Best car rental company in Ireland?

On three out of four trips I have used Irish Car Rentals. They have always had the best price when I was looking.

I had same question.
Nancy, what rental companies did you use?
Did you book on line or on site when you got there?
Did you use on booking agent?
Thanks!

From TripAdvisor: "The majority of cars in Ireland are operated by a manual gear shift. All car hire companies will have a limited range of automatics available for hire in all car sizes. If you are interested in hiring an automatic car, the best advice is to book early to ensure availability. Automatics are significantly more expensive to rent than manuals. It is also a common fact that, one might BOOK an automatic but, on arrival it's possible it might not be available."

We have used Dan Dooley and either hertz or Avis, can't remember but have never had a problem with getting automatic at the size we agreed to and the price. Twice we rented manual and it was our choice but even though have driven manual in US for years, it is is much easier to use automatic in Ireland. I had tough time going from first to second, usually went first to fourth. We were there in October, think we used here Hertz or Avis due to price, car was right there as expected and no problems.

As I said, the company that I used was Irish Car Rentals (that is the name of the company). I always book in advance of my trip as soon as I am sure of my dates. Then I keep watching their site in case a deal comes up later. I have on occasion booked a better deal later, then cancelled the earlier one. They have a US tollfree number if you have questions, too. I have never had a problem getting an automatic when I requested one.

Any recommended websites for comparison shopping (including selecting a manual or automatic) and where making a payment is not required?

I used Dan Dooley and was very happy with it.
I would definitely use them again.

I had the same question. We'll be renting a car for 16 days, and are just starting to go through the extra charges, of driving through northern IE, the "deposits", fees, etc...any help for a company that is honest and upfront would be appreciated!

We will be traveling in Ireland in March, flying into Shannon. Is the Irish Car Rental Company available at the Shannon Airport? How about Dan Dooley? I did book a car with Hertz, but would like to see if I can get a better rate. I was surprised to learn that the size of the car, and therefore the number of passengers and amount of luggage it will hold is a little different in Ireland. My mother, 2 daughters and I will be traveling on the western side of the country.
I appreciate the feedback from those of you who have been there and have first hand experience!
Thank you.

Yes, Irish Car Rental is available at both Shannon and Dublin airports. I have rented and dropped at both. Dan Dooley is also available at both airports, though ICR has always had better prices when I was looking.

Check out Easy tour Ireland. They are an agent for Hertz and offer all inclusive rates that cover the needed Super CDW. They also have a US office and toll free number in NJ if that is important to you. I could not find a rate that was even close to being as affordable as theirs when I booked. A lot of the company's websites showed rates that did not include Super CDW and that is the most expensive part of the rental by far. I used them and will use them again.

I did Hertz last last February/March 38 days long. It was great no problems, no wait to get into the car. There is some major construction happening in that area for the rentals at the Dublin airport location. But besides that it was great. I will say I used my data on my iPhone to get around. God bless Google maps, I could type in the worlds smallest pub on the edge if the Beara and it found it.
Hertz was only made better when I came back to them for a week in September and found out that they now have a wifi device for the cars (I want to say €15 a day) and the device has unlimited usage and fit in your hand, I took it everywhere with me. Because of that I say go Hertz. Maps in Ireland are worthless most the small roads arenas on them and the sign placement is the worst.

We rented from Budget, picking up at Dublin city office on Drumcondra and dropping off four days later at Cork airport. Automatic trans in our Nissan Qashqai was about 80-90 dollars extra, worth every penny. I bought the deductible down to zero, and it saved me when the car struck by a hit and run driver. Nothing serious but that saved me plenty. I was very happy with Budget.

Dave

I used Enterpise when I rented multiple times and they were great. It helps if you can call the office to follow up to confirm that you want a small car.

I think we will go with Dan Dooley. My brother really wants all six of us in one car, so we are going to go with the minibus (VW Caravelle) that will be big enough for all of us and our luggage. Since my brother, sister, and their spouses all drve stick, I am going to revel in being the passenger for the first two weeks and let them deal with the big car on the small roads! DD gave me a quote with insurance with a 100 Euro deductible, which is fine with me. I will also use DD to rent the small sedan automatic I will drive the last five days of our trip (Mom and I get to stay a bit longer than everyone else since I have more vacation days left).

I called their New York office directly to get the exact quote, and the woman I spoke with sent me an email with exactly what I get for the quote I had, and I also found a ten percent discount that I will use as well.

Anyone hear of renting a WiFi stick at the airport rental car place? I really think I will need Wi-Fi for my daughters iPad. She will be The Navigator with all the GPS points but her iPad needs a Wi-Fi hook-up.

Any ideas? Landing in Dublin, renting car and leaving immediately for Cashel.

Thanks for any input!

Be aware - extra drivers cost extra in Ireland. It's not like the US, where you get extra drivers for free. If your family members all intend to drive you will pay for all of them.

For the other question, rather than deal with a wifi stick, I would just take a GPS with Ireland maps with you. I take mine - I already know how to use it, and I can preprogram locations before the trip.

Terri posted from Tripadvisor: "It is also a common fact that, one might BOOK an automatic but, on arrival it's possible it might not be available."

So what happens if there are only manual cars available but I can only drive automatic?

We are looking into picking up a rental in Dublin city centre on June 29, dropping off at Shannon on July 6. Quotes vary greatly between Hertz, Avis, Dan Dooley & Irish Car Rental, prepaying through Avis seems to be our most affordable option. Is it more likely that there will be an automatic transmission vehicle available the earlier in the day? We are trying to avoid an extra day charge and expect to drop the car off at Shannon at about 11am before our 1pm flight to London, so are planning to pick up the car in Dublin at 11am rather than 9am when the agency opens. How can I guarantee that I will get an automatic transmission vehicle?

Thanks for any help - this is our first time to Ireland and we have a lot to learn.

I have rented in Ireland four times now, and have always gotten an automatic if I requested one. But if they don't have one for you, just move to the next rental desk. I would not call it "common" that they don't have one for you, unless perhaps in the peak of tourist season.

We had bad luck with Irish Car Rentals. 4 extra charges on our CC when we got home. And difficulty with insurance issues after a fender bender. Best advice: Journey Through Ireland and Easy Tour Ireland are both Hertz Franchises and are headquartered in USA. Dooley also has an office in the USA. We found that it is much easier dealing with a rental car company if located here. We prepaid in $'s so no conversion fee. Have used Journey 3 times with "0" problems. Have read numerous good reports about Dooley and Easy Tour. No surprises on the CC. I also suggest you get additional quotes for comparison sake, but go directly to the individual rental car company in Ireland (Avis, hertz,Dooley, etc) . Try to avoid the middleman (like Argus, Irish Car Rental, Europecar, Expedia etc) if possible! If you use one of them and have no issues, you will be ok. But if you have a fender bender, mechanical issues, or issues with bogus charges, there is more potential to get the royal run-around between the middle-man and the rental car company. No one seems to want to take responsibility if there are issues, and they tend to blame each other until the customer goes away, been there-done that. Too bad that the car rental situation is such a ordeal in Ireland, since it is such an awesome place to visit. Good luck,

I understand that in Ireland, car rental agencies charge per mile in addition to the normal rental charges, does anyone have information/experience in that regard?

Thanks,

Jim

Have rented from numerous car agencies in Ireland and never paid a per mile fee.

We'll go with Sixt as our experience with them in Spain and Italy was stellar. Great prices, no hustle.