Malaga car hire.

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Wicksey
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Re: Malaga car hire.

Postby Wicksey » Sun Mar 18, 2018 1:12 pm

If the car hire company start to mention/try to sell you their own insurance I just show them the excess insurance policy and say I am covered. I tend to use Hertz in the UK and they have never questioned it . I have used other companies in the past and they've accepted the fact I have the insurance.

They will still need to take your credit card details in respect of any possible excess as if you have a prang you will need to settle it yourself with the car hire company then claim it back after. From what I've read, they are quick to pay out a claim, although (so far) I have not needed it, but I prefer to have for peace of mind.

(I use a wonderful hire car company in the Canaries that has no excess at all, and although the car will have a few bumps and grazes on it, it is so much easier not to have to worry about possible arguments about the tiniest scratch that other car hire companies would want to charge you for. I have seen Gold Car go over a returning car with a huge lamp desperately searching for something to charge the client for!)

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Re: Malaga car hire.

Postby maureenscot » Sun Mar 18, 2018 3:20 pm

Delpaso went apesxxx when OH produced his annual policy

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Wicksey
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Re: Malaga car hire.

Postby Wicksey » Sun Mar 18, 2018 3:27 pm

From what I've read about Delpaso they are worth avoiding anyway. You can refuse a hire company's extra insurance without having any of your own excess insurance, which we had always done before we started using a separate policy as they are just rip-off prices. It seems big business now, to charge excessive costs for a small scratch that you didn't even do.

elusive
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Re: Malaga car hire.

Postby elusive » Sun Mar 18, 2018 6:26 pm

We always used to use economy carehire now known as zest when we lived in the uk. Everything was included except a small amount extra to cover glass,wheels etc as per the norm. The kind of company where if you have a claim you pay up then claim it back from zest. The couple of times we have been back to the U.K we have used them as we know exactly what we are getting no hidden extras.

We used centauro,automotive (dont think they excist anymore?) Hellie hollis, cargest in spain and europcar in the uk. Never questioned or complained when we said we were fully covered via zest.

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Re: Malaga car hire.

Postby chrissiehope » Mon Mar 19, 2018 6:54 pm

Just been on the Malagacar website, & it seems that 'HELLOFAN' is still operative :-)
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Michka
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Re: Malaga car hire.

Postby Michka » Wed Mar 21, 2018 1:28 pm

I'm glad to see you mention Malagacar--has anybody had much experience with them? We tried them for the first time at the end of Feb, returned the car on 04 March, and are STILL wrangling with them to see the return of the deposit on my credit card. They have said twice that it was "released" on 04 March, but won't seem to explain any further other than saying to wait and see.

I've also asked them to explain their deposit policy in detail, as when we collected the car the lady explained that if a debit or charge card was used then a full charge would be made, but in the case of a credit card they would only put a "hold" for the amount on the card. I used a credit card, but still the amount appears as a normal charge and not just a pending item. We were fully prepared for the deposit as we have a separate excess policy, but not for them to hold it more than two weeks!

It's all becoming critical now as not only is the billing cycle closing this weekend, but we are due to hire from them again this coming Friday for another week--trying to find another option.

EDIT: I've since found other positive comments for Malagacar--so ignore my first question, just needed to order the posts correctly! I've JUST had a mail back from them saying that they made a mistake in posting the credit back due to it being Amex. I'm not very happy that it took three emails to them, two calls to Amex and lots of logging into my online statement to check. And still will have to check tomorrow.

That being said, in reply to other people's questions regarding the collection process, we had no pressure to take the excess insurance--don't think we even showed them our own excess policy. We did have trouble in that we picked the car up two days after arriving in Malaga, so they said they had no car ready for us even though I had explained the situation on the booking form AND WhatsApp'd them the day before collection to make sure all was in order. In all it took us an hour, even though there were only four people ahead of us when we arrived. The car was fine and operated well. It had a few scratches which we brought to their attention before we drove off, and the attendant just told us to take photos and we never had any questions about it later. Drop off was just them checking the fuel level and then we got on the shuttle bus.
Last edited by Michka on Wed Mar 21, 2018 6:28 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Malaga car hire.

Postby wollie » Wed Mar 21, 2018 6:25 pm

I think your best option is contact credit card company and clarify what exactly is going on, malagacar had 5,000 cars a few years ago so the likelyhood of someone even bothering look at spending time to process what seems to be an administrative error may be difficult to achive.
I had a car from malagacar the week after you and the bill said deposit of €1,000 but it was at no time processed on my credit card.
I did notice on my return the gut looking at a small scratch on the paint of the bumper, i honestly do not think it happened on my watch but i am not absolutely sure as i picked up the car at night. I know i did scratch paint on car before and nothing was said.
I am of the opinion there is excess insurance but really not too sure, i do know if we damage tyres mirrors etc we pay for same.
Someone here likely knows the "ins and outs" of this better than me so hopefully we get a bit of clarity.
I would immediately get on to the credit card people or your bank.

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Michka
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Re: Malaga car hire.

Postby Michka » Wed Mar 21, 2018 6:39 pm

Thanks, wollie, I think your post coincided with my EDIT, as they've come back to me now. I think I'll use Visa for the deposit on our next trip, as they seem to be challenged by Amex!

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Re: Malaga car hire.

Postby ashtondav » Wed Mar 21, 2018 7:39 pm

Yes, It should NEVER be charged against your card. They simply book the amount so that they are at the front of the queue if you bump up against your credit limit. The last Amex card I had had the complication that if using in a currency other than sterling they converted into dollars before converting again into sterling - at least that's my recollection.

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Re: Malaga car hire.

Postby D1ckyS » Mon Jun 04, 2018 11:32 am

A quick heads-up about current staffing problems with Centauro who I've used many times in the past without trouble. We arrived last Tuesday at 12.00pm and joined the back of a queue of about 20 people, the front of whom had been waiting over an hour to collect their cars. I had a meeting to get to so, after 45 minutes, I gave up and paid 25 Euros to jump the queue using their express service. On the way back to the airport the bus driver told me that things have been really bad recently with Saturday arrivals regularly waiting 2 and a half hours because they haven't got enough staff. Bonkers!

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Re: Malaga car hire.

Postby ashtondav » Mon Jun 04, 2018 3:48 pm

If you’ve used them more than three times you get their gold club service which puts you at the front. You have to book direct and not a broker. Worth it though.

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Re: Malaga car hire.

Postby ashtondav » Thu Jun 21, 2018 10:05 am

Just a quick review of interrent car hire in Gatwick. I think they are the budget arm of europcar.

Anyway I was really apprehensive as I had read a number of scathing reviews. However I have to say the 5 day hire at 66£ was very good. No argument when I declined their insurance. They simply blocked £800 on my card and gave me a nearly new Peugeot 208. The deal was full/full so I refilled before returning the car.

I noticed at their booking desk that there was a Goldcar poster. I don’t know if they are related but anyway, interrent gets the thumbs up from me.

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Re: Malaga car hire.

Postby wollie » Tue Jul 10, 2018 9:40 am

I just wonder how busy Malaga Airport is for car hire pick-up.
I have rental booked with Malagacar in a couple weeks.
I am seriously considering using public transport to avoid the hassle
of pick-up and drop-off.
I really do not need a car but i surely do not need the hassle.
I will be guided by your comments.

Many thanks....

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chrissiehope
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Re: Malaga car hire.

Postby chrissiehope » Sat Aug 04, 2018 2:52 pm

Which? have just done a report on car hire - best & worst; pitfalls to watch out for; costs of various fuel arrangements (full/full etc) and so on
This is the link, but I don't know if you will be able to access if not a member:

https://www.which.co.uk/reviews/car-hir ... -companies

The article is too long to post on here, but I have created a .doc file which I can send - if anyone is interested, pm me with your email :-)
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Re: Malaga car hire.

Postby gruff » Sun Aug 05, 2018 9:22 am

Having just booked my car hire with Malagacar.com for a few weeks time I decided to work through the terms and conditions. I found that a renter of 69 years old and above "has to take out the Full Pack Insurance". I went further afield and Centauro say from 75 you are required to "select an additional supplement". Helle Hollis say from 85 you are "required to take their Senior Driver Insurance".

Anyone had to pay any age related supplements?

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Re: Malaga car hire.

Postby markwilding » Sun Aug 05, 2018 6:55 pm

Sorry if this has already been answered.
I'm going to Ibiza in a later in the month and was thinking about car hire. These days as car hire tends to be so cheap and the cost of hiring a car there is only a few pounds a day, I normally take out the insurance they offer. I've not hired a car in Spain for years so does anybody know how much the daily rate might be?

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Re: Malaga car hire.

Postby maureenscot » Sun Aug 05, 2018 8:54 pm

It varies greatly at different times of the year. You can compare on Travelsupermarket etc

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Re: Malaga car hire.

Postby markwilding » Mon Aug 06, 2018 11:13 am

Thanks for that Maureen,
I don't think I was clear enough in my post though. I was hoping to get an idea how much the daily rate for the optional insurance might be.

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Re: Malaga car hire.

Postby gerryh » Mon Aug 06, 2018 11:29 am

Don't know if Ibiza is the same as Tenerife but when I hired a car there it was fully and very compressively insured no need for optional insurance. Damage to the tyres if I went off roading wasn't covered.
The booking clerk said that only mainland Spain hire companies have the optional, extra cost, insurance.
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Wicksey
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Re: Malaga car hire.

Postby Wicksey » Mon Aug 06, 2018 12:29 pm

Mark I think that most companies' extras are pretty pricey. I can't find examples but I seem to remember seeing it offered for as much as 20 pounds a day.

I always use a separate hire car excess policy
https://www.icarhireinsurance.com/#0
It will not only cover any excess you may be charged but tyres and glass too. This type of insurance has been discussed a few times on the forum.

Just found this article about it too https://www.travelsupermarket.com/en-gb ... i-need-it/

Gerry, that's what I like about the Canaries and the company I use there. No excess at all and none of this searching the car for the tiniest scratch when you return it .... much more relaxed! I'm not sure it applies to all car hire companies there though, as I have seen Goldcar going over returned cars with a huge UV light!


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