UK car hire – talk to me

[Salted_Peanut]

Talk to me about UK car hire companies. Whom shouldn’t I touch with a barge pole? And who’s OK?

[alorotom]

Greenmotion - avoid them like the plague.

Take out an annual excess policy - this will be cheaper than excess insurance for a single rental and cover you for rentals for the full 12mths

[bearman68]

How long do you want to rent one for?

[spikeyhead]

I've had decent service form Northgate, but mostly for vans.

[Driver101]

Thrifty are my go to company. Never had an issue with them and often have had an upgraded car over what I've booked. Their prices are higher than they used to be.

[Chucklehead]

it's an expensive time to rent a car just now, but i would always recommend Alamo/Enterprise/National unless you have a particular reason to choose another (loyalty, discounts, locations, car types or opening hours etc)

[red_slr]

Avoid Enterprise car hire at all costs.

Last 2 times I have hired from them its been a total PITA and will no longer use them.

[s2kjock]

Used Enterprise several years ago a number of times and no issues at all. Hertz a couple if times and all fine. More recently I used Avis and they seemed good.

[Boringvolvodriver]

Have a look at more local forms than the nationals if possible. Not always easy I know but can be better priced.

[Truckosaurus]

All the Big Names are much of a muchness, and quality of service more to do with local staff then anything else.

These days there's plenty of agregator sites to compare prices if that is the issue.

I've found I get better prices from the Costco website for my local Enterprise than booking direct.

If you are planning on a lengthy hire, or several short ones, then buy an annual excess insurance policy rather than paying the daily fee (also covers foreign rentals).

[RizzoTheRat]

Another vote for excess insurance. Think mine's with iCar, way cheaper than using the hire car company's own insurance.

There are some comparison websites around that are worth a look, TravelSupermarket and Kayak for example.

[GreatGranny]

Our company used Enterprise a lot (well, they did before Covid) and service does differ from branch to branch.
Our local one was always excellent, cars spotless, delivered on time and flexible if you ran over time.

[manwithbeard]

I reccomend Europcar. The staff working in the branch near my home are very friendly and courteous. Heathrow branch pre-covid could be a nightmare waiting to be attended to. But joining the Privilege club solved that problem. Since then i am normally dealt with promptly.

[Riley Blue]

GreatGranny said:

Our company used Enterprise a lot (well, they did before Covid) and service does differ from branch to branch.
Our local one was always excellent, cars spotless, delivered on time and flexible if you ran over time.

Although I haven't needed to use them for four years or so, our local Enterprise has been excellent too, always going the extra mile. Cars have always been immaculate and on the one occasion when a fault occurred during a hire a replacement was provided from the local office within an hour.

[Simon Brooks]

Take out an annual excess policy - this will be cheaper than excess insurance for a single rental and cover you for rentals for the full 12mths
[/quote]

100% this, always have an excess cover plan in place, one of those things you hope you'll never need, howver when you do it'll save you a load of grief and cash. Thankfully had it for a trip to SA few years ago, car written off (btw I wasnt driving) insurance company stepped in and picked up all the agg and costs.

[SydneyBridge]

Enterprise for me, for cars and vans. I do not have a credit card and no issue with them.

[DSLiverpool]

Need a car for 5 days until the new one arrives.
Holy moly Enterprise what £100 a day for a focus !! It’s my local most convenient but sheesh.
My local indie is fully booked but a Crossland would be £50 a day.
To the rescue Europacar at £250 5 days focus with collection at the end. Yay

How do Enterprise rent anything? All account holders with corp discounts?

[Mark V GTD]

Yes I suspect that’s the case. Cant be many private customers who are going to stomach a three fold cost hike. I was looking to rent on and off over a period of six to eight weeks waiting for a new car to arrive. As soon as I realised it was over £100 a day now I dropped that idea and just bought a used car.