Car rental Faro airport

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Hi
we are going to carvoeiro in the Summer. Can anyone recomment a hire company to use or avoid. I am wondering about 'drive4fun' through Zest car hire. Have read poor reviews of interrent and goldcar.
Do you think it really matters?

Lagorent are brilliant, also unlike some, they leave the car for you (and leave keys behind visor) in a certain section at the airport (instead of having to take a transfer bus to get it etc)
Really worth a look

Thanks

I just used Avis 35 for 7 days picked up at the airport no problems.

Avoid Goldcar like the plague. How they have not been shut down by fraud investigators I do not know.

Auto-Jardim are probably the best of the local bunch, Avis for the international chains.

Also, if there is any chance at all that you'll drive on the motorway make sure that you understand how you'll be charged for the tolls, and not be charged for the previous driver's tolls….

It is possible to get from Faro to Carvoeiro on non-toll roads, but the N125 is composed almost entirely of roundabouts and is one of the most dangerous roads in Europe.

Have to say N125 was very quiet.

We use VDL car hire. www.vdlcarhire.com

The owner is an ex client of DH's. They are not the cheapest but the times we have used them they have been very reliable, with pretty new and decent quality cars. They give you a full quote which includes everything. no hidden costs, and you pick up at arrivals - no transfer bus like with many the others. Also includes Sat Nav (they even programme your initial destination in for you beforehand if you send it them) and child car seat hire. You even get a cold bottle of water for each passenger waiting for you in the car.

Zitauto are great, we fly to Faro about 3 times a year and use them every time.
They operate out of carpark 4 so you don't have to join the big queues, sounds dodgy but they really aren't.

We used luzcar, lots of good things said on TripAdvisor forums about them. Costs seem higher upfront but there are absolutely no hidden costs

Does anyone know any firms that you can pay by cash/debit card as I don't own a credit card?

DP used his debit card with Sixt when we hired from them at Faro airport last year. We've always been pretty happy with them but I noticed when booking a hire car in Faro this year they seemed a lot more expensive. After reading through the forums on TripAdvisor we've gone with Drive4Fun via Zest. If you go with a car hire firm who want extra for decent CDW cover then buy that separately from someone else before you go. It's much cheaper that way.

TheDogs how does that work about buying separate cover? Do you just turn up and present the certificate? Also what is that called if I want to ask for a quote?

saracrewe if you go onto moneymaxim.co.uk which is a comparison site you can get quotes for standalone CDW Excess cover and our last one was about £11 for 4 days rather than the c60 - 70 Euro that the car hire company wanted. The hire company would take credit card details and in the event of an accident they would take the cost from your card and you would then claim back. There are lots of companies that do it and I think the cheapest quote we got was £9. If you check out Zest car hire though I think they may have a decent one built in without the hefty extra cost some of the other firms charge.

Luz car very good.
They are also the only company who don't worry about the tolls....