Car hire in Italy - who to avoid?

[OhCheesus]

And who to use? From Pisa airport for ten days

We went with Sixt from Pisa airport. They were fine. Can't rave about them but can't especially complain either!

Avoid Sicily by Car (they are at every airport) absolutely awful company we waited 2hours in a que to collect a precooked car. Read Truspilot reviews after we got back DP said he wished he had read them before not many companies get 1 star! Pretty much every comment was a complaint. All the problems we had seem to apply to every branch

We've just ended up with whoever was cheapest at the time via an online search, not had any problems (think we have ended up with Alamo a couple of times). The car hire building in Pisa (it isn't actually in the airport building) can be manic and when it's really busy, all the queues merge into one giant jumble. I'd advise one of you legging it to start queuing as soon as you clear the airport, whilst the others bring the bags. It's a bit of a trek in the heat, there is a bus, but we found walking quicker tbh.

Agree re. Sicily by Car. We had booked with them from Bologna airport, waited ages and then found they had nothing ready to match our booking and end up squashed into a much smaller car. Other families finding similar problem. Struggled to get a refund for the difference in cost too.

Oh and buy your CDW/excess insurance online before too, but I guess most people already do that anyway. I remember they were quite pushy about selling it.

Take photos of the car from every angle, concentrating on any damage. In Sicily (can't remember the company) they tried to charge us for damage. Luckily, we'd been warned about this & had time-stamped photos to prove dents were already there.

Avoid Locauto at all costs!! If you book through a broker double check that they are not the ultimate supplier. Too long to write on here but search reviews online. They make a business of fake damage after the event. As others have said take out excess cover elsewhere (insurance4carhire are great) take photos from every angle inside and out both on collection and at return and book on a credit card. Our excess cover would have covered their fake claim but I was so incensed I challenged repeatedly and AMEX upheld. Awful business.

Never use GOLDCAR. Horrible rip off merchants, tried to say that a worldwide travel insurance wasn't valid in Italy, took 2.5 hrs to get the car. Lesson learned don't go cheap ( unless you're in Tenerife in which case Autoreisen are great).

Thank you all much appreciated!

@LIZS did you get your refund? We were owed one, they claimed they had done it and sent proof... they had refunded it to someone else! We got the money in the end but it took months and a lot of emails and phone calls. Were awful to deal with at airport too, car was fine but staff were so rude

Iirc we had booked via expedia so claimed via them.

We used Sicily by Car last month from Verona airport, no complaints at all. No queue, nice car with less than 1000km done. It got scratched while we were using it and they said no problem and waived any charges, so different experiences to other posters.

I agree with PP about taking photos of the cars at the VERY start - before you've even taken it out of the lot - I have heard so many horror stories about people getting scammed by the rental place blaming old damage on new customers!

Make sure you have a non American Express credit card on, so they can hold the excess insurance.
They don’t allow debit cards and otherwise you have to pay for an upgrade to no excess insurance.
We only had Amex credit cards on us, had secured a bargain deal of 90 euros but ended up paying 350 euros instead.....

We have used Sixt in Italy before and tbf they were fine. Now, however, we get to our hotel by taxi, then get the hotel to get us a car from small local company. They bring the car to us, and collect from us. Much better service, no hard sell, no worries about damage or petrol charges. Works well.

If they have Record, Goldcar or Rhodium (Goldcar in disguise) don't use any of them.

Find the Moneysavingexpert guide to foreign car hire and follow that. Get your excess insurance in the UK and be prepared to leave a 1000 euro deposit on a credit card.

Take photos of the car before and after the rental and watch out for full to empty on fuel unless you plan on doing a lot of driving. Once we had full to empty on fuel but we were planning to visit the four corners of Mallorca. The fuel light came on literally as we drove back into the car hire place car park, which was quite satisfying.

We've used Hipercar and Centauro in Spain and Avis in Malta and they were all fine.

We’ve used Sicily by Car from Pisa airport and they were absolutely fine.

Our car got damaged and they charged us the bare minimum for repairs.

Whoever you choose don’t forget to get hire car waiver insurance.

Agreed goldcar is one to avoid