Car rental caveat

Jerry, Thanks for the "caveat". It's a good reminder of problems that can occur with car rentals. I normally arrange foreign rentals through a Travel Agent, and so far haven't had any issues. Hopefully your next rental is problem free.

I have always booked my cars through AutoEurope, a car broker, or Kemwel (affiliated with AutoEurope)and have had no problems, except with Avis. I will avoid renting from them because they tried to add on additional fees after I turned in the car and was back in the States. After three weeks of rental, they claimed they had to detail the car, wash & vacuum it. Last week, I just completed a 5 week rental with EuropCar (through AutoEurope) and it went very smoothly. Europcar allows you to have another driver for no additional charge as long as that driver is part of your family. We also bought travel insurance through USAA that would cover any "loss of use" charges incurred from the rental car agency in case of an accident. Thank goodness we didn't have to use it.

I don't understand why the car rental segment of the travel industry attracts so many sleazy operators; but,like most people, we've had our share of bad experiences both domestically and internationally. Once, we had a stone fly up and crack the windshield of our Avis car in Spain. They billed us $450 and added another $160 for something explained only in Spanish. This was 10 years and the car a generic sort of SEAT, so I'm pretty sure the $450 was wildly inflated. I was relying on my amex card for insurance. I turned it over to them and never heard another word. Both charges disappeared. I do agree that rental insurance is extremely confusing and probably designed to be so. If you rely on your cc, you should be sure to check first about the coverage, especially the common proviso that taking the CDW makes the cc coverage secondary.

Thanks for the replies. This was the first time I used Avis. I had used Europcar in the past. What interested me on this rental was inclusion of insurance, since I wanted to avoid potential hassles using either my credit card insurance or another third party, such as TravelGuard. Each rental is an adventure into the great unknown... Ugh.

Be very careful in Ireland. I don't think they are purposely trying to rip American off, but they can definately see us coming! We called our credit card company before we left to find out what if anything was covered. They said as long as you pay using their card, the driver would be covered except in 4 countries, Ireland being one of the places not covered. When we arrived at Dublin we said we would take the insurance...be careful there are two types - Basic with a $1200-1500 euro deductable and Full with a $0 deductable. Also, I think it is advisable to book a car online to be sure at least one is waiting for you when you arrive, but definately stop at each counter to compare prices. Many will throw in a gps, automatic transmission, an extra driver or the $0 deductable at no additional price. Also beware, all the counters are at the airport, but only Budget and Hertz are within walking distance to the terminal. The rest you will need to take a shuttle to and from the actual terminal. And one last thing make sure you find out how they handle the automatic tolls on the M50. Some companies require you to pay yourself which must be done before you leave airport at a payzone or online by 8pm the day after you pass through the toll. Some companies will pay and add to your bill automatically which is very convenient but the price locals pay is not the price you pay. Every car rental company seems to charge a different price for the tolls. And do inspect cars and take pictures before of any damage and after of your car and full gas tank. They love giving Americans the most beat up cars in their fleets. We were charged for a tank of gas and as soon as I said I had pictures of it full with the time/date stamp on my camera, they took it off. Cars are a necessary evil in to get around Ireland especially to cool places like the Dingle Peninsula or Kylemore Abbey, but I wish I knew some of these things before I left.

We've had trouble with Avis in the past, adding on charges that had not been listed upfront. So, since that time for the last several years we have only gone with Hertz - reserve before we leave the U.S. We've had extremely good luck with them.

Thanks for the recent replies. I had checked with Hertz, but their rates seemed high. Little did I know... We rented in Ireland a few years ago. I don't remember which company, I think it was Europe based. We had no problem. That was our first experience diving on really narrow roads, with no shoulders and tall hedges on both sides. When we dropped the car off at Shannon airport, I noticed a large stack of hubcaps. The attendant said they keep a supply on hand to replace the ones that get knocked off the tourists' cars!