Car rental prices England

You get what you pay for and to me this is too cheap, £127 for 16 days.

Some things I'd definitely find out, does this rate include 20% VAT (value added tax)

Will the car be manual or automatic? manual transmission is much more usual in Britain. Automatic cars are more expensive and scarcer so need to be pre booked.

What about insurance? is that included and what cover does it give you? British/European hire companies scrutinise scratches, marks and wheel damage much more than American companies, if you say you have your own insurance it will be disregarded, that is your insurance, you will have to deal with any damage claims and refunds yourself, the rental company will still charge or place a hold against your credit card.

Even as a Briton and used to driving here, I always take the rental companies best insurance cover, i.e. zero damage excess/full CDW (collision damage waiver)

Also Auto Europe appears to be a third party broker, it's always better to deal directly with a reputable company, if there are any queries or disputes you won't have to deal with middlemen.

Really - $10/day? What month are you traveling?

Dennis is right to be cautious, but probably is not aware how well regarded and transparent Auto Europe tends to be, with many years of positive rental experiences by staff here and other forum contributors. Somewhat different from other industries, we often recommend them over booking directly, partly because they actually answer their phones 24/7 and their rental vouchers (contract summaries) are the easiest to read of any I've seen. Yes, you need to know what insurance you've purchased, if any, or how your alternate coverage works (e.g. through your credit card).

I agree that UK car rental companies look very carefully for any scratches or tiny dents.

We paid extra for navigation. It was a huge help, especially on motorways with several roundabouts. Also, we rented a small SUV and it felt safer as we experienced driving on foreign roads.

Be careful with Europcar, they pulled one on us. The car we reserved and none in that class had a nav system and they wanted20 GPB a day for a GPS. We had to upgrade to an expensive choice(twice the cost). We rented a car for four weeks and paid about $2200 for it.

I have had similar experiences with Autoeurope on 2 rentals in Italy and 1 in France. I made early reservations and then checked their prices after receiving promotional emails from them. They even met the reduced price of their sister company Kemwel on another rental. Their prices might fluctuate because they need to rent vehicles for which they have committed and are in an oversupply situation. 1 of the rentals had savings approximating Wayner’s. The others were fairly substantial as well.

Are wheels and seats included?

I have a car booked through Hertz for a month pick up and drop off in London, mid February through mid March and was very surprised at the price, $174 for the whole month. Not sure why but it seems to be the going price.

I wanted a car with an automatic transmission and a nav system, that pushes up the price.

Hello from Wisconsin,
We are renting in York, England from the middle of April to May 1. It is a small, mini class, car as we will be driving on rural single lane roads, you get amazing gas mileage from these European cars, there are only two of us, and only two carry-on suitcases.

Yes, the rental includes wheels and windows. It includes VAT and few other things. It does not, and most estimates won't until after April 24th of the year, include the daily road fee of ...hmmm, what was it? One pound 92 per day.? So that is an extra $40. Depending upon who you rent from this can be a surprise cost because some rental firms don't notify you of this charge until you are at the counter, that way they have what looks like a low bid. Our rental is a standard transmission, meaning you have to be able to drive a shift car. That is Europe. Automatics are gas wasters. (I suspect automatics are more expensive to rent because their resale value to the rental firm is so low. People in Europe, I know not EVERYBODY there does, drive manuals.) If you want an automatic you have to pay. Keep in mind that the British tax cars based upon their environmental damage. And the road tax can easily be 1000 pounds pre year per car owned and used on British roads.

Additionally, If you want GPS you have to pay. If you want automatic toll paying devise in your car, you have to pay. Heck if you want a second driver it is about $15 per day for that.

It comes with some insurance, mostly for other people's bodily damage and their property, we tend to call it Liability Insurance . But what you want to know is, 'does it come with CDW?'. (Collision Damage Waiver = insuring the rental car's body) No. I use my credit card's offer of free CDW. I had to use it once way back in the 90's. It was simple. All the credit cards I use have 30 or maybe it is 31 contiguous days of coverage. I wanted a rental one spring in France for 40 days and got around the limit by renting for 30 days, turning the car in that afternoon, and picking up my 'new' car the next morning at the same company. CDW can be $20/day. On a 40 day rental that would have been an extra $800 to the rental price.

But my point stays the same. Rent your car early from a place that allows free cancelation, and periodically check on what has happened to prices. For me this year, $308 - $167 = a really really nice night out. Or a pretty good place to stay in England. Or a great place to stay in Czechia.

Drive safely. On rural roads expect a cow or sheep around each corner, not to mention a small lorry headed your way. Drive slowly, enjoy the ride.

wayne iNWI

For our 15 days Wales trip, last May, we rented a Peugeot 5008 automatic from Avis at Heathrow. The base price was $408 (reserved beforehand) and the taxes and fees added another $290. We did get a Peugeot 5008 and it had a built in satnav that did not cost extra. Avis’ smallest manual transmission (Fiat 500) picked up at T5 for the period you’re going is advertised with a pre-paid price of $326. Taxes and fees are not included in that price. So, $167 as a base price seems like a good deal as long as the car is large enough for your needs.

Be careful with Europcar, they pulled one on us. The car we reserved and none in that class had a nav system and they wanted20 GPB a day for a GPS. We had to upgrade to an expensive choice(twice the cost). We rented a car for four weeks and paid about $2200 for it.

How is that "pulling one on us"? The car you chose didn't have a nav system, a lot of smaller, cheaper cars don't. Did you request or check that the car you chose came with one? If you want a car with built in navigation you need to opt for the more expensive models in general. ALL the car rental agencies charge an extortionate amount for a separate navigation system. It wasn't a scam, you simply didn't choose a car that suited your requirements, that's not the agency's fault.