Hire cars and CarPlay
Discussion
I’m booking a UK hire car for later in the year and the company wants an extra £8 a day for “Navigation system and Android Auto / Apple CarPlay”.
The car I’ve booked comes with wired CarPlay as standard. Can the hire companies turn it on and off, or are they just trying it on and hoping people don’t know it is standard fit?
The Aus arm of the company doesn’t even ask if you want Nav!
The car I’ve booked comes with wired CarPlay as standard. Can the hire companies turn it on and off, or are they just trying it on and hoping people don’t know it is standard fit?
The Aus arm of the company doesn’t even ask if you want Nav!
You won't have booked a SPECIFIC car you will have booked a CLASS of car eg "Ford Focus or similar".
Any car is likely to come with CarPlay but to guarantee it you are being asked to pay the extra.
Car Hire Co's love ad ons.
I'd chance it and not pay the extra.
One thing you may want to consider is paying for Car Hire Excess Insurance.
Not through the Car Hire Co (they will try scare tactics to upsell this) but from a third party.
https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheap-car...
Any car is likely to come with CarPlay but to guarantee it you are being asked to pay the extra.
Car Hire Co's love ad ons.
I'd chance it and not pay the extra.
One thing you may want to consider is paying for Car Hire Excess Insurance.
Not through the Car Hire Co (they will try scare tactics to upsell this) but from a third party.
https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheap-car...
IME they cannot turn it on/off and where it’s factory fit it’ll just be there.
However that being said I have had a couple of hire cars where the base consumer factory fit unit (which is CarPlay) wasn’t present and a very very low spec radio/bluetooth factory unit was present instead - but this has mainly been in the MENA market
However that being said I have had a couple of hire cars where the base consumer factory fit unit (which is CarPlay) wasn’t present and a very very low spec radio/bluetooth factory unit was present instead - but this has mainly been in the MENA market
If you pay that, then they'll 100% ensure you have a car that has either factory Satnav or Android/Carplay.
However, I have never paid that fee and every car I've had in recent years has had Satnav or Carplay. I really doubt they would be re-coding the cars between every rental, which could be every single day in theory for hundreds of car, when they often struggle just to get them clean and fuelled in time.
However if you don't pay then you're not guaranteed, but you could just buy a phone cradle if it was required.
Obviously the higher class you book the more likely it'll have them, some base models in lower classes will not.
However, I have never paid that fee and every car I've had in recent years has had Satnav or Carplay. I really doubt they would be re-coding the cars between every rental, which could be every single day in theory for hundreds of car, when they often struggle just to get them clean and fuelled in time.
However if you don't pay then you're not guaranteed, but you could just buy a phone cradle if it was required.
Obviously the higher class you book the more likely it'll have them, some base models in lower classes will not.
Edited by Guyr on Sunday 19th January 08:59
I was in and out of hire cars quite a lot last year for work. I tend to bung in a couple of extra phone cables in my bag with both types of USB. Nothing more frustrating than it being there but you can’t use it.
All of the cars I was given had some form of connectivity even if it was the manufacturers own more basic system instead of CarPlay. The worst I had to deal with was one that couldn’t show a map but still had spoken instructions still got by. That only happened the once though.
It’s so rare now for any car not to have some kind of connectivity.
All of the cars I was given had some form of connectivity even if it was the manufacturers own more basic system instead of CarPlay. The worst I had to deal with was one that couldn’t show a map but still had spoken instructions still got by. That only happened the once though.
It’s so rare now for any car not to have some kind of connectivity.
ntiz said:
It’s so rare now for any car not to have some kind of connectivity.
Yeah, almost everything comes with at least CarPlay these days.I’ve booked a Peugeot 308SW “or equivalent” and given the 308 comes with CarPlay I’d expect the “equivalent” to as well
At £8 a day for 14 days I’ll chance it and buy a holder if I have to.
It's more likely they'll have some "or equivalent" cars that don't have carplay, and paying the extra makes sure you don't get one of those equivalents.
In reality, they probably all have it, so I would chance your arm. If the car they give you doesn't have it, tell them you've changed your mind.
In reality, they probably all have it, so I would chance your arm. If the car they give you doesn't have it, tell them you've changed your mind.
Lots of cars don't have it, and a hire car is more likely than most not to have it.
Some cars have support for Apple Carplay, but not Android Auto. I've never come across a car that supports Android Auto but not Apple Carplay.
If the car has a touchscreen, then the chances are it supports Carplay as a minimum. If it doesn't have a touchscreen, then no chance.
Getting it working can also be a challenge. In some cars, you plug your phone in and you're away. In others you have to manually pair your phone. In Toyota's (not the current models), you have to configure it in the car setup and tell the car whether you're using Android or Apple. Other cars can only support a small number of connected phones, so you have to delete one to make room for yours. This process can be problematic. As already mentioned, some cars need a USB-C cable, others need a traditional USB cable. Some cars have various USB sockets, some of which work with Carplay, others are for charging only.
Some cars have support for Apple Carplay, but not Android Auto. I've never come across a car that supports Android Auto but not Apple Carplay.
If the car has a touchscreen, then the chances are it supports Carplay as a minimum. If it doesn't have a touchscreen, then no chance.
Getting it working can also be a challenge. In some cars, you plug your phone in and you're away. In others you have to manually pair your phone. In Toyota's (not the current models), you have to configure it in the car setup and tell the car whether you're using Android or Apple. Other cars can only support a small number of connected phones, so you have to delete one to make room for yours. This process can be problematic. As already mentioned, some cars need a USB-C cable, others need a traditional USB cable. Some cars have various USB sockets, some of which work with Carplay, others are for charging only.
E63eeeeee... said:
I had a VW hire car last year where you had to pay a fee for the satnav. I don't remember whether I was given the chance to pay this up front. Having learned my lesson a few years ago I always pack a phone holder and just use Google maps on my phone.
This! A £1 air vent mounted phone holder and power adapter go around the world with me. 
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