Recommendations for carhire: Crete
 

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6 minutes ago

Hi there,
We are spending 14 days in Crete and need to rent a car for about 11 days - because we have had a bit of a bad experience the last two times in Greece (Peloponnese) with steep roads and the cars we got, ex Athens Airport on each occasion, were not exactly turn on the dime, we would appreciate a firm that gives us a car that can cope with such roads, probably a relatively new car.
Any recommendations?
Thanks in advance.
I

Pat, the 4x I have been in crete we rented from AUTOWAY ... always got new cars, in good shape. Based in Heraklion but will deliver in Chania, Heraklion etc. You can get delivery in Chania and drop off in Heraklion, no extra charge (that's the case w most Crete agencies). Autoway CarRental | A trusted name in Car Rental Crete From first, in 1999, heard from owner of agency, prompt service. delivery of cars was always right on time. I found it amusing website mentions he's greek but grew up in Germany, maybe he wanted to imply the German reputation for punctuality!

Thanks travelerjan, let me have a look at his website.

They are expensive, 260 Euro for 10 days (including excess, it seems - but I can get excess coverage for £40 per year): SK Rental Car Hire are charging £196 excluding excess - anyone heard of them?

Have just looked up SK rent and they have very bad reviews: I must say though, having paid 294 Euros for 17 days in the Peloponnese 2 years ago (Athens Airport), Crete seems very expensive for carhire - we are taking a car for 11 days!

The problem with holiday destinations is that many rental cars can be a bit battered, I've rented several in Greece and Cyprus and none have been great cars. Some of them lack power to get up hills so we try to book a larger car in the hope of getting one with more power.

I would check Autoeurope, Rentalcars.com, holidayautos or economycarrentals.com, the latter are actually based in Crete but they are a car rental broker same as AE/rentalcars.com and HA. I've used them several times over the years when the other brokers have been too expensive and they take a deposit rather than the full amount. I would not book Goldcars if offered, but would stick with the major companies such as Avis, Hertz, Sixt, Budget, Europcar etc.

Thanks Odin, yeah you are right - although, not necessarily in Italy etc - there one gets state-of-the-art cars which can turn on a dime - and the crazy thing about Greece is the prices are higher. Anyway, I have asked for a bigger ca

car

I always rent with one of the 4 amjor for work, and I rented via rentalcars.com the alst 4 times for holidays. Out of these 4 times, I had 2 problems that were perfectly managed by them.
One was that the rental agency said I was not covered by insurance, and made me sign a apper saying that I was stupid to refuse their insurance - then I had a smal crash and the local made me pay 800 € for repairs, that I got refunded in 2 wekks by rentalcars who had insured me
the second was about the same : my wife picked up the car and the lcoal said she had no insurance,s o she thought I was a moron not to have done it and took it. I then claimed the money back since I had insured the car via rentalcars. I got refunded in less than 12 weeks.
(and a conclusion of both is that the locals don't read your contract and push to get extras, jsut stnad your ground).

Thanks Macross, I need to rent ex Heraklion and return there - Horafakia seems to be based in Chania (I assume they do not supply cars in Heraklion?)

Don't assume anything, Pat ... In my experience, most agencies will supply cars in either of the 3 main towns on north shore - Chania Heraklion Rethymnon.

I have been allover Greece on business trips for many years, and have also been countless times to Crete, I would ONLY rent a car from one of the major international companies.
Having worked in tourism for major tour operators with a big program in Crete, i have heard many horror stories about problems with cars from small local companies, and ppl ruin their holidays
waiting from someone to come for help from the other end of Crete. Regardless of the good experience some in here may have experienced i would only rent ( and also always have rented myself) from companies like Avis, Hertz etc, even if they are more expensive.

Crete is a huge island, do not make the mistake to rent a small car if you really want to explore and not just do a few day trips. Small cars are perhaps less expensive but they won't have enough power to get you up the steep roads of mountainous Crete.

Thanks clausar, it is always quite a big decision renting a car for one's holidays and mainly I do stick to the big companies - BUT this time I have rented from Autoway - so thanks to travellerjan for your advice in this matter!