Car Hire England/Heathrow
 

Usually I just take public transport from LHR to Brentwood (Essex) or have my friend pick us up and take us back to his place.

This time, however, since we're coming in on a Saturday in August, and planning to start a road trip 2 days later (hello Liverpool!), I think it's better just to pick up the car at Heathrow where I'll have a better shot at getting an estate car than I would in Essex.

Feel free to tell me if I'm wrong, but last time I did a car hire in Brentwood, they had maybe 2 cars, not terribly new, and ours had wonky (intermittent) A/C.

So question is: Just use AutoEurope, where it looks like Europecar gives the best quote for a Vauxhall Estate car and Budget for a Kia Estate car? Or go directly to those company's websites?

Thanks for all the help.

Ypu need to visit the company's sites as well as any comparison sites, so you get the best price. Careful of the add-ons though. If you're in LHR on a Saturday and don't hire at the airport, then you'll have to wait till Monday in any case, as the rental offices will most likely be closed outside of LHR on the Sunday.

If you've got the time, try all the major car rental companies. I notice that Avis have what appears to be a sale going at the moment.

I find it useful to open up as many tabs as I need for each of the rental car companies at a given site. Then, I will go through each, until the final step of confirming the rental. That is the only way to see the actual cost of the rental, including all the fees and taxes added on to the very attractive $74.60 a day rental that comes out to $238.92 for two days. (I wish I was making that up.)

Yes, so true. I have been very successful using AutoEurope in France and fortunately can negotiate price/add ons, and even complain in one instance when they presented me with an SUV rather than the compact ordered (aside from the petrol costs, navigating a huge car down a country lane is ridiculous!).

Hertz, as one example, had dynamic currency conversion written into their contracts at Heathrow. I would definitely use AutoEurope for this.