Car Hire

Hi all

So far we haven't felt the need to hire a car as we have been on a tight timetable and have used Paul to chauffeur us to the various meetings we have had.

But on our next visit we plan to be a lot more relaxed and a lot less business, hopefully to venture a little further afield.

So, can anybody recommend a car hire company that they have used.  I know there are 5 or 6 companies with a presence at the airport, have you used any of them or perhaps somebody in Jerez? 

Your suggestions would be most appreciated

Ruth

Hi Ruth

We always hire a car, but have never flown to Jerez so it's always been from either Sevilla or Malaga. When we look into it we have usually ended up back with Auriga Crown. They seem to be the best value for money, and we always take out the extra insurance they offer when you arrive (€5 per day) after I scraped the car against one of the narrow walls in the old town and took a bit of a financial hit! The only douple of downsides we've had with them is that despite being in a good condition, the cars can have quite high mileage (e.g. last one had 70,000 kms or so) - and also their policy is that if the rental is 4 days or more then you have to pay for a tank of fuel then return the car as close to empty as possible - this can be quite difficult to do. Probably a more professional set-up would be the normal Avis or Hertz etc but you do pay a premium.

We have stopped using Holiday Autos after some bad experiences. This is the sort of company where you don't find out who your actual booking is with until closer to your rental, and very often it appears to be some company not on the airport premises. Last time we used them was at Malaga and we ended up with Centauro who were offsite and charged us a load of spurious costs after the rental (e.g. for a missing parcel shelf - which was missing, but had been at the start of the hire!) and which took us a while to get reversed. To be fair to Holiday Autos they helped us resolve the issue, but we now steer well clear of them. If you used them in Jerez they might be OK as there may not be operators off the airport premises, but like I say we've not flown in/out Jerez so I wouldn't know.

Adam

 Flying into Jerez is a logistical nightmare for us so we tend to fly into Malaga.We seem to end up with Centauro quite a lot based on price. Can't fault them, so far. They are not directly at the airport but they provide a shuttle service, of course.The first time we used them I thought I will never find the place again to return the car but that task turned out to be straight forward. You just continue to the second roundabout after the exit for the airport. 

Hi Ruth,

We have flown into Jerez, Seville and Gibraltar. We too normally use Auriga Crown as we have found them to be the cheapest, but the cars you get can vary in quality.

When there are just the two of us we normally get a compact. The last time from Gibraltar we were given a Kia Picanto which we drove all over the place but we were relieved to get back to the airport with it as it felt like it was about to collapse. Having said that we have also used them in Jerez and we were upgraded (FOC) to a very nice Honda Civic. Also probably wise to upgrade the insurance just for piece of mind, although I have never driven on the tight streets of Arcos but prefer to leave it outside the apartment and walk.

Regards,

Mick

 Aaah, Mick. You have to drive through the old town, just once! An experience you won't forget!

Hi All

Just a short note to say thank you to everyone who has suggested car hire companies both on here and via pm.  As the easy winner was Auriga Crown we have just booked a car for our next visit in a few weeks, so looking forward to getting out and about.

We may even dare to drive up to the old town,  only during siesta though!  or may be not!

regards

Ruth