Who has NOT had damage to their rental car in Ireland?
 

It seems everyone suffers at least minor damage to their cars when driving in Ireland. Has anyone driven in Ireland and managed to get through WITHOUT doing some damage?

I was all set to get the CDW because of the number of people who talk about damage to their cars in Ireland but, at least with autoeurope, there is a deductible of $895. Autoeurope even admits most of the damage is minor, things like broken sideview mirrors and scratches - and so even with the CDW you end up paying for it. I was willing to cough up the extra $100 or so if I could walk away without a hassel. But we're really talking about $1000 (the 895 plus the extra 100). I think I'd rather let Master Card handle it for that price. Please share your experiences.

I have hired many cars in Ireland, mostly through Avis, and have never had any damage :-)

We've spent about 2 months in Ireland - and never had damage... Biggest problem my friends have had is blowing out tires over near Kilarney.

I've rented twice in Ireland, once for three days and the other for a week. I've driven all around the southern part and had no damage either time. Mind you, I had some quick-braking-for-sheep moments, but no damage :D

I've driven in Ireland and had minor damage once but it was entirely my fault. When you are driving from the righthand side of the car and on the wrong side of the road (for those from outside Ireland)it is often difficult to gauge distances on the left side of the car. I've seen other non-Irish drivers having near-misses. If you are alert and remember to keep the steering wheel in the center of the road you should be OK.Also, watch those turns!

I just got back from a 2-week trip to Ireland.

955 miles and not a dent, ding or broken mirror.


My first trip to Ireland was 2 yrs ago, and in 8 days the only problem we had was 1 flat tire.

We took a route of Shannon, Cliffs ofMoher, Burren, (back roads), Galaway, Connor Pass, Dingle, Kenmare, Kinsale, Waterford, Dublin (suburb near water), and to Airport......never a scratch or problem!(and some of this on very narrow roads, tight parking in towns etc) We did get aletter from Mastercard saying we were covered so Hertz wouldn't MAKE us take out CDW. Ireland and Italy are two of the very few countries who insist on collision damage waiver.

I was fine for an entire week. Then ended up with someone clanging my rearview mirror on the way to the airport -- it didn't snap, just got scratched. The rental agency didn't say a thing.

Have you figured out yet that the only folks who DID have car damage probably didn't live to post here about it?:):):)

Had no damage on our 8 days in IReland. Only problem with the car was that it had no suspension and every bump aggravated some old injuries of my traveling companion.

I think there is a tendency to drive too close to the left hand side and in England we did bump a few hedges a little hard, but had no damage.

LOL!!! There IS a tendency to drive too close to the left hand side and their are stone fences over there! We drove a thousand miles and had to pay 700.00 in damages because we had the deductable and the left side of the car was indeed scratched, dented and tire blown. In defense of my husband, the driver, he did not do the cracked windshield, another car threw a stone, but we still had to pay for a new windshield.

Thanks for the replys. This was just what I was looking for. I've driven in England without a problem, but if you read this board very long it seems every thread about Ireland has something about dented cars - so I was starting to worry that maybe Ireland was much worse for some reason.

Mari3 - thanks for the suggestion to get MasterCard to write a letter. Do you remember where you had to call to get that letter - just the main customer service number or somewhere else? Anyone else use MasterCard for the CDW - and did the rental agency give you a hard time about it?

Hi Isabel. Who are you flyinig with to Ireland and where are you landing?

We've always made it intact, but I'm not sure how that happened exactly.

Dumb luck, I think.

Sher - We're flying aer linus and going to England for a week first, then Ryan Air into Dublin. Was not planning to drive in Dublin, but then get the rental car and drive south, then head west. We fly home from Shannon and have 9 nights total in Ireland. I've posted a few other questions and probably will have more but if anyone has any suggestions I'd be glad to hear them. Thanks

Well, I do not know about the prices at Dublin.
But I called Aer Lingus for something and they asked me about a car.
We are flying into and out of Shannon.
We are renting a NIssan Micra automatic for seven days. Both my husband and I can drive the car(no extra cost). I believe Hertz usually allows this for spouses. A lot of other companies do not.
We have an eight hour grace period for return. I liked this as we are getting in very early and would like to take off right away, but do not have to be at the airport until 10:00 or so. No worry about a late charge.
The price is $48 per day. This is the complete price. There is NO DEDUCTIBLE. The car is totally covered.
Our total cost will be $336 including airport charge.
Now, I do have a mastercard I can use for this coverage. But with this total coverage, I do not have to be concerned about claims with the credit card company. I do not have to be worried about marking every dent and scratch on the car beforehand.
We have rented cars six times in Europe, twice in Italy but not Ireland. Italy is pretty tough too.

The least expensive price I could get before this for the same car is $235 for the same number of days with no coverage. At this price only one of us could drive. This is usually $5 extra a day.

So I thought, for $100, why not? But of course we are picking up and dropping off at the same airport. And number of days factor in. Also when you are going might.

If I were you I would give them a call. You could then always see if Auto Europe will beat it (if you get a better price). And you would still be ahead.

We have never had an accident. I have used the credit card coverage about half the time and have purchased the insurance half the time. It depends on the total cost difference.

I personnally would never rent a car with a nonwaivable excess. Lots of people do. If the price for CDW is too steep, I use my Mastercard. This time I thought $100 was worth it.

This is what we are doing this time. I hope it helps. Have a great trip.

Re: Mastercard. We used my friend's Matercard for the CDW because VISA doesn't cover it in Ireland. My friend called Mastercard and they sent the info for him to use in case there was a problem with the auto rental agency (there was no problem)

ME

We used a Gold Mastercard for the CDW and there was no problem with Dan Dooley (Shannon) accepting it.
We waived the coverage for tires and windscreens, so the only thing extra we had to pay was the 2nd driver fee, and the 1st tank of gas. ( Which is way more than you would pay at the gas station, but what are you going to do? )

The Mitsubishi sedan I rented from Hertz at Shannon airport was trashed when I got it! Make sure you check the ding list on the rental papers. If the weather hadn't been so apalling at 6 am in the morning when we got it I would have insisted on getting another car - someone had obviously reversed into a gate post, then swiped the side of the car into a wall, the antenna was gone and there were cigarette burns on the dashboard. BUT it was a great driver, nice and fast, and responsive whichis v. important in Ireland. Also plenty of luggage room..