Car Rental for Croatia
 

I'm looking for car rental recommendations for 16 days in Croatia. We will be going into & out of Slovenia. Pick up would be in Zagreb with a dropoff in Split. (I realize there will be a drop off fee.) I went to Auto Europe, my usual, but their rates were rather high I thought ($365). Also looked at Sixt and rental was ~$435 with charges for changes/canx. Any suggestions for rental companies that might be less expensive? Thanks

For Europe, I always make my arrangements through gemut.com, which works with AutoEurope but, IME, sometimes manages lower rates. You might check!

I used EconomyCarRentals when I rented in 2015 (picked up in Rijeka, returned in Zagreb). They're a broker, similar to Auto Europe and the others. Unlike Auto Europe, they don't charge you for the full cost of the rental up front (though Auto Europe does offer a free refund). Instead, they charge you a "deposit" (probably their commission) and you pay the rest of the rental price with the car company as with a regular car rental. I got a company called Oryx which was OK. (I rented from Sixt a few times in Slovenia and Croatia too and they were also decent enough.) They offer, like Auto Europe, a full refund up to 48 hours before pick-up of the car.

I found that the price of car rentals fluctuated over time. I would definitely check prices again occasionally - they might go down significantly between now and your trip.

FYI, there isn't always a one-way drop fee when renting within Croatia. I've never paid one on either of my past rentals which were both one-way. The shorter the rental period, the more likely you'll pay the fee, I found.

Make sure you've got the price of an insurance card included in the cost if you want to drive the car through Bosnia or into Montenegro. Forget your exact itinerary at the moment, but remember that to drive between Split and Dubrovnik on the mainland, you have to drive through the "Neum Corridor," a tiny stretch of Bosnian territory that hits the coast. (You can avoid it actually by detouring via ferry and the Pelješac peninsula.) Some car companies may offer waivers for driving through Neum without any extra cost, others may not - just make sure ahead of time you know. The car MUST have a "green card" (insurance card) to cross the border in any case. Not every rental car is guaranteed to have one.

Thanks, kja -- I sent off a request to Gemut.

Andrew -- I will be dropping the car in Split coming from the north. After going to Korcula when I return to the mainland in Dubrovnik I will pick up a new rental car and drive to Montenegro. I will be sure to inquire about the insurance card. Nothing was mentioned about that on the Auto Europe or Sixt websites. Is that something your organized in advance or at the rental pick up? I'll check EconomyCarRentals. I usually book a rental and then as you said, check back on a regular basis for any price drops. Thanks!

You definitely need to set up the insurance card ahead of time to make sure you get one. Not every car will have one. I almost found this out the hard way the first time I rented from Sixt in Croatia. I picked up my car in Zagreb on a Sunday morning. They had only one car. I told the rental agent I was driving to Bosnia, and he was like, "Let me make sure this car has a green card!" Lucky it did; otherwise, I would not have been able to drive it to Bosnia.

You won't be driving the first car out of the EU, so perhaps you'll not have to pay a fee. The second car will drive out of the EU to Montenegro. Every car company has a different policy and fees. I don't think Sixt 0charged me anything at that time to drive the car to Bosnia (or could be because I happened to reserve it without one but had the card anyway). but at that time Croatia was not in the EU anyway. In 2015, Oryx charged me a flat 40 euro (including VAT) one-time fee to drive the car out of the EU. Other companies may charge a fee per-day.

Try Kemwel as well. I have used them before and sometimes they have better rates than Auto Europe.

Andrew, thanks for the additional info. I found that when I put the reservation through, it asked me about what countries we would be in. It then gets back with the confirmation & any additional charges for the rental.

KTtravel - thanks for the reminder. I did just check Kemwell and they were $1 more than their sister company, Auto Europe.

As it turned out the best rate so far is with Auto Europe with a company, NOVA of which I am not familiar. But I find AE really good if/when there are any issues. They have resolved them for us on many an occasion.

Thanks all for your suggestions. I will keep checkin for lower rates.

Also recommend gemut.com, have used them for car rentals all over Europe for many years. We rented a car through gemut in Croatia last year, and paid $430 for an "Intermediate SUV", which is basically a full-sized station wagon, for 10 days. The rental agency used was Fleet.

You mentioned 2 separate car rentals - a pick-up in Zagreb and drop-off in Split, and then a new rental starting in Dubrovnik. How many days were represented by the $365/$435 rates in your initial post? Surely that couldn't be the total for the whole 16 days? Those would be great rates of $23/$27 per day.

phillyboy -- how was it driving that big of a car? We generally try to get a small car and was debating between the economy and compact. Yes, the rates of $365 was for 16 days and included the drop-off. The final price including one way rental was $350, so ~$22 a day. I try to get rates below $20 per day.

FWIW, for the places you plan to visit, yestravel, I would think a smaller car would suit better. The compact will likely have a more secure luggage area than the economy, though that varies. (Another reason I work with gemut: I have found their advice about things like that to be excellent.)

I paid about $13/day in 2015 for a two week rental (including the 40 euro fee for border crossing).

Andrew -- $13/day would be wonderful! BTW on the border crossings, I have been digging into it to get an idea of prices. Apparently for quite a few years, legally you don't have to have the green card to go into BH or Montenegro. However, rental companies seem to ignore that. It looks like some charge for the card and others don't.

kja -- yea, I figured the smaller the car the easier to get around those small villages and we do tend to rent very small cars. But as you point out, it is nice to be able to hide our 2 carry-ons and many small cars don't even have room for that in a hatchback or tiny trunk. I know you like Gemut -- I think we went back and forth on them on another thread at some point. As happy as you've been with Gemut is as happy as I've been with Auto Europe's prices and service. Plenty of business for both to go around!

Gemut works through / with AutoEurope, which really means that I get an extra layer of service for the same or lower price. But of course, you should do whatever feels most comfortable to you!

If it matters to you, some compact cars have actual trunks, rather than being hatchbacks.

Whenever I check Gemut they have not been lower than AE. Different places, different prices perhaps. For Croatia I have not heard back. Be nice if they beat the rate I have.

i prefer a trunk, but you never know what you will get until you show up. Although sometimes the hatcbacks do have sufficient cover. It’s all a crapshoot!

Really? I've always found exactly the model I reserved. Maybe I've just been lucky.

I wish! Send some of your luck over this way;) Sometimes we do get what I thought we would be getting. It happens maybe 1 rental in 3.

Wow - really? Where did you read that? It has been 3+ years, but in 2015, I was definitely asked for the green card a few times when crossing the border into Montenegro and Bosnia (but not at Neum).

Andrew- it was in several places. Here’s one
https://croatiatraveller.com/blog/ca...ard-necessary/

Well, that is interesting. However, he said that on his trip, when he crossed the border, " I drove to both countries and no one ever checked anything, presumably because they saw the Croatian rental plates and knew I was covered." That didn't match my experience - I was definitely checked at border crossings driving into Montenegro and Bosnia (but not Neum) - having Croatian rental plates didn't mean I wasn't inspected.

Also, the Sixt guy in 2009 insisted that I needed the card to cross a border - he didn't charge me for it, but he said if I hadn't had the card, I would not have been allowed to drive the car out of Croatia. Was he wrong? He wasn't trying to upsell me anything - and it was the only car he had anyway.

As the article notes, the car companies are allowed to charge you a fee anyway for crossing borders.

All you need to do is make sure you indicate when renting the car which countries you will be visiting, and they'll make sure you have whatever you need to cross a border. Could be you don't need anything special anymore, but it certainly seems like something to confirm and be aware of.

Yes, sounds like there is the LAW and there is the practice. Car entail companies are good at finding ways to charge you. Glad you brought this up because I was not aware of it. AE asked about other countries but I’m not going into Montenegro with that rental.

I had read horror stories about people having problems with car rentals in Croatia. After much research, we used Nova Rent a Car. We had no issues. However, you should be aware that there are two Nova car rentals. One is based in the UK and does not get good reviews. The one we used is based in Split, but has rental offices in various cities. I usually use AutoEurope, but we were able to get a better rate booking directly with Nove.

Thanks, Digbydog. Didn't know there were 2 different Nova companies. The one I have looked at does have a good rate and charges €20 to cross the border. I will need to make sure it is the Croatian company. What I am finding out is that while it's legal to cross the borders, the insurance companies/rental companies can make money so they tag on a "border crossing fee." So far I have not found any company that does not have some sort of fee. Some are by the day and others per rental. One reason I wanted to stick with Auto Europe is because of the customer service they provide if there is an issue.

Yestravel--We took our car into Montenegro and Bosnia. Nova charged us a fee for a green card, which allowed us to cross the border. As I recall, it was 20 or 30 euros. There was no daily fee. Many of the rental companies that we could have booked through Auto Europe did not get good reviews in the Tripadvisor forum, and people complained that Auto Europe was not helpful with their issues.

I stand corrected on the rates that I posted above. I am being charged for crossing the border into Slovenia. That adds an additional $25 - 50 onto the rate. They really get you.
Digbydog - Nova charges a flat €20 to take cross borders. They seem to be the lowest charge for our 2 car rentals. I'm surprised about AE not helping. They have always been very helpful when we have had issues. AE lowest rate is with Nova but it has a €50 fee for border crossing. I haven't checked with them to see if they would lower it based on the rate Nova gives when you book directly with them.

I have always liked dealing with AE, but we have never had any issues once abroad. Also, they have always matched prices found elsewhere. For some reason, however, they could not match the price we found booking with Nova directly.

The one thing I did not like about Nova is that they required that we get their insurance. Usually we decline the insurance figuring that we will be covered by our credit card. I read many stories about other insurers finding damage to wheel rims, the undercarriage, etc, and I didn’t want to deal with that.

Have a great trip! Croatia and Slovenia are beautiful!

Oops! That was supposed to say other rental companies finding damage.

BTW—in September, we were asked for our green card at border crossings between Croatia, Mo, and Bosnia.

yestravel - we had no problems with the larger car. There were four of us, and a fair amount of luggage, so we always rent a car in this larger class. The only time we really had a problem was many years ago when we foolishly rented a huge, 9-person minibus in Italy - no way to get that monster through the old cobbled streets of Umbria.

phillyboy -- thanks for your answer. Good for you! Takes expert driving to negotiate those narrow curvy roads in villages.

Now I'm really getting confused. Can anyone explain this language to me in the NOVA rental
"Your rental with NOVA Rent a Car normally will include Third Party Liability, Collision Damage Waiver & Theft Protection. Depending on insurance type you may be subject for paying a charge, referred to as an excess deposit which limits your liability to the cost of maximum excess for selected car size. In the event that the renter has behaved recklessly or negligently or driven under the influence of drugs or alcohol you may be liable for the full cost damage.

Please note that due the insurance policy police report is mandatory in case any car incident.
Insurance typeBasicInsurance price 0.00 EurExcess600.00 Eur"

It means that liability insurance is included. It means that collision coverage is also included with a 600 euro deductible. If you damage the car and there is 700 euros worth of damage, you'll have to pay 600 of it and the insurance will pay the rest. You can pay for better insurance (no doubt from the car company when you rent the car). They'll put a 600 euro hold on your credit card when you rent the car and release it at the end when you return it with no damage.

But if you get drunk and go out and total the car and your blood alcohol level proves it at the time of the accident, they don't have to cover anything.

Thanks! My concern came from several people saying they were charged for additional insurance. Auto Europe says that some companies do not like credit card coverage and will add additional mandatory coverage. Honestly I have never spent so much time on car rentals--crazy.

I've never had a problem with a rental car company in Europe insisting I take extra insurance coverage. Of course they don't "like" credit card coverage - when people use that, it reduces their revenue because people don't buy the insurance from them.

I have used credit card "extra insurance" in the past, but I got burned a couple of years ago (in Croatia) when I caused damage to the car and my Amex "Premium Rental Car Coverage" did not pay for it as expected. They did the absolute minimum to contact the Croatian rental car company (Oryx), which I gathered after several phone calls was simply sending them a snail mail request for records - which also included an administrative fee for the car company to pay. Not surprisingly, Oryx ignored it. Everyone was happy except me: Amex "Assurance" had one less claim to pay, and Oryx kept my deposit (they kept about $800 USD but refunded about $175 after the final repairs were completed). There was no incentive for either company to work to help me. (I also had " excess" insurance coverage, about $800 USD deductible.) It is possible that Amex Assurance was not used to dealing with a small car company and would have worked things out with a Hertz or Budget.

Next time, if I ever rely on credit card "insurance" again, I won't sign a statement of responsibility (which Amex Assurance had told me to do when I called them ahead of time). So then Oryx would have kept my entire deposit on my credit card, I would have disputed the charge, and then Oryx would have been required to produce repair invoices to prove the costs...exactly what I needed for the claim that Amex Assurance ignored.

But I suspect in the future I'll just pay extra and buy the insurance from the car company and not rely on fake credit card insurance.

Oh wow, Andrew, sorry you had that happen. My worse nightmare with car rentals is having damage and getting involved with the insurance. Fortunately, we've never had to make a claim. Its all so damn confusing and dealing with a foreign language doesn't help things.

Nova, with head office at Split airport, is the most used car hire company by locals.

Just to add to the pot: i was told by Dollar that the rental age limit in Croatia was 70 and being 71 we could not hire a rental from them. I then called Auto Europe and Kemwel and was basically told the same information although Nova will rent with a daily surcharge. So I do not know your age but if it applies, br sure to inquire about age limits.

For a good laugh - while researching this I found a website with driving age limits outside the U.S.

Finland. - age 97!!!!

Thanks, PolSmit -- I've got a reservation now with Nova directly. AE uses Nova but the rate is higher.

cindyjo, that's a bummer! We're not there yet, but I have always noticed that 70 or even 65 seems to be a cutoff for some countries or rental agencies. They have a box to check if you aren't between 25 and 65 or 70. Guess we will save Finland for our dotage.

Once again I need to sing the praises of Auto Europe. Booking directly with NOVA had a lower cross-border fee than what AE stated. AE couldn't verify the lower cross-border fee, but still discounted my rate such that the AE entire rental is less than the total Nova rental rate. I might add that Gemut uses AE for this rental. Gemut was a bit higher than AE and could not get me the lower total rate. This has been an interesting experience renting a car for this trip. Thanks everyone for your comments & help.

yestravel, did you book with AE or Nova?

AE because I find them to be really responsive if you have any issues or you need changes. They are my preferred car rental vendor. I will be interested to see when we pick up the car if NOVA charges me the €20 cross-border fee that is on the NOVA website or the fee AE had of €56.

Second that AE and Kemwel are responsive and speak the English language in an emergency. Had an issue in Portugal and called Kemwel at their time in Maine. They were very helpful....