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Car rental in Ireland

Hello,
We are renting a car in Ireland for two weeks. When we've rented elsewhere (usually Italy) we go through Auto Europe and the rental company is Sixt, arranged in advance. Auto Europe has told us that we will have a 5,000 euro deposit held on our credit card (not charged) in case of damage. That was verbal, I don't see it on the web site. We have never been told this before. Anyone have any experience with this or perhaps a different rental company for Ireland? Thanks.

Posted by
2347 posts

Rented from Dan Dooley several times and no credit card hold. Same with Hertz and Enterprise. Dan Dooley is I believe an Irish company and provided very good service. I seem to remember they do have a USA phone number so you can call direct.

Posted by
2261 posts

Terri, do you mean Auto Europe said this with regard to an Ireland rental? If so, did you discuss taking/not taking the insurance at the time of rental? I'm surprised they said that without some circumstance in the background. It's usually the case, with few exceptions, that you need to take the insurance on an Ireland car rental, in fact I would suggest buying the deductible down to zero if you can. Having said all that, I have always heard that Dooley, the company Gail mentions, is a good to deal with-what is their deal, I wonder?

Posted by
254 posts

Terri - as Dave hints at, there has been a rich history of discussion on this forum about the topic of rental car insurance in Ireland. Suggest you take a look back at those many postings. You will get to decide whether you want max coverage (e.g. "buying the deductible down to zero"), minimal cost (e.g. deposit held on credit card), or something in-between that you might be able to set up. It is an interesting risk/benefit tradeoff that previous posters have struggled with, since Ireland seems to be different from many other nations in this area. Good luck and have a grand time on your trip, no matter what!

Posted by
62 posts

Check out Easytourireland.com .We've used them twice and find it a relief to have complete coverage upfront ahead of time. Will be using them again this Spring. They are including GPS on rentals made by end of this month.

Posted by
35 posts

Barb, from their web site: "Super Cover is offered in most locations but can only be purchased at time of pick-up." So it looks like one cannot buy it ahead of time.

Posted by
8 posts

We rented from Hertz in Sept., 2015. They charged the 5000 euro deposit because we did not take their insurance. Our credit card provides insurance. We safely drove 1000 miles and returned the car unscathed. Best advice: take your time driving. Have a competent navigator. If you need help, pull over into a village and ask for help.

We are returning in May to see the rest of the island.
Christine from Oakland, CA

Posted by
62 posts

Caralls and Jack. I cannot find any extra costs on the website or when we rented 2 years ago. One is renting 'through' Easytour which uses Hertz exclusively? One could call the toll free number to get clarification. And, Caralls, I wonder what credit card you used as the fine print on most cards say no coverage in Ireland.??
I will be calling Easytour soon for my trip in April and will try to get the 'true story'.

Posted by
8 posts

Barb,
Our card is a mileage plus Visa card (United airlines frequent flyer program). I called beforehand and verified coverage.
Chris