than specified on the first contract. The renter must realize that he is essentially self-insured and then turns around to collect from the broker. This is similar to being insured through the credit card, and not everyone is comfortable with such an arrangement.
I have used http://www.economycarrentals.com/ (a broker) in Sicily, Turkey and Poland with no problems. However, when I changed the contract by reducing the days of rental in Sicily, the new contract was more expensive than the old one--I should have simply returned the car earlier than specified on the first contract. The renter must realize that he is essentially self-insured and then turns around to collect from the broker. This is similar to being insured through the credit card, and not everyone is comfortable with such an arrangement.
Oct 11th, 2013, 07:19 AM
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The big advantage of AutoEurope or Kemwel over an actual rental car company is their interventionary ability. If something goes wrong you can call them on the spot and they will intervene for you, in English. I've only once had to do this once (had a car break down in a parking lot in Le Bugue - engine wouldn't start up), called the actual car company (Europcar) and they couldn't/wouldn't help, so called AutoEurope and had a replacement car within a few hours. If you don't speak the local language (which I did, but it didn't help), this is particularly useful for negotiating.
Dec 17th, 2013, 04:16 AM
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I have used Gemut and things worked out well. They are easy to work with.
However, I see good rates through the broker Izzi Rent and some of the rentals come through Oryx. Has anyone had any exprience -- good or bad -- with either of those companies?
However, I see good rates through the broker Izzi Rent and some of the rentals come through Oryx. Has anyone had any exprience -- good or bad -- with either of those companies?
Dec 20th, 2013, 08:39 AM
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We used Sixt back in October. didn't have any problems. We had a manual. Easy to drive, though we drove through some mountainous areas, so be prepared for some shifting. Sixt didn't charge for a one-way rental - we picked up in Dubrovnik and dropped in Zagreb, which was nice.
Jul 22nd, 2014, 07:10 AM
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We've just returned from a trip to Croatia. We would not recommend renting a vehicle from Uni-Rent. Our car was two years old with over 65 000 km, had extensive damage to the interior and exterior and was provided to us with dangerous tires that were bald and peeling on the surface. After complaining, we had to wait several hours to get the tires replaced. (We were offered to take another vehicle instead of waiting. The tires on that car were even worse!) Later in the trip, the check engine light came on warning of a problem with the fuel injection. Several more hours wasted at the mechanic. It seems that rather than repairing the problem, Uni-Rent would clear the check engine light between customers and send the car on its way. Uni-Rent may offer lower prices over the competition but definitely not worth the hassle and certainly not worth risking your life driving a vehicle that is not even road-worthy.
Nov 23rd, 2015, 12:33 PM
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We had a bad experience recently renting with Budget in Croatia, so I would urge caution. I had made the reservation through Budget USA, and had read the terms and conditions carefully and even called Budget USA in advance to make sure there would be no hidden fees. I specifically had them confirm that there would be no fee for adding the spouse as an extra driver. When my husband returned the car, he asked the counter agent to confirm that the amount we were being billed in kuna was the same as the amount on the reservation in USD. He was told yes, but when we got our credit card statement we found out we had been charged more than twice that, thanks to not just the "extra driver fee" but also a border crossing fee because we (honestly) acknowledged that we had crossed into Slovenia. These fees were not previewed with us, and when I called Budget USA to complain, they were totally unhelpful and unsympathetic. No problems with the car or safety, but even a "reputable" international company may rip you off.
Jun 29th, 2016, 09:20 AM
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Even the post been too old, I think worth it warning the people who is planing to rent a car in Croatia.
Please, NEVER make a business with the "FLEET RENT CAR".
We had a terrible experience this year with this company. To sum up, they gave us a car without the appropriated maintenance and the car just stopped working on the road in the middle of nowhere. Fortunately, the Croatia's road service helped us and we could arrive at our destination and change the car. I think we have lost at least 2 days trying to solve problems with the car. And we lost at least 3 hours in the middle of the road trying to figure it out what to do and how to arrive safe in our destination.
And, even after all we've been through, they did not gave us any kind of refund.
Please, NEVER make a business with the "FLEET RENT CAR".
We had a terrible experience this year with this company. To sum up, they gave us a car without the appropriated maintenance and the car just stopped working on the road in the middle of nowhere. Fortunately, the Croatia's road service helped us and we could arrive at our destination and change the car. I think we have lost at least 2 days trying to solve problems with the car. And we lost at least 3 hours in the middle of the road trying to figure it out what to do and how to arrive safe in our destination.
And, even after all we've been through, they did not gave us any kind of refund.
Oct 23rd, 2017, 11:35 AM
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I find it sad to write this review which goes counter to my usual policy of only reviewing places and services which have been positive; however, I believe that anyone planning to rent a car in Croatia should be aware of our experience.
We rented a car with CarWiz through AutoEurope. Renting was easy through AutoEurope. Our experience with CarWiz not good.
There were minor problems with CarWiz, which were tolerable and included:
1. We were supposed to pick the car up at the “Meet & Greet” location at the train station in Zagreb. There is no CarWiz office there and we had to figure out how to call CarWiz and request that they pick us up to get our car.
2. The car (VW Passat) they offered us had a great deal of body damage to front and back bumpers, doors, and quarter panels (the person who checked us out observed that the car was new at the beginning of the season but was pretty badly beat up by October when we rented it); however, it worked mechanically.
3. Shortly after leaving the rental center, we noticed that the “low tire pressure” light was on and when we contacted CarWiz, we were instructed to go to a service station and fill the tires. As it turned out the sensor was defective and the tires were fine.
4. There was so much film on the inside of the front window that it was virtually impossible to see the road when the sun was in front of us. We were able to clean it so the car was safe to drive.
Our experience on return was absolutely unacceptable and, in my opinion, fraudulent.
I was informed that I had damaged the car by putting a scrape on the bottom of the front bumper and charged 200+ Euro for damage repair. To my knowledge I did not damage the car and the bumper in question had already been damaged (but not repaired) in a number of places. When I inquired as to how many other customers had been charged to repair the bumper, the response was “You brought my car back crashed; what do you want me to do?” Whether this practice is a function of corporate policy (the young man who “helped” us said he was just following policy) or was a function of that particular office is unclear to me.
I would suggest that CarWiz ba avoided when renting. If a car is rented from them, I would strongly suggest that detailed pictures be taken of all parts of the car – I took pictures but not of the bottom of the bumpers.
We rented a car with CarWiz through AutoEurope. Renting was easy through AutoEurope. Our experience with CarWiz not good.
There were minor problems with CarWiz, which were tolerable and included:
1. We were supposed to pick the car up at the “Meet & Greet” location at the train station in Zagreb. There is no CarWiz office there and we had to figure out how to call CarWiz and request that they pick us up to get our car.
2. The car (VW Passat) they offered us had a great deal of body damage to front and back bumpers, doors, and quarter panels (the person who checked us out observed that the car was new at the beginning of the season but was pretty badly beat up by October when we rented it); however, it worked mechanically.
3. Shortly after leaving the rental center, we noticed that the “low tire pressure” light was on and when we contacted CarWiz, we were instructed to go to a service station and fill the tires. As it turned out the sensor was defective and the tires were fine.
4. There was so much film on the inside of the front window that it was virtually impossible to see the road when the sun was in front of us. We were able to clean it so the car was safe to drive.
Our experience on return was absolutely unacceptable and, in my opinion, fraudulent.
I was informed that I had damaged the car by putting a scrape on the bottom of the front bumper and charged 200+ Euro for damage repair. To my knowledge I did not damage the car and the bumper in question had already been damaged (but not repaired) in a number of places. When I inquired as to how many other customers had been charged to repair the bumper, the response was “You brought my car back crashed; what do you want me to do?” Whether this practice is a function of corporate policy (the young man who “helped” us said he was just following policy) or was a function of that particular office is unclear to me.
I would suggest that CarWiz ba avoided when renting. If a car is rented from them, I would strongly suggest that detailed pictures be taken of all parts of the car – I took pictures but not of the bottom of the bumpers.
Oct 23rd, 2017, 11:50 AM
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Sounds like a terribly unpleasant experience. I guess I've been lucky - never had a bad experience like that renting a car in Europe (though I've never heard of this company).
Did you pay the 200+ Euro? I would not have, at least without a fight. I would have disputed the charge on my credit card (assuming that's the only way they would have been able to collect had you refused to pay). Then again, your only proof would be the pictures of the car in poor condition when you picked it up. How would the credit card company know whether the pictures were before or after? So, perhaps accepting a damaged car in the first place was not a great idea. Still, I would have argued in disputing the charge that the car was clearly already in bad shape so repairing a scratched bumper would clearly be irrelevant.
If the car company had offered only this car and no alternative, the best option for you probably would have been to decline the car. Try to contact AutoEurope first (if they were awake at that hour!) and try to get a car from a different agency. Or try to do it yourself with another website like EconomyCarRental or even going directly to a company like Sixt. Obviously that's not how you want to be spending time on your vacation - but if the alternative is renting a car with a lot of damage on it? Maybe that's what I would have one.
You should of course be screaming to AutoEurope that they set you up with this sham company at all and demand a refund; see what they do. Their reputation is on the line here, too.
Did you pay the 200+ Euro? I would not have, at least without a fight. I would have disputed the charge on my credit card (assuming that's the only way they would have been able to collect had you refused to pay). Then again, your only proof would be the pictures of the car in poor condition when you picked it up. How would the credit card company know whether the pictures were before or after? So, perhaps accepting a damaged car in the first place was not a great idea. Still, I would have argued in disputing the charge that the car was clearly already in bad shape so repairing a scratched bumper would clearly be irrelevant.
If the car company had offered only this car and no alternative, the best option for you probably would have been to decline the car. Try to contact AutoEurope first (if they were awake at that hour!) and try to get a car from a different agency. Or try to do it yourself with another website like EconomyCarRental or even going directly to a company like Sixt. Obviously that's not how you want to be spending time on your vacation - but if the alternative is renting a car with a lot of damage on it? Maybe that's what I would have one.
You should of course be screaming to AutoEurope that they set you up with this sham company at all and demand a refund; see what they do. Their reputation is on the line here, too.
Oct 23rd, 2017, 12:05 PM
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Autoeurope didn't "set him up" with that company, he chose the company himself. Autoeurope used to assign you a company but that haven't done that for some years, they let you choose the company. Autoeurope doesn't really do much of anything, it's really no different from many websites that are portals for deal and listing choices.
One can complain of course if you feel you are being cheated about damage. But throwing in all kinds of nitpicky irrelevant complaints doesn't help the cause (ie, about the tire pressure warning light now working right, I've had that happen in numerous cars I've rented in the US that weren't even that old). It also happens due to temperature. Also, dirty windows.
One can complain of course if you feel you are being cheated about damage. But throwing in all kinds of nitpicky irrelevant complaints doesn't help the cause (ie, about the tire pressure warning light now working right, I've had that happen in numerous cars I've rented in the US that weren't even that old). It also happens due to temperature. Also, dirty windows.
