Car Rental in Iceland - Vehicle recommendation AND Blue or Lava ?

Do you also recommend GPS add on or will Google Maps on our phone work fine?

I can’t help you with any of the other questions as I’ve not rented a car in Iceland, but I can tell you I’ve rented cars in a number of European countries and I never get the GPS add on. I much prefer Google maps. Most rental cars will have CarPlay, or the equivalent, which makes it easy to see the directions as you’re driving.

My 2 cents worth from our earlier trip, which might or might not be worth 2 cents to you now, is that we got an all-wheel-drive (AWD) Chevy SUV from Hertz. Having AWD cars at home, that was important for us in Iceland, but that trip was in April, and it was 11 years ago. Like Mardee, I’ve relied on Google Maps, and I have been the navigator, while my husband drives.

Hertz had the best AWD price in Reykjavik in 2014, but I have no idea what the local competition is charging now. We’ve used the insurance protection our VISA credit card offers, which saves paying for the rental company’s coverage. I also don’t recall if we had an automatic or manual transmission. Four wheel drive doesn’t equal four wheel stop, but when we hit a patch of black ice (again, this was in early April), my husband was able to slow down, steer to the side of the road, and get stopped, while a small VW sedan ahead of us flipped off the road, killing a passenger (really bad day for many people). A somewhat bigger vehicle, with AWD, was essential for us.

We did drive the Golden Circle one day, and onto the Snaefulsness Peninsula on another. Those were great routes.

We always get 4WD or 4x4 in Iceland. We drive that at home too though so are used to it. In September the weather starts to turn and I would not go without those plus I would not get anything less than say a RAV4 or a Duster.

As for Blue vs Lotus this is my take. We have had 5 rentals either blue. Four were great, but the last one was last September and it was an awful experience and I swore I would never use them again. Fast forward to now and in a week we are renting from them again only because we need to pick up in downtown Reykjavik. So they get this one chance to redeem themselves a bit. Plus we have had better luck at their Reykjavik office vs KEF. Blue no longer guarantees the vehicle you choose but Lotus does. The lady rental we had a RAV4 reserved but for a cr***y Kia shortage with very high miles (km), one big dent plus scratches literally everywhere and it was filthy dirty inside dnd out. It would also just randomly stop while driving. When I brought all of this to their attention let’s just say their customer service needs an overhaul.

Oh and we do not opt for the gps. We just use Waze or google maps. We do get the WiFi unit as some lodgings have weak WiFi and this works well. Plus if we are hiking etc.

Thanks so much! :)

Mikliz97: Curious why you pick up in Reykjavik vs the airport? Do you take a bus to get into Reykjavik and rent later? Or is it as you said you've had better luck in Reykjavik renting vs the airport?
When you mentioned the weather changes in Sept - we are going near the end of Sept - how do you mean - more rain, wind and less sunny days?
Greatly appreciate all you help! :)

I noticed the Duster runs on diesel. I presume you can get that at any gas station in Iceland as in the U.S.? Any pro's or cons?
Good price with Lava but says 2022-2024 - does that run the risk of being more beaten up and better to opt for a newer one?

Yes the Duster is diesel and it is available everywhere.

We are renting in Reykjavik because we will be flying down from Akureyri so will fly into Reykjavik at the domestic airport, not KEF.

Having four wheel drive or not doesn't really matter if you encounter black ice. What matters then is mostly how good your tyres are, and how you're driving. And if you're not going on any F-roads your don't need four wheel drive.

What you should be worried about in late September is probably wind. It can get very windy in Iceland, and if it does smaller cars have an advantage.

We have found the 4x4/AWD vehicles with a bit more clearance to be helpful on any gravel road whether it be a road a short road to a parking lot. The gravel areas get a lot of potholes and the extra clearance has saved us a number of times. You still need to go slow of course but that is what we have found to be helpful.

I agree that it’s ground clearance that matters, not AWD - except in winter. Will you use any unpaved roads? Some waterfall parking is unpaved, anyway. Note that roads under repair may be temporary gravel, making the extra gravel and wind-blown insurance essential. Read the sticker that says Hold Door With Two Hands When Opening!

I’d. consider renting at KEF for the largest choice of vendors, vehicles, and prices, unless you are sleeping in Reykjavik that night. Just an idea.

We used Waze navigation App.

Just returned from 10 days driving the ring road. Highly recommend trying to get a hybrid as gas prices so expensive. We rented through Hertz using AAA and with full insurance it ended up being less than local companies, key was to book in advance.

I purchased a ten day esim through Airlo for $30 and used google maps for the trip with no issues except Google incorrectly stated road between airport and Reykjavik was closed. The esim worked great, I always had coverage even in most remote areas of route 1.

Yes, Google has that road incorrectly listed as closed. There is quite a bit of construction on it right now, but we used Waze and it gave us an alternate road which basically paralleled it and saved a bunch of time.

We were in Iceland in June; and rented an electric car to avoid the cost of gas. It was a Tesla, so had built-in navigation stuff (which we only figured out how to use halfway into the trip, but that's on us). I also used Apple Maps on my phone. We rented from one of the international companies (Hertz maybe?). There were charging locations at all the big tourist spots and in Reykjavik itself. We didn't go to Snaefellsness or Vik though, so don't know about coverage out there, but suspect it would work fine.

We also rented a Tesla with built in navigation from LAVA. They offer alternative chargers in addition to the TESLA chargers. The Tesla chargers are not always displayed on the car screen but easy to find with navigation on your phone. WE used a combination of Tesla chargers and alternatives, which were easy to find.

1. A regular car will be fine in September as you don't go to the Highlands
2. I recommend Lava Car Rental. I used them a few times, I was pretty happy and it was a good price

We rented from Blue Car Rental and will not do business with them again.

We reserved our car two months in advance and when we arrived for pick up we were given an “upgrade”. The car was bigger (not a plus for us), older, dented and scratched (5 dents plus numerous scratches were noted on paperwork), had 75K miles on it, and there was a storage box on the roof (a negative in Iceland’s fierce winds and low ceiling in-town parking garages). It was also a diesel, with slow pick up and eco unfriendly fuel (in eco-focused Iceland?) The desk clerk challenged us when we asked for a car that was closer to what we’d booked and told us this car was all she had. Her attitude was confrontational.

We took the car – it’s a long walk to Reykjavik - but were not happy about the situation. Driving from the airport we realized that the fuel tank was 1/8 full, not the 100% listed on the contract. It appeared that the car had not been cleaned because the steering wheel was sticky and there were food wrappers in the back seat. Half way to Reykjavik an alert light came on indicating tire pressure issues.

By now, the airport rental office had closed. We emailed the company’s customer service and attached photos of the dash. Our plans to launch early the following day were delayed until we heard back from the company. They instructed us to 1) go to a gas station and see them about the tire pressure, and to 2) fill up the gas and the company would note this.

Really? Should we also clean the car and remove the roof box?

We called the company, requested another car and were able to pick up one at the downtown Reykjavik office, avoiding further contact with the adversarial airport team. The folks at the in-town office were pleasant and helpful.

Our lesson? Head back to Enterprise where they treat their customers with respect and deliver clean, fully fueled, road-ready rental cars.

We will avoid Blue Car Rental for all future trips.