gbs

Can you tell me which car rental agency in Ireland have you had the best results with, for reliability, service and price?

Clifton

We felt we did well with Argus Rentals

www.argusrentals.com

rhkkmk

we used auto europe (www.autoeurope.com) and our mastercard (to avoid the cdw insurance fees)...they are a wholesaler and we were booked with hertz....watch your final price when you drop the car off if you use hertz....they overcharged me...

grandmere

We've always used AutoEurope, which is a brokerage, not a rental agency. Often the rental agency turns out to be Avis or Europecar. No problems. I should point out that this has always been in continental Europe; never been to Ireland.

wojazz3

There really isn't a right answer to this question. I believe both argus and autoeurope are brokerage companies and you get what they find for you. For the most part, most of the companies do a fine job in Ireland. Everybody has a horror story about one company or another from Hertz to Dan Dooley.

The problems are usually dealing with price comparisons and insurance. I got a great deal from Hertz this year, last year from europcar and the year before somebody else. Never any problems. I've have heard scattered complaints about Dan Dooley, most often being rented older cars. Hertz has a problem with having enough automatics, especially in Shannon. Having said that, Hertz was great about splitting my plus 15 day rental into two so I could use MC for my CDW. I had to drop off the car at a different location than the pick-up and that was Galway airport. They had very few cars at Galway and I just kept the car that I had. I was in and out in about 10 minutes and was even late with my return. (I was confused on the day). I walked through the door and was greeted by name, so my experience was very good.

I've heard good things about Budget also. I hope all of this helps.

Bill

waffle18

Rent A Car Ireland (www.RentACarIreland.com) gets their cars through Hertz and that is where we've had our best experiences. In fact, for the last 3 years (out of 5) when we've gone to Ireland we've used them and had near perfect service. (This is renting and returning in Dublin.)

Used AutoEurope before and it didn't come out too well. (Had decent personal service but the car wasn't in too good shape and I'm not talking about dings in the sides.)

Wendy

RufusTFirefly

Wendy--which rental company was the car from?

We did well with Nova Rentacar. Our car was from Alamo. rentacar-europe.com

flying_kate

Skycars.com - excellent rates and service

gbs

thanks for the info. by the way, Kate, skycars were the most expensive by far when I checked. I'll check again....

Clifton

Bill,

I think you're right in that you can have a good or bad experience with almost anyone, and that's not even just with car rentals.

I just wanted to let you know for reference that Argus is actually the rental company, not a broker. They have their own lots with appropriate Argus signage out front.

gbs

So do you think it is better to go through a rental company and not a brokerage? The prices all fluctuate so much and its hard to compare apples to apples. Several of the websites don't show super cdw coverage, or the cost of an extra driver, or if they have a grace period, etc. Thanks again for any help.

RufusTFirefly

gbs--I know that Nova shows the entire cost of their offering, and then lists options and their prices below. The biggest option is the reduction of liability for accidents, theft, etc. But the costs are shown plainly. Once you pick your dates, car, pick/dropoff points, and any options you might want, Nova shows the full price. There were no "surprise" fees when we rented from them last year. I would guess that companies like autoeurope work the same way.

hljlaw

I am so glad gbs asked this question! It's exactly the question I was wondering for our trip to Ireland in September. I will check out the sites you all mentioned. Also, gbs, I have looked in the last week on just your run-of-the-mill travel search engines, and Hertz was the cheapest.

hljlaw

Just checked out www.RentACarIreland.com. The price was reasonable, and purports to include all fees (CDW, theft protection, etc). Has anyone had an experience with this company that would show that this price is not all-inclusive? Just checking, as if it is, in fact, inclusive, I will book with them. The Hertz site was cheaper, but did not include any of the extra fees. Thanks for your help!

gbs

I haven't as yet rented, but so far Dan Dooley (through the American office) and Hertz through O'Scannlain are the best bets. Be careful that you are getting all your quotes in the same type of $$. If RentACarIreland is quoting in euros and Hertz in dollars, be sure you convert to compare.