A Look at Car Rentals for 2010
Photo by blucolt on Flickr
Our friend Bob is no stranger to Irish car rentals. This year marks his twelfth self-drive trip in eleven years. Yet, he still finds himself banging his head against the computer screen when it comes time to research car rentals.
His frustrations mirror the list of irksome car rental practices we published in the post 5 Things You Should Know When Renting a Car.
Bob shared the car rental “cheatsheet” he created, and we thought you might want to take a look for yourself. He did his best to compare “apples to apples’ (not an easy feat when dealing with multiple car rental companies in Ireland), so this list compares rentals from the same pick up/drop off locations, same car class, regular insurance (CDW) and same dates (Aug 1-17, 2010).
You’ll notice one of the big players is missing from the list, Dan Dooley. That’s because for these particular dates, the Dooley prices were too high for Bob to even consider them (Bob notes that in the past, he has found Dan Dooley to be very competitive with upfront pricing in their online quotes). Bob was also interested in
renting without CDW, so he included those rates when available… and in the case Hertz, that is the only rate he posted.
A Snap Shot of Bob’s Car Rental Options
| • | CAR | # of DOOR | FEATURES | QUOTE in EUROS | (No CDW) |
| ARGUS – a car rental consolidator | |||||
| Fiesta | 2/4 | 448 | |||
| Fiesta | 4 | 456 | |||
| Golf | 4/5 | 547 | |||
| Golf | 5 | A/C | 584 | ||
| Avensis | 4 | A/C | 735 | ||
| Golf | 4/5 | A/C – automatic | 886 | ||
| Fiesta | 4/5 | automatic | 1,039 | ||
| Avensis | 4 | A/C – automatic | 1,225 | ||
| Micra | 2/4 | automatic | 2,952 | ||
| AVIS | |||||
| Corsa | 5 | 998 | (979) | ||
| Focus | 5 | 1,088 | (1,059) | ||
| Micra | 5 | automatic | 1,263 | (1,298) | |
| THRIFTY (ATLAS) | |||||
| Polo | 3 | 916 | |||
| Yaris | 5 | 940 | |||
| Focus | 5 | 1,050 | |||
| Passat | 4 | 1.6 litre | 1,263 | ||
| Passat | 4 | 1.8 litre | 1,364 | ||
| Micra | 3/5 | automatic | 1,386 | ||
| Corolla | 4/5 | automatic | 1,498 | ||
| KEMWELL – a car rental consolidator | |||||
| Hyundai I30 | 4 | 685 | |||
| Golf | 4 | 706 | |||
| Focus | 4 | A/C | 728 | ||
| Astra | 4 | 871 | |||
| Hyundai Accent | 4 | automatic | 1,093 | ||
| Nissan Note | 4 | automatic | 1,135 | ||
| Astra | 4 | automatic | 1,573 | ||
| BUDGET | |||||
| Polo | 2 | 498 | |||
| Fiesta | 4 | 522 | |||
| Golf | 4 | 546 | |||
| Mondeo | 4 | 644 | |||
| Yaris | 2 | automatic | 935 | ||
| Auris | 4 | automatic | 1,105 | ||
| HERTZ | |||||
| Ford Ka | 2/3 | (823) | |||
| Focus | 2/4 | no A/C – 1.4 litre | (951) | ||
| Mondeo | 4/5 | A/C | (1,131) | ||
| Mazda 3 | automatic | (1,260) | |||
| Mazda 6 | 4/5 | A/C – automatic | (1,337) | ||
What does this all mean?
- Car rental prices vary greatly (Bob’s quotes ranged from euro 448 – 2,952).
- Despite Bob’s efforts, some of his quotes might not include all the extra costs – some companies simply do not provide all the information.
- Quotes generally DO NOT include “Local Charges and Fees” and fees for a full tank of petrol.
- Bob didn’t book the cheapest rate he found – he ruled out companies that were unclear about fees and rates.
Bob posted even more information about his experience at http://ireland.activeboard.com/forum.spark?aBID=65127&p=3&topicID=35215597.
Photo by Rental Car Sign, originally uploaded by blucolt.
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Think my lack of formatting skills caused some confusion –
All the prices quoted were in EUROS, unless they included the $. Some rental companies would ONLY allow the ‘Waive CDW’ option if you used the .com site, rather than their .ie site. Those were the ones that I put in parenthasis (sp???).
Hope that helps …
Bob
Nice work, Bob. Makes me want to take the train!
fantastic information. i wonder why dan dooley is so expensive now? ugh. good luck! and thanks for sharing – we’ll need this in sept.
Good information. We’ve always used Dan Dooley, except for last year when we needed a larger vehicle for extra guests. We settled on Hertz and it was the worst decision ever. They substituted a higher priced vehicle than reserved. We had a flat tyre the morning after renting, and the jack was broken. Hertz customer service said it was our problem, not theirs and to buy a new jack and tyre at the local Land Rover dealer. As we were in the middle of the Wicklow mountains, that was a little difficult. As usual, there were helpful and friendly locals that got us to a shop and had the tyre repaired.
Upon return, our final costs were double the amount on the contract after they added in extra fees. Correspondence to Hertz Ireland and Hertz corporate finally got us a $100 voucher which didnt begin to cover the additional $2000 we ended up paying for a 2 week trip!