wander53

I have been trying to find a good deal on car rentals in Ireland. I have received a great quote from Dan Dooley Car Rental, telling me that the price they have quoted is the final cost including CDW. Is this True? Has anyone here used them before?

We will be in Ireland for two weeks, in November when it will be cold and rainy so we will need two Medium size suitcase and a camera bag each (landscape photographers) what size of car should we rent? A compact or a Intermediate. When I asked Dooley if the compact will work for 2 Medium size suitcase and two carry-on bags the response was;
"I do feel the car group selected should cater for your needs."

indy_dad

Compact should be fine.

Our experience with Dan Dooley was very positive. Above board and as advertised.

Car classes described here:
http://www.dan-dooley.ie/vehicles.php

griz_fan

I also had a great experience with Dan Dooley, from their Shannon airport location. We had a class b economy car, which was a bit small, but plenty of room for 2 with bags. We also opted for "super CDW" coverage from a 3rd party, since standard CDW often has a very high deductible and doesn't cover such things as damage to tires (or tyres), mirrors, lost keys, etc... which you get with 3rd party super CDW. For an American, Irish roads are really tight, and small scratches, dings, etc... could be pretty easy to get, so the reasonable rate for super CDW was worth the peace of mind.

Finally, I found Dan Dooley to be the most up front with their fees and insurance rates, which was a big plus for me. no hidden or surprise fees.

nspotz

I had a great experience with Dan Dooley, we opted for all of the insurance and there were no hidden fees. No problems returning the car either. Highly recommend.

wander53

indy_dad, Thank you for the link. Very helpful. I will have to learn to pack lighter obviously.

I believe the consensus is that they are good and there are no hidden fees.

I agree about the super CDW but it adds up over two weeks. I prefer the piece of mind myself. Need to convince the husband.

garyincary

I recently spent two weeks in Ireland, and rented from Dooley. They are as advertised. No hidden fees, and everything up front. I purchased the extra insurance, and was glad I did. It is very likely your car may have some scratches, a broken side mirror, or in my case, a bent hubcap, from the narrow roads and unfamiliarity with driving on the left side. When I got my car, Dooley offered me a free upgrade to a larger car. I turned the offer down, and was glad I did, as the roads were even more narrow then I had thought. I would definitely recommend Dan Dooley and will use them again in the future.

kwren

I hope that no one minds that I'm adding onto this thread with a question.

We've decided to use Dan Dooley based on what I've read on Fodors and were debating on manual vs automatic. We drive both, but in the south of France last year, found ourselves wishing we had an automatic with the tiny streets and hill towns.

We are flying to Dublin next month to see our son and will be making a circle mostly from Dublin, through the western part of Ireland and back over the course of 10 days. What is the terrain like? I've read about mountain passes. Any recommendations manual vs automatic?

Tony2phones

There is a reason we (Irish drivers)aren't big on Automatics, firstly Fuel, this is not cheap over here so something only giving 80% the economy of the manual equivalent is not for everyday use. Secondly no engine braking so those fabled "mountain passes" (hills) can be a lot of foot on brake downhill and box overload (switching gears) uphill. Plus folk like me like to drive rather than ride a car being out here in the country.

On your plus side many who are more used to Auto feel the comfort blanket of having a little less to think about and the inefficiency on fuel consumption is still a gain on US emission strangulation and over a 1000 miles less noticeable than it would be out here when popping to the shop is a 6 mile round trip.

Itallian_Chauffer

If you opted for FULL insurance, the only additional expense should be a Deposit for Initial Tank of Fuel -- which is refunded, if you return the car with a full tank.

The Staff in the New Jersey office are VERY helpful and informative and have never led me astray.

Three of us used a Compact Ford Focus while attending a wedding and the trunk (boot) space -- though TIGHT -- was adequate, in SPITE of an extra Bag filled JUST with 'Wedding' stuff!

kwren

Thanks for the replies. My son will be traveling with us for two weekends then back to his internship between. I think we'll go for a compact station wagon but I'll have to see if there is anything to cover the luggage in the back.

Tony2phones

All vehicles have baggage covers. Provided your not loaded above the channels which run along the bottom of the window line..

car hire fleets are in this link http://goo.gl/UMZFzz and http://goo.gl/20EF09

kwren

Thanks tony. That's good to know. The compact station wagon has more storage than the intermediate sedan. It would be nice if it would be shorter too, but I can't tell from the pictures. I guess we'll see.

crckwc1

I would like to add my 2 cents on auto rentals in Ireland. Even though Dan Dooley is highly recommended on this forum, and I'm sure he's reliable, we have never rented through them. Why? Because Dooley is 2 or 3 times more expensive for the same model car as enterprise.ie. We purchase no insurance because we charge the car on our World Master Card which provides full coverage on rentals. (We've checked this and it works) We have reserved a "large compact - Opel Astra or equivalent" for 8 days in July for 102.30 euro from enterprise.ie. According to their website, a compact auto including insurance from Dan Dooley runs around 320 euro for the same time period. I was unable to determine if one can decline the insurance and if so, the price. The way the World Master Card works, if there is damage to the car, the costs are immediately charged to the card. In order to get your account credited, you must obtain the paperwork from the rental agency, submit it to MC, and the charges will be removed. To us, saving a couple hundred euros is worth the small effort required in case of any damage.

Tony2phones

Insurance is the Largest portion of any rental car agreement,, without this component the base cost of actually renting the uninsured (apart from 3rd party legally required and should be in the day rate) car is about the same across the board like for like..

If using other than the providers insurance you will generally be charged between €30-€50 for Admin.. this is clearing the insurance with the hire company insurance and not a Scam.. It takes phone calls and paper work behind the scenes. You will Have to produce the letter from your Insurance provider (credit card or other) this is your Policy..You need to have anything between €1500 and €3000 available on your credit card which will be placed under "Hold" and therefore unavailable to spend until such time as some days after your car is returned in exactly the same state you collected it. If damaged, funds will be taken from the "Hold" and it will be down to you to have this refunded by claiming against your insurance.

Dooley will accept certain cards as Insurance cover.. not all rentals accept the same cards this is down to matching Underwriters as no vehicle can be covered by 2 Underwriters.

crckwc1

Tony2Phones, We are aware of the "hold" on our credit card and of the letter from the credit card company that is required. For US folks wanting to rent in Ireland using a credit card for insuring purposes, we are limited to World Master Card and possibly another that I'm not aware of. Most US issued credit cards explicitly exclude Ireland (along with Italy and a couple of others) from rental coverage. I've no idea why. We've had a couple of minor scrapes in Ireland and had no problem with the World Master Card coverage. (Notice that it is only the World MC that offers the coverage.) Are you saying that Dan Dooley will accept a World Master Card in place of insurance? I will certainly check that out and see if, indeed, we have got the best quote.

crckwc1

Just checked Dan Dooley for same time period, same class car, and their quote is from 338-346 euro for an economy car and 354 euro for a compact, without the insurance. By contrast, enterprise.ie offers an Opel Astra for 102.30 plus another 28 euro charge I just noticed, for a total of 130.30 euro. Why would I want to pay nearly 3x more to rent from Dan Dooley? What am I missing?

Itallian_Chauffer

Location Fee. Paperwork Handling Fee for declining the Insurance. Road Tax.

zhoffritz

I used a World MasterCard (The Chase Sapphire, which had to be a Visa initially and then I switched it over to the World Mastercard) with Dan Dooley in order to avoid paying for their CDW insurance. I brought Dooley their own copy of the printout of my credit card's letter and thought they would charge an administrative fee but they did not. This was last summer so I can't say for sure that I checked the prices of Enterprise, but I shopped around obsessively for car hire and Dooley was by far the cheapest. I wanted an automatic so perhaps that's where the pricing difference lies. Enterprise's site is down so I can't go check.

maureencol

I go home every year and I used to go through Budget but had a bad experience with them almost doubling the amount quoted because they talked me into an upgrade. So last year I tried Dooley's. They were the most reasonable for a three week rental without the CDW (I have a World MasterCard that will cover Ireland...but you need to have the documentation with you to show). The only thing I was not thrilled about was (and I don't know if it was true or not) the lady said they were turning in some of their cars at the end of the season and would I bring pay for the petrol and bring the car back empty. The petrol charge was reasonable, but it is almost impossible to bring a car back empty.

With regard to the MasterCard coverage of CDW. I have had a claim on it a few years ago and the way it works is...the rental agency charges your credit card for the damage. You then submit the charges to the credit card company. They will reimburse you, no problem...however, they discount it for such things as towing, loss of use etc. They request that the agency provide proof that there were no other cars available for the loss of use as well..if there is just a dent in the car, they still charge you for towing?? All in all, for a $700 repair, I was reimbursed $400. That said, I have saved well over $400 in the many times I have declined the CDW over the years. It's all a game with the rental cars in Ireland!!!

Tony2phones

There is More than ONE worldmastercard... That gives the problem its not just the Card its the issuing bank and the underwriters for that particular card.. This is one of the big muddles... speak to Dooley US office to see if your version of the card is accepted and just ask them to explain the in's and out's