Europcar Rental Experience
Dec 9th, 2008, 08:47 AM
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Europcar Rental Experience
This is our experience renting from Europcar in Nov-Dec '08 for 6 days. We pre-paid for a mid-size SUV for around $220. After landing in SJO, I didn't see their shuttle. Luckily I saw a 'representative' holding a "Europcar" placard, who helped with our baggage to the point of shuttle pickup. He then made a call from the public tel, and told us that the shuttle would be there in 15 mins. Just as we had started to wait, he came with a taxi driver to suggest that I take the cab to the Europcar lot, since otherwise the wait might be too long. By then I had realized that he was not affiliated to Europcar. I said I prefer to wait for the shuttle, but had doubts if this guy really called Europcar(note to future Europcar renters - carry some colones and Europcar tel# so that you can make the call for a pick-up from the airport).
Fortunately, the shuttle came within 10 mins or so. Once at the rental location, I showed them a letter from my Platinum Visa that stated that my insurance is covered by the card. They made a call to verify, and insisted that I would still need to buy liability insurance at $10/ day because my card covered damage to my vehicle, but not to the other vehicles involved in case of accident.
I told them that I had specifically asked my card these questions, and they had told me that I need no additional coverage. They didn't press any further, but put "on hold" around $2,000 on my credit card pending a secure return of the vehicle.
They showed me a couple of Toyota Rav4s to choose from. One was quite new and the other scratched practically everywhere with 95K miles. I chose the latter, and it meant that all areas of the car got marked in the vehicle report (in other words, I did't have to fear for one or two additional scratches - in hindsight a good decision).
The drive and the rest of the trip that followed was largely uneventful vehicle-wise. In case of car trouble, Europcar had tie-ups with mechanics or other car companies in most tourist hotspots where they themselves don't have an office.
The return of the car was another story. It took us nearly 1 hour to locate the rental place. Though we didn't have a GPS, there were other renters that we met in the rental office with GPS who struggled as much (Note: give yourself at least 1 hour buffer to be able to locate EuropCar office - and make sure you have the airport rental office address - the car rental form had only downtown SJO car rental address which didn't help as we asked around). The car inspection was a breeze, since the original report didn't have any unmarked area of the car really.
Another note: the car rental pick-up and return process is quite inefficient in CR - give yourself at least 30 minutes to buffer for that).
After getting back home, it did take about 3-4 days for the $2,000 "hold" to drop off - so that was a little bit of an anti-climax.
Otherwise it was a great decision to rent car, especially for my family with 3 kids.
Fortunately, the shuttle came within 10 mins or so. Once at the rental location, I showed them a letter from my Platinum Visa that stated that my insurance is covered by the card. They made a call to verify, and insisted that I would still need to buy liability insurance at $10/ day because my card covered damage to my vehicle, but not to the other vehicles involved in case of accident.
I told them that I had specifically asked my card these questions, and they had told me that I need no additional coverage. They didn't press any further, but put "on hold" around $2,000 on my credit card pending a secure return of the vehicle.
They showed me a couple of Toyota Rav4s to choose from. One was quite new and the other scratched practically everywhere with 95K miles. I chose the latter, and it meant that all areas of the car got marked in the vehicle report (in other words, I did't have to fear for one or two additional scratches - in hindsight a good decision).
The drive and the rest of the trip that followed was largely uneventful vehicle-wise. In case of car trouble, Europcar had tie-ups with mechanics or other car companies in most tourist hotspots where they themselves don't have an office.
The return of the car was another story. It took us nearly 1 hour to locate the rental place. Though we didn't have a GPS, there were other renters that we met in the rental office with GPS who struggled as much (Note: give yourself at least 1 hour buffer to be able to locate EuropCar office - and make sure you have the airport rental office address - the car rental form had only downtown SJO car rental address which didn't help as we asked around). The car inspection was a breeze, since the original report didn't have any unmarked area of the car really.
Another note: the car rental pick-up and return process is quite inefficient in CR - give yourself at least 30 minutes to buffer for that).
After getting back home, it did take about 3-4 days for the $2,000 "hold" to drop off - so that was a little bit of an anti-climax.
Otherwise it was a great decision to rent car, especially for my family with 3 kids.
Jun 16th, 2009, 05:48 AM
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I also had a good experience with Europcar; they dropped off the car and picked it up at no extra charge, and were clear about all the paperwork needed from our CC company to waive (certain) insurance charges. Friendly and professional, and the best price we found for the car we had (which was a RAV, a slightly bigger vehicle than the "Bego or similiar" we expected).
Jun 16th, 2009, 12:04 PM
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It sounds like the biggest problem here was communication. Some companies will allow you to waive the collision coverage if your credit card offers coverage.
However, you can not waive the liability insurance. This covers anyone or anything you might hit. This is a government monopoly, and required by law. It only makes sense. It prevents a local citizen having to go after a foreigner or foreign credit card company for damages. They will deal with a local insurance office.
The $10 a day sounds low, and the $2000 deposit sounds awfully high. This must have been a plan with a high deductible. But reserving this room on the card is typical. All of the companies do it.
Again, it sounds like missed communication. The company could have been more up front with you about how the insurance works. We try to tell our clients about this, so that there are no surprises.
But otherwise, it sounds like a typical car rental in Costa Rica! No one did anything wrong or illegal.
Hope this helps! Let me know if I can offer more advice.
Warm Regards,
Pat Hewitt
(Travel professional)
However, you can not waive the liability insurance. This covers anyone or anything you might hit. This is a government monopoly, and required by law. It only makes sense. It prevents a local citizen having to go after a foreigner or foreign credit card company for damages. They will deal with a local insurance office.
The $10 a day sounds low, and the $2000 deposit sounds awfully high. This must have been a plan with a high deductible. But reserving this room on the card is typical. All of the companies do it.
Again, it sounds like missed communication. The company could have been more up front with you about how the insurance works. We try to tell our clients about this, so that there are no surprises.
But otherwise, it sounds like a typical car rental in Costa Rica! No one did anything wrong or illegal.
Hope this helps! Let me know if I can offer more advice.
Warm Regards,
Pat Hewitt
(Travel professional)
Jun 17th, 2009, 06:11 AM
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We had no major complaints with our rental with EuropCar. In fact, they upgraded us at no extra charge to a larger car. (Guess when they saw 4 of us including 2 teenagers with luggage we got a sympathy vote).
I would agree with pg's comments re pickup about having local number and way to call if needed. Maybe we missed it in the reservation materials (but don't think so as we're usually pretty careful about these things), but we saw no shuttle. After waiting a while, a taxi driver offered to call their office which he did and then handed me the phone. We gave him $5 for his help and within 10 min the shuttle was there.
We did have a problem with the GPS we rented. Upon the return, we explained the problem and asked for some kind of credit, which we never got.
Otherwise, the return was a breeze. No problems, took about 10 min and shuttle was waiting to return us to SJO.
pg - not sure I totally understand about confusion on return. When the shuttle from SJO got off the "freeway" I made note of the exit and the short drive to the rental office. We had no problem retracing the steps on the return. And there was a gas station about a block or so from the rental office, so that was very handy.
Overall, we thought it was fine (especially considering our Spanish is anything but good).
I would agree with pg's comments re pickup about having local number and way to call if needed. Maybe we missed it in the reservation materials (but don't think so as we're usually pretty careful about these things), but we saw no shuttle. After waiting a while, a taxi driver offered to call their office which he did and then handed me the phone. We gave him $5 for his help and within 10 min the shuttle was there.
We did have a problem with the GPS we rented. Upon the return, we explained the problem and asked for some kind of credit, which we never got.
Otherwise, the return was a breeze. No problems, took about 10 min and shuttle was waiting to return us to SJO.
pg - not sure I totally understand about confusion on return. When the shuttle from SJO got off the "freeway" I made note of the exit and the short drive to the rental office. We had no problem retracing the steps on the return. And there was a gas station about a block or so from the rental office, so that was very handy.
Overall, we thought it was fine (especially considering our Spanish is anything but good).
Jun 17th, 2009, 08:05 AM
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I didn't mean to top an older post, if anyone wondered; just was looking for a way to give a brief review of our car rental experience with the Europcar tag, since I had researched it extensively before. BTW, the printouts and letter from our cc company about our coverage, etc., made the process pretty easy (we also paid only the additional $10/day). We also learned all the rules, including staying with your car and not moving it in case of accident (saw a couple of road traffic snarls due to this policy) (and the common sense stuff; don't leave valuables, lock it up, take photos before accepting it, check the prexisting condition carefully, etc.).
