Car hire in Spain: £££

[MangosteenSoda]

I’ve just hired a car for upcoming trip to Portugal. Not too pricey, reasonable extra charge to get full insurance and no security deposit needed.

Just started looking at car hire for Spain this summer and prices are eye wateringly high (fair enough, it is summer), but the insurance charge and security deposits are insane Deposits in the region of 1000-2000 €.

I knew Spain was tricky for car hire. Eg. They will charge the full security deposit amount for any damage, such as a tiny scratch, unless you take out the full insurance package which is really hefty with many of the companies.

Any recommendations on hiring companies?

I'd be interested in this too OP. We are also going to Portugal, end of May, car hire for a week around £100. Looked at prices for August in Ibiza, it was something like €60 per day!! Have decided for now to hold off in the hope prices will come down.

Best website is doyouspain.com and the most reliable companies are Gold Cars and and OK rental cars. Avoid Record Go at all costs, insane queues and horrible service.

Make sure you get a full/full tank option otherwise they'll charge you £££ for petrol!

I’ve just booked Spain at £66 per day and Portugal at £38 per day. After ranting in my OP, I managed to find a Spain rental with only a €200 security deposit. Much better than 2k which would have put pressure on my credit card

Ended up with a Hertz car from rentalcars.com and something through Zest for Portugal. I’m sure it was substantially cheaper a couple of years ago.

Not that much choice because we are 4 people and will have 4 cases, so I wanted a big enough boot. Most of the bigger cars being advertised don’t actually seem to hold that many cases - things like Nissan Juke etc.

Post your rental costs here so we can compare/commiserate

Avoid Goldcar like the plague.
Buy your Cdw cover separately.
Does Cicar or Autoreisen operate? We use them in Tenerife and both well priced and easy to hire from.

Marbenjo if hiring from Malaga airport, used countless times.

Use a holiday car hire insurance website, you can get cover for around £15 for a holiday which means you don't pay the expensive insurance with the hire firm, you still have to pay the insurance deposit with the hire company, but the insurance you've purchased will refund in the event anything happens.