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Scotland Car Rental

Posted by (Slidell, LA) on

A friend and I are traveling to Scotland in May, arriving on the 6th and departing on the 15th. This is a twice COVID canceled golf trip and for most of it we will be staying in St. Andrews and Carnoustie. I need to book a rental car for nine of those days. We will be traveling with two golf bags and two suitcases (Rick Steves luggage size and a couple of smaller backpacks. I was there in 2012 and rented from Sixt using Hilton Honors points and they upgraded me to a BMW SUV, but that option is no longer available. I didn't have any problem with the right-side steering wheel/wrong side of the road thing, but I did have an automatic transmission which made it easier. I think we will need an SUV, but in looking at several rental sites I can't figure out what company/car/size to rent because of some of the brands they are showing. I would appreciate hearing about your experiences in Scotland and any suggestions you have for renting a car. Thank you.

Jim

Posted by
27062 posts

I wonder whether you've considered renting through AutoEurope. Many people have been pleased with the support they get from AutoEurope. I'd think they could help with the car-class decision, and you'd have access to the inventories of multiple car-rental companies. I guess the latter won't matter if you intend to rent in a small town with only one rental agency.

Posted by
267 posts

I live in Scotland and have no need to rent a car, so I cannot give you a personal recommendation. However on various travel forums and Facebook pages which I frequent I see the company Celtic Legend mentioned time and again and always very positively. You might want to send an e-mail enquiry and take their advice.

www.celticlegend.co.uk

Whatever you do, have no dealings with a company called Green Motion. Whilst a legitimate business they employ many sharp practices and the internet is littered with complaints and bad reviews about them.

Posted by
1639 posts

I have had a look on the Europcar availability for those dates at Glasgow.

For the brands, SEAT and Skoda are both part of the Volkswagen Group. The Skoda Octavia and Superb, are both very large cars, the Octavia estate may be a better choice given the size. They are in the SUV and Family tab in that company, BMW is in the prestige tab.

As for the size of the boot for the bags, it might be worth going on the websites of the manufacturers to see the specs.

Posted by
6507 posts

You can always look up the offered cars’ luggage capacity dimensions against known U.S. manufactured vehicles for comparison. I did it when selecting a car for an upcoming trip against the car we rented in Sicily a few years ago.

Posted by
1361 posts

In 2019 we rented from Arnold Clark/Celtic Legends. Not sure how they're related, but somehow they are. They were great. Matched a price I saw from Ryan Air and were very responsive. We had a Nissan Rogue which was more than enough room for 2 people with two bags. I think two golf bags would also fit in the cargo area with the backseats up. They would definitely fit with the backseats down. We had no problem driving the car on Arran and in the West Highlands.

Posted by
1639 posts

Arnold Clark, sometimes known as Arnold Shark, is a car dealership network that is big in Scotland and the North of England. Basically your hire car will be back on site in a few months being sold as previously enjoyed.

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