Suggestions on car rental in Spain?
 

We have been to Spain twice before and rented from Hertz, in and out of Madrid. However, this time we are arriving in Barcelona, driving to Andorra and France, re-entering Spain and departing for home from Madrid.

I have researched multiple sites and keep seeing one called sixt.com, I am not familiar with this company. Does anyone know anything about it and is it reputable? I would really PREFER to rent from a car rental that is located in a hotel in Barcelona so we do not have to pay for parking for the 2 days we are staying in the city.

Any thoughts, suggestions?

Thanks so much.

Sixt is a well known and long established European car rental company.

You might also check with AutoEurope.com... they are brokers who through their greater leverage can often get a better deal than you or I can get on our own. You can deal with them by phone through their offices in Maine. They also operate as kemwel.com They say they will match any lower offer you find elsewhere.

I have also used economycarrentals.com in Europe.
Also brokers, but through them rentals always include a 0 deductible CDW.

Rob

What ever company you choose make sure that you cna take a car into France without any extra penalty as some may charge extra for insurance..just a scam to get more money from you.

thank you Rob and ribeirasacra .... I will do some more research.

Also, do you know what or how I can find the child safety seat requirements for these countries? Here both kids are in booster seats, but I don't want to get there and realize I did not bring the correct or accepatable seat. I have looked all over the web and do not seem to be able to find this information .. I assume they have car seat laws.

thanks

Try this comparison site...we use it a lot

http://www.travelsupermarket.com/c/cheap-car-hire/

If you are from the States or Canada, Auto Europe or Kemwel would be your best bet. They use Hertz, Avis and Europcar as their main suppliers in Spain, but they also work with other smaller rental car companies. And as mentioned, they will match or beat any regular rental car agency price. The advantage is that you can use your VISA, MC or Amex card and waive the CDW. They also provide excellent support if needed.

There is no problem driving into France from Spain when using any of the major rental car companies.

Out of curiosity, I just checked the price difference for a 12-day rental we have coming up in October through Auto Europe, using Avis. Using the same car as a basis, there was a savings of €17/day over what SIXT quoted.

A good rental company will provide you with the correct child seat. In Europe we have three sizes to cover ages and heights of the children.
Here is a link in English but the rules are the same for Spain and France.
http://www.childcarseats.org.uk/
http://www.childcarseats.org.uk/countries/spain.htm
The fines fro non use are the only things that will vary between counties.
If using a US market restraint then ensure the fitting is the same as an European one.

I prefer Sixt holiday car rental. I have always driven them into different countries. Just tell them after you have reserved the car and they will note it on your reservation. Usually the only time it is really important is if we are driving into Czech, Croatia, Slovinia, Poland, etc. They have always given me excellent service and I have had some minor accidents and have owed nothing.

thank you .. just one silly question .. what is CDW?

thank you all ... i will do some cost comparisons for sure.

I am curious to check out the car seat requirements.

CDW---Collision Damage Waiver

CDW is insurance whereby if you damage the car you are only on the hook for a deductible amount rather than the full price of the repair or replacement of the vehicle.

A zero deductible CDW means in the event of damage you just walk away. Many people have CDW as a part of their credit card benefits. You can get CDW at the point of rental (most expensive), as part of a normal rental through econoycarrentals.com, as part of a promotion through some rentals at autoeurope.com or through a third party.

Remember... if you sign up and pay for insurance at the car rental counter your insurance (if you have it) on your credit card will not pay in the event of a problem... only one will be in effect.

You can also have coverage through your own car insurance but as a rule it will only cover a rental in North America and not Europe.

Hope this helps,

Rob

somethings are simple if you use google!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damage_waiver

Thank you Rob for your help .. I believe we have it with our Am Ex.

In any case if you are required to wear glasses when driving as per your license then bring along a spare pair as Spanish law apparently requires anyone needing glasses to drive to carry a spare pair in their vehicle and this is enforced i've heard during the usual roadside check points.

Palenque .. great advise .. thank you .. I had not read that in any of the travel books and I do not beleive that AAA tells you that when you apply for your International Drivers License.

Palenque .. great advise .. thank you .. I had not read that in any of the travel books and I do not beleive that AAA tells you that when you apply for your International Drivers License.

Well I just reserved our car rental with Auto Europe for Spain in Oct. They matched a rate I initially had reserved online with Avis with a special offer code.

But then Avis did the old bait & switch.
I am <B>furious</B> with them as they changed the price on my online reservation, even though I had a confirmation. It seems the "system" should not have allowed me that rate and they now wanted to charge me $100.00 USD more. Whatever, I had an e mail confirmation and was sick of getting disconnected so I called AutoEurope, spoke to a fellow named Kurt at the res tel #, sent him the Avis quote by e mail & he matched the lower rate. I paid in full (refundable)$374.67 tax inclusive for an Opel Zaifra 5 passenger for 6 days.

I was told if there were any probs once in Spain at the counter involving the car to call AutoEurope ask for Kurt or anyone there 24/7 & they would resolve the issue for me.

I must say I am done with Avis the customer service was terrible, I was disconnected 4 times and told I would get a call back from a supervisor 6 hours ago.
By the way it is probably already mentioned certain Am Ex card provide full insur coverage on the rental car if the rental is purchased through them.

Oh yes sorry I see others have mentioned that..

Amsdon .... thank you for the advise .... I'll have to try to try the "match their price" strategy. Just curious .. are you going to be 5 adults? We will be 2 booster seats and grandma in the back seat .. so I was wondering how big the Zaifra is? I know that a 5 person car in Europe is not the same as in the states. Glad you got your situation taken care of ....

.. alexis

A Zaifra is not so big once you include all of your luggage.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opel_Zafira
Here is the English version called a Vauxhall --this site gives you all the dimensions.
http://www.vauxhall.co.uk/vaux/vehic..._subTab:photos

And do nto forget they may offer you a certain model but sometimes you end up with something similar.

Yes that is a good point.
The car we rented last time in Madrid was the largest Fiat (?) anyway good sized bit I saw very little luggage space in all the cars. You may need an actual van, which is only available at certain places I was told not all locations.

You other option is to drastically reduce the luggage.I know you need baby stuff.

We are only using the Zaifra for day trips and not lugging our luggage around. They will stay at the hotel

We are 4 but may take 2 more on occasion. This without luggage of course. We do hope that when the 4 of us go to the airpot in Malaga at the end hopefully we can cram all the suitcases somehow on our laps & in the back for the short 20 drive. If not we will just get a taxi for one of the couples.

We did 5 people & five 21/22in carry ons in a Zaifra, and drove everywhere & everything went fine. I reserved 1 week through Avis($300ish) and everything went smoothly, until we arrived at Malaga. The guy(no counter or booth for returns) at Malaga didnt have the ability to give me a receipt for the returned car.

Try www.doyouspain.com for car rental. We've used it several times and it's OK and usually cheaper.

However, they do operate a full to empty fuel policy, so it works well if you're going to use a tankful at least.

thanks Lifeman ..14 days of driving ... I'm thinkin' we are going to use quite a bit of gas :)

I have never seen that sight .. so i am curious to check it out.

Frank S. Thanks ... My husband doesn't want anything too big because of the narrow streets, but in all reality, we do have to be somewhat comforable..... most days will be 2-3 hours in the car driving to our next destination.

bookmarking

amy

amycyma --- bookmarking???? I don't understand

By 'bookmarking' or just putting a symbol like # or * on a thread, you can easily recall it just by clicking on your user name. Useful if you think you may want to refer to it at a later date, when the thread will have fallen well down the pages.

Thanks Alec .. I learn something new everyday :)

just back from Spain. I used easycar.com as it had the best rate I found online, $215 for 7 days (economy), picked up in Madrd dropped off in Barcelona, no drop off charge.

thank you tangwah ... may I ask? did you pick up and drop off at the airport or a city location?

215 Euro or dollars? If 215 dollars, was hard to pedal?

Does not Easycar have big orange strips on the side with a company logo on it? Ok if you want to say Hey here I am a tourist!
http://thumb17.webshots.net/s/thumb1...2fiWzKk_th.jpg

dollars! we got a all white 4 door compact car with CD/radio but no MP3(sigh, I am trying to recall the make but can't. toyota I think, size like a VW golf) I didn't get a reply from easycar.com regarding dropoff charges, so I booked Madrid return, and when I was there asked if I could drop off at Barcelona, and she said no problems, no extra charge. easycar is related to easyjet. both airport locations pickup/drop off, but I could have chosen city locations too. used my AMex card so didn't pay extra for insurance.

oh and the rental compay we ended up with using easycar (who was the broker I guess) was National.

Booked through National. Citron Grand Picasso 5/7 seater, diesel .. automatic. It was perfect for us. We were 3 adults and 2 kids in booster seats. We used the 5 seat option when we were driving from city to city and stored luggage in the back. When we stayed with family, we didn't need the storage for luggage so we put up the other 2 seats and it made it perfect for driving people around. $740.00 US for 12 days.

Nice car! Thanks to everyone for their help and suggestions.

A Grand Picasso is a lot larger than a Zaifra. Glad you got a larger car and glad you loved your trip.

thanks ... we are always pleased when we get the car we hoped .

I've used AutoEurope before with good results. Here's a tip: At the top of the log in screen is a country symbol. The price is different based upon your home country. In a recent search for a 7 day rental showed $239 from the U.S.; 143 euro ($209 usd) from Spain; 115 pounds ($187 usd) from the U.K.. Choose UK and save 20%

interesting