Car Hire in UK – Advice Please

[Bredbury Blue]

Will be holidaying back in the UK later in the year and thinking of hiring a car there (in Manchester) for a few days.

The companies I’m seeing (looking on Kayak and Expedia) are:

• Alamo
• Avis
• Easirent
• Enterprise
• Europcar

1. Any of those car hire companies you’d recommend or you’d advise stay-way from?

2. Any tricks/scams I should be aware of by rental companies? Anybody have bad experience?

3. Is the typical insurance coverage offered sufficient or is there any reason to take out additional coverage?

4. Anyone know of any problems for a returning UK expat to hire a car?

5. Any advice?

Cheers

[Upnotover]

Have a look here....http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/746804-driving-in-uk/

[craigt3365]

I've also found this guys advise quite helpful:

https://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/transportation/booking-a-car

My biggest worry was the insurance. You're in a foreign country, perhaps driving on the other side of the road, traffic signs you don't understand, etc. I like being fully covered! But the cheapest way possible! LOL

[Franky Bear]

I've used this site to book mine when i am home next month mate.

http://www.easycar.com/

[theoldgit]

I booked a car with Avis or Hertz, cannot remember which, booked online but couldn't pre pay online with a Thai card.

No problem picking the car up with my Thai licence, card and address.

However when I returned the car the final price was double the original price, thankfully I still had the original booking details with me and the guy did a manual override, took him a while though.

It's worth remembering that car hire companies have a pretty large excess these days and whilst they do sell, expensive, excess cover, it only reduces the liability. You might want to consider buying stand alone before you travel, they're a lot cheaper and cover the complete excess.

https://www.icarhireinsurance.com/#0

[RabC]

I always use Enterprise and have never had any issues. Like theoldgit, I also take out my own excess insurance rather than using the cover offered by the hire company.

[Bredbury Blue]

Have a look here....http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/746804-driving-in-uk/

Thanks...i did take a look at that one first, i considered adding to it but thought i might get more of a response by starting a new thread.

[Bredbury Blue]

I've also found this guys advise quite helpful:

https://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/transportation/booking-a-car

My biggest worry was the insurance. You're in a foreign country, perhaps driving on the other side of the road, traffic signs you don't understand, etc. I like being fully covered! But the cheapest way possible! LOL

A useful article which I’ve kept a copy of, thanks.

Couple of points from the article:

“Automatics are more expensive (usually about 50 percent more) and may only be available if you upgrade to a bigger, pricier car. (Some Americans find automatics worthwhile in Great Britain and Ireland, where it can be enough of a challenge just to learn to drive on the left.)” – That’s my situation, I’m English but haven’t driven there for over 25 years, haven’t driven a manual car for +20 years, so need to hire an automatic – smaller automatic’s are being quoted at about 17-20 quid per day.

“It’s best and less stressful to begin your driving experience away from big cities, so try picking up your car away from major destinations. A pleasant scenario for a trip to England would be to start out (sans car) in the smaller city of Bath, rent a car when leaving Bath, explore Britain at your driving leisure, then drop off the car in York and take the train into London, where you can rely on the excellent public transportation system. That way you’d enjoy the three major city stops on your England itinerary — where the last thing you’d want is a car — without paying for one” – What no mention of Manchester ?

“Picking up a car at an airport usually costs more than picking it up downtown” – Not finding that. I’ve been looking at Kayak for Manchester, Manchester Airport and Altrincham but they all seem to refer me to Manchester Airport.

“Get quotes for weekly rentals. Typically, the longer you rent, the less it’ll cost per day. You may find that renting for a full seven days costs the same as, or even less than, five or six days.” – Worth knowing.

[Bredbury Blue]

I've used this site to book mine when i am home next month mate.

http://www.easycar.com/

Excellent website...took a good look at it. Cheers.

[marstons]

Always used Enterprise no problems, as its only been for a few days took their insurance. Free taxi home when returning if not returning to airport car park but may be hit with a one way charge. If you don't take their insurance they do take a charge of your credit card, if the car is returned OK card is refunded.

[jonnyscot]

I've always struggled to get enough proof of address when applying using my UK license, bank docs and paper license no probs but after that I stick, I think most require at least 3,, some require more docs than others, I found hertz required less proof of address although possibly due to staff friendliness in that particular office,, interesting what theoldgit says, I've never thought to apply using my thai license, in which case I'd have no probs with proof of address

Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[beano2274]

I always use www.billiger-mietwagen.de (is easy to follow even though in German.

Izzirent or rentalcars.com are two other good ones

[mrtoad]

Always used Hertz back in the UK, and have had good service,and decent cars at reasonable prices. Might be worth looking to see if any local independent hirers as well, as sometimes that's is a useful option.

[Bredbury Blue]

I always use www.billiger-mietwagen.de (is easy to follow even though in German.

Izzirent or rentalcars.com are two other good ones

Had a look at www.billiger-mietwagen.de but impossible to read the terms and conditions etc = risky, but thanks for the suggestion.

[SantiSuk]

Have used them all, except Easirent. They are all fine, as is Budget (which I find to be the cheapest on-terminal rental outfit at Heathrow). They all have well-maintained vehicles that are usually less than one year old and good back-up if something goes wrong.

Insurance is a question of your attitude to risk, your driving skill level and your inherent luck factor, so we can't answer it for you, but I can give you my take.

Usually the included-in-the-price insurance ("Collision Damage Waiver" insurance) covers you for damage over a specifed amount, typically GBP £1,000 (54,000 baht) so what you are risking when you don't pay the extra is usually the cost of small prangs - your vehicle and anyone else's if you were at fault; if another party is at fault you would initially have to pay the up-to-£1,000 on return of the damaged vehicle, but the UK rental companies claim that they will try to recover that for you from the other party's insurer. I have no personal experience of whether they do, but fault attribution works well with UK insurers, so I suspect you often would get your money back if there is evidence (witnesses/police report/undisputed facts like rear end damage) to make the attribution stick.

Personally I can afford to pay the up-to-£1,000, if I am unlucky enough to have a minor ding (or £1,000 in the event of something bigger). I assess the risk of that possibility as very low - for me. That assessment is based on only one need to pay extra on insurance anywhere in the world in 47 years of motoring and car rentals (200+ rentals?) - a dog-kill in Isaan, as it happens. Also I have never had an accident that was above 5kph - ie I can be careless parking but I am safe or very lucky otherwise.

By definition on average for the average of all drivers the extra payment is not worthwhile (there is profit on top of the insurers true cost and bogus claims by fraudulent people further add to the cost). I never pay for insurance of any kind unless law requires me to, or I assess that I could not afford to, or would be miserable about having to, pay if things went badly. Unfortunately insurance is just another vehicle for making richer people better off than poorer people IMO . Wow - I've really gone off on a tangent! Back to the subject ...

The major car rental companies (the ones we talk about are 'major') are pretty ethical IMO and they do not look to scam you out of money on the extra insurance by "finding" damage (a-la Thai jet skis). If you are not paying the extra, it is worth making sure you do a good survey of body and glass pre-damage before you check-out the vehicle. Many of the UK rental companies now seem to pre-fill only the major stuff on the diagram and do not walk-the-car with you. 3 times out of 10 I am picking something up that could conceivably be charged on return.

A rather longer answer than I intended

[chiang mai]

I prefer to take an annual policy with the likes of Questor which costs £39 per year and covers all my excess amounts, that way I decline all the insurance charges from the car rental company - it's a once year task to renew the policy on line and goodness knows it's cheap enough

During my most recent trip in May this year somebody hit my rental car whilst it was parked, the rental company billed my credit card for £1,000. Four weeks later I'd filed my claim with Questor and all the charges were refunded.

http://www.questor-insurance.co.uk/

Edited July 31, 2014 by chiang mai

[Franky Bear]

Have used them all, except Easirent. They are all fine, as is Budget (which I find to be the cheapest on-terminal rental outfit at Heathrow). They all have well-maintained vehicles that are usually less than one year old and good back-up if something goes wrong.

Insurance is a question of your attitude to risk, your driving skill level and your inherent luck factor, so we can't answer it for you, but I can give you my take.

Usually the included-in-the-price insurance ("Collision Damage Waiver" insurance) covers you for damage over a specifed amount, typically GBP £1,000 (54,000 baht) so what you are risking when you don't pay the extra is usually the cost of small prangs - your vehicle and anyone else's if you were at fault; if another party is at fault you would initially have to pay the up-to-£1,000 on return of the damaged vehicle, but the UK rental companies claim that they will try to recover that for you from the other party's insurer. I have no personal experience of whether they do, but fault attribution works well with UK insurers, so I suspect you often would get your money back if there is evidence (witnesses/police report/undisputed facts like rear end damage) to make the attribution stick.

Personally I can afford to pay the up-to-£1,000, if I am unlucky enough to have a minor ding (or £1,000 in the event of something bigger). I assess the risk of that possibility as very low - for me. That assessment is based on only one need to pay extra on insurance anywhere in the world in 47 years of motoring and car rentals (200+ rentals?) - a dog-kill in Isaan, as it happens. Also I have never had an accident that was above 5kph - ie I can be careless parking but I am safe or very lucky otherwise.

By definition on average for the average of all drivers the extra payment is not worthwhile (there is profit on top of the insurers true cost and bogus claims by fraudulent people further add to the cost). I never pay for insurance of any kind unless law requires me to, or I assess that I could not afford to, or would be miserable about having to, pay if things went badly. Unfortunately insurance is just another vehicle for making richer people better off than poorer people IMO . Wow - I've really gone off on a tangent! Back to the subject ...

The major car rental companies (the ones we talk about are 'major') are pretty ethical IMO and they do not look to scam you out of money on the extra insurance by "finding" damage (a-la Thai jet skis). If you are not paying the extra, it is worth making sure you do a good survey of body and glass pre-damage before you check-out the vehicle. Many of the UK rental companies now seem to pre-fill only the major stuff on the diagram and do not walk-the-car with you. 3 times out of 10 I am picking something up that could conceivably be charged on return.

A rather longer answer than I intended

Thank for this info. It's my first time hiring in the UK, good to know

[Dah fahrang]

I've also found this guys advise quite helpful:

https://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/transportation/booking-a-car

My biggest worry was the insurance. You're in a foreign country, perhaps driving on the other side of the road, traffic signs you don't understand, etc. I like being fully covered! But the cheapest way possible! LOL

“Picking up a car at an airport usually costs more than picking it up downtown” – Not finding that. I’ve been looking at Kayak for Manchester, Manchester Airport and Altrincham but they all seem to refer me to Manchester Airport.

I've found this to be the case, too. Most rental companies seem to only have airport depots, or in the city centre, and their search engines take you back to Manchester Airport depot. My intended rental is with Enterprise, who have a depot in Altrincham (West Timperley, actually) and definitely, this is about 30% cheaper than the airport.

[Bredbury Blue]

I've also found this guys advise quite helpful:

https://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/transportation/booking-a-car

My biggest worry was the insurance. You're in a foreign country, perhaps driving on the other side of the road, traffic signs you don't understand, etc. I like being fully covered! But the cheapest way possible! LOL

“Picking up a car at an airport usually costs more than picking it up downtown” – Not finding that. I’ve been looking at Kayak for Manchester, Manchester Airport and Altrincham but they all seem to refer me to Manchester Airport.

I've found this to be the case, too. Most rental companies seem to only have airport depots, or in the city centre, and their search engines take you back to Manchester Airport depot. My intended rental is with Enterprise, who have a depot in Altrincham (West Timperley, actually) and definitely, this is about 30% cheaper than the airport.

Thanks for the Enterprise tip. I took a look at Enterprise website as i'd like to pick up closer to Stockport/Hyde and not from M/cr Airport. I agree that MANUAL rates are about 30% cheaper for Altrincham (and Hyde) compared to M/cr Airport, but AUTOMATIC rates are the same for Altrincham, Hyde and M/cr Airport.

[Dah fahrang]

I've also found this guys advise quite helpful:

https://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/transportation/booking-a-car

My biggest worry was the insurance. You're in a foreign country, perhaps driving on the other side of the road, traffic signs you don't understand, etc. I like being fully covered! But the cheapest way possible! LOL

“Picking up a car at an airport usually costs more than picking it up downtown” – Not finding that. I’ve been looking at Kayak for Manchester, Manchester Airport and Altrincham but they all seem to refer me to Manchester Airport.

I've found this to be the case, too. Most rental companies seem to only have airport depots, or in the city centre, and their search engines take you back to Manchester Airport depot. My intended rental is with Enterprise, who have a depot in Altrincham (West Timperley, actually) and definitely, this is about 30% cheaper than the airport.

Thanks for the Enterprise tip. I took a look at Enterprise website as i'd like to pick up closer to Stockport/Hyde and not from M/cr Airport. I agree that MANUAL rates are about 30% cheaper for Altrincham (and Hyde) compared to M/cr Airport, but AUTOMATIC rates are the same for Altrincham, Hyde and M/cr Airport.

You're welcome.

Looks like a good result through Thai Visa Travel forum, then.

[Lancashirelad]

If you haven't driven in the UK for 25 years, suggest picking up a copy of The Highway Code immdiately on arrival and reading it. Many things have changed in that time.

If using your Thai license you will have to pay on the spot fines if stopped for such things as using a mobile phone whilst driving, tailgating, failing to return to the left lane after overtaking, stopping in a box junction, entering a bus lane, etc. etc. Much like Thailand really

Oh and don't forget if you push your way out into traffic "Thai style" you'll likely create a road rage situation.

What is the speed limit for a car on a national speed limit dual carriageway?

[Bredbury Blue]

Thanks for all the advice...here's a report back.

We were in Carlisle this month for holiday (on way to Edinburgh) and had no choice to hire a car to visit Hadrian's Wall and Lake District. I looked at hire car websites for weeks before and was shocked how expensive an automatic 'compact' (the smallest grade) car was ...in the 40-50 pounds per day. A week before we left Thailand I looked again...found Enterprise to be the cheapest and prices had dropped to 20-25 pound per day. I booked the better type of compact automatic at 24 pounds per day. I downloaded the uk highway code and scanned it for in an hour or two. Made sure to read and understand the speed limits and how they apply. Also downloaded and read the signs section. For me there were new signs I didn't know.

Enterprise carlisle were great. Car was a lovely vw passat (a bit more hightech than my pickup which gave me a few problems initially). I had no problems at all driving except I found the speed limits slow and as there are speedcams every where I was constantly checking my speedlimit.

Out of our 3 weeks in Manchester (base) London Carlisle Edinburgh, the days with the car and the flexibility comfort and options us turned out to be the best days (Carlisle was also a surprisingly nice place and a great base for HW The Lakes Northumberland and lower Scotland).

Thanks to everyone's contributions.

[Lancashirelad]

Thanks for coming back and updating us, so few bother to do that after helpful advice has been given.

Very sensible to get and read the HWC. The reason I asked about the dual carriageway limit was because many people think it is 60 when it is in fact 70mph.

Glad you had an enjoyable time. Passat is a nice car. Carlise City is a very nice small city and as you point out ideally placed for the areas you wanted to visit. Lake District is lovely in the Autumn with all the trees changing colour.

[KittenKong]

For my yearly trip I use a comparison website which invariably returns Enterprise/Alamo/National (same company) via a reseller as the cheapest from Heathrow that has a fuel tank full/full policy (watch out for the expensive scams with other companies/resellers involving full/empty fuel policies).

This year it cost me GBP11 per day in high season for a manual Corsa or similar, with no extras at all apart from top-up insurance which I get elsewhere for just under GBP2 per day. This daily hire rate is much cheaper than the best rate that the company themselves offer for the same vehicle, and it's also better than prices offered by many other search engines including easycar.

In all the years I have been doing this I have never had the slightest problem with payment or anything else. But I have seen other people having all sorts of pricing trouble with insurance and fuel because they didnt thoroughly read the specific T&Cs for the package they had bought in advance. These problems stem not from the car-hire company but from the reseller who sells the discounted pre-payment package. You MUST read the conditions carefully before booking.

[Bredbury Blue]

Thanks for all the advice...here's a report back.

We were in Carlisle this month for holiday (on way to Edinburgh) and had no choice to hire a car to visit Hadrian's Wall and Lake District. I looked at hire car websites for weeks before and was shocked how expensive an automatic 'compact' (the smallest grade) car was ...in the 40-50 pounds per day. A week before we left Thailand I looked again...found Enterprise to be the cheapest and prices had dropped to 20-25 pound per day. I booked the better type of compact automatic at 24 pounds per day. I downloaded the uk highway code and scanned it for in an hour or two. Made sure to read and understand the speed limits and how they apply. Also downloaded and read the signs section. For me there were new signs I didn't know.

Enterprise carlisle were great. Car was a lovely vw passat (a bit more hightech than my pickup which gave me a few problems initially). I had no problems at all driving except I found the speed limits slow and as there are speedcams every where I was constantly checking my speedlimit.

Out of our 3 weeks in Manchester (base) London Carlisle Edinburgh, the days with the car and the flexibility comfort and options us turned out to be the best days (Carlisle was also a surprisingly nice place and a great base for HW The Lakes Northumberland and lower Scotland).

Thanks to everyone's contributions.

To add.

Enterprise Carlisle required from me:

UK driving licence (i have the paper version - accepted ok).

Recent letter proof of address (i provided one proof).

My mobile number (luckily i had a borrowed cheapo uk mobile).

Two landline numbers.

Credit card.

Edited October 27, 2014 by Bredbury Blue

[williewolf]

I booked a car with Avis or Hertz, cannot remember which, booked online but couldn't pre pay online with a Thai card.

No problem picking the car up with my Thai licence, card and address.

However when I returned the car the final price was double the original price, thankfully I still had the original booking details with me and the guy did a manual override, took him a while though.

It's worth remembering that car hire companies have a pretty large excess these days and whilst they do sell, expensive, excess cover, it only reduces the liability. You might want to consider buying stand alone before you travel, they're a lot cheaper and cover the complete excess.

https://www.icarhireinsurance.com/#0

Came across a program on BBC I Player last week,"Watchdog" and there was an article on there highlighting all the problems from consumers about Avis adding extra charges to the original booking. I was suprised at the amount of complaints throughout the UK & Europe