Do You Spain - too good to be true?

About 5 years ago car hire prices went through the roof, so I bought my own.  Now thanks to a local boy racer writing my car off I need to rent again for a while.

I looked at Centauro who were good a few years ago, but not too impressed.  So I thought I'd try "Do You Spain" who got a good write-up recently on EOS who've quoted €35.89 for a 10 day hire in May with comp insurance with no excess - that just seems too cheap!  Where do they make their money?

Any words of wisdom appreciated.

Where do they make their money?

By renting out thousands of cars they don't own and taking a small commission on each one which leaves the rental company to charge for the bits they want to.

I was tempted to mention they only have to make a € on each rental but as they have on the website a load of cars at 2 / 3€'s for ten days rental that blew that one out of the window.

Haven't a clue what type of ten day transport you would get for 2€...Probably a 3 legged donkey that limps a bit and spits a lot?

I book with do you Spain car hire approximately 7 times per year you do not get fully comp insurance with the rental all you get is the basic third party insurance ,you will have to take out the extra cover, the car hire company offer's you when you collect the car  costs about 15euro per day  or do what I do as a frequent flyer and take out a car hire insurance policy for around £65.00 for the year this can be purchased from the internet.

Hidden costs from the rental companies are fuel costs, refueling administration costs and excess insurance on non-insured costs

Always go for full/full fuel policy and take your excess insurance from a third party insurance company.

Then you will get a realistic total hire cost.

Thanks very much for your thoughts guys.  I reckon I'll try a few more, the price variation is extraordinary, far more than it ever used to be.  But yes I'll look out for the pitfalls and hidden extras (sounds a bit like RyanAir to me).

If anything sounds too good to be true it usually is.

Having reseached more I decided to try Do You Spain, in part out of curiosity - filled in the form etc to get their message:

...we are sorry to inform you that unfortunately we do not have any vehicles available for the dates requested. We apologise for the inconvenience. Thank you.

So possibly it was just a minor scam scam to get me email address and bombard me their spam email, but I get so much cr@p these days that hardly matters.  So I'll use Centauro who I've always found trustworthy. 

We've used DoYouSpain many times, most recently a week or two ago. They do tend be the cheapest, but based upon the need for a large deposit for insurance & fuel on collection of the vehicle. You can however use the 'filters' when booking and choose a 'full to full' deal, and even more importantly - buy a yearly excess insurance policy before you go!

One thing we have noticed is that if you book through them well in advance they can be more expensive than if you book nearer to your flight date. I've even pre-booked so I know I have a car then cancelled - free but has to be done on-line - and re-booked the a cheaper deal a week or two before the trip...

Biggest pain is the queuing if flying to Alicante!! OMG!! Unless you want to book with Hertz / Eurocar etc. who strangely don't seem to have queues...

Cheers!

Thanks for your thoughts.  I may try them again the future but I've now booked with Centauro who I've found pretty reasonable in the past.  But I've never used them at Alicante before - on the confirmation they've given me "gold" status for picking the car up, so I hope this actually means something. 

As you say, nothing worse that being stuck in a queue at arrivals - I can never understand why they want to faff around at the airport.  Sure they want to see your licence and passport, but the rest can be done in advance.  But I suppose they want to sell you extras you've already said no to.  Hiring a car used to be so simple.

As I said I rent through Do You Spain all the time, I do try to use the same company,  it seems to me these queues are nearly almost started by the person in the line who is compelled to argue over the cost of a tank of fuel, 40.00€'s full but they know the car only holds 30.00€ worth, they could care less that the rental company has to send someone out to get the fuel, then it's the insurance cost and because they wont pay that, it's now the loading on the credit card, next comes the cant find driving licence / credit card person, who has stood in the queue doing nothing except when they get to the desk, the same person then has to tell the next person all the troubles in the world about renting cars in Spain.

I think I have cracked it when anyone wants to moan about the rental to me, I just stare at them, point to myself, and say "Drussian"  (Russian)  in the strongest way possible, a quick about turn does it, dont shorten the queue though.

Fair comments  Baz1946 - when we finally got to the front of the queue last time at Alicante RecordGo this time - we were there less than 10 mins - despite spending time helping the couple next to us. The magic formula: have your documents / details / credit card etc. ready!!! It really does make you wonder...

acer said: "Hiring a car used to be so simple."

It still is if you pay for the service. The problem is that people go solely on price. They go for the cheapest and still expect the service.

If you book Ryanair, don't expect First Class Emirates.

I usually book Interrent on a full/full policy via DoYouSpain. Never had a problem with queues, extras or anything else.

Interrent are the budget arm of Europcar. They do good deals if you book close to arrival date. Same cars, same desk as Europcar. Slightly more expensive than Centauro, Goldcar, Firefly etc but as with everything, you really do get what you pay for.

Whatever you do, NEVER book via Dickmanns

I hired a fiat panda for seven days just last week through Do Yo Spain the cost just €15 the car hire company was fire fly the car was in VGC fuel cost €60 extra only had to wait in line 15 min ,l took my wife out for a curry on Camposol cost €26 including two pint's of lagger 😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀.also very good value can't wait to go back out in June fantastic place Camposol.