Have booked a weeks R&R in November in Gran Canaria (Maspalomas). Never been to the islands so I know nothing.
Do Back Roomers think it's worth hiring a car or is public transport OK? What are the roads and driving like and any advice on rental companies to use/avoid?
All advice appreciated and my thanks in advance.
R40
Edited by Pugugly on 12/10/2008 at 11:20
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I hired this year in Gran Canaria and frankly, my advice is don't bother. And I am speaking as someone who always always always rents a car to see as much as possible.
We stayed for a week and rented from company x (I can't remember who right now but I'll try and hunt it out and let you know. Sounded like Geronimo or something) which involved being driven in a bus from the airport to the hire company a few km away. This involved hanging around the airport long after everyone else had gone. That's after you've finally tracked down the rep.
Company x operate a policy of empty to empty. Ok so far. BUT - they insist (in small print) on filling your car up from their own station - at their prices. So you've got a full tank of diesel on a small island and a week to use it. It's impossible. I used a quarter or third of a tank in about 3 long days out. (Hotel was good so didn't feel the need to go out every day) So you take your car back with three quarters of a tank that you've paid for - guess what? No refunds. They top it up, rent it to the next poor geezer and charge him for a full tank - that you've already paid for. I don't often cry this but it's a scam.
On top of that they charged something outrageous like a fiver a day for child seats which were just a moulded polystyrene block that you can buy for 15 quid in a supermarket in the first town you come to. With two kids that's another 70 quid. I've never paid for car seats before, never.
I loved Gran Canaria and will go again but will arrange day coach trips from the hotel in future or even cheaper to go into town and buy them in those booths you see. Went on a submarine trip by the way, that was quite exciting.
If you do drive though, I can't think of any problems that we had. It's a quiet and peaceful place with some wonderful twisty mountain roads. No nut-cases that I recall. Certainly use a rental company that have premises within the airport complex.
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Holiday Autos is one we've regularly used.
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Many thanks BBD and PU. Very helpful.
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I have had really cheap car hire in Spain with Crown Auriga. They may operate in GC. They operate a "you pay for a full tank and bring it back empty" which makes it a bit less of a bargain unless you do use a tankfull.
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"Sounded like Geronimo or something"
Alamo.
Potaytos potartos.
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Company x operate a policy of empty to empty. Ok so far. BUT - they insist (in small print) on filling your car up from their own station - at their prices.
They top it up, rent it to the next poor geezer and charge him for a full tank
That's full to full, surely?
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No - you have to pay for a FULL tank regardless of how much you use
Full to full you only pay for what you use.
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So it would make sense to top it up at "El-Safeway" or whatever so its returned full - ipso facto then no extra embellishment of top up fees. I rented from Alamo this summer in the US I was given a tank full and suggested that I filled it before returning it. No surcharge. Very good company. American I believe.
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NO NO NO Pug
You've paid for the tank, why pay even more to top it up when they're only going to charge the next guy for a full tank. It's an empty to empty policy. Except that they fill it for you before you set off.
What you have to do is use all the diesel - you've paid for it. But that would mean driving 1000 km on a tiny island in one week. Hardly R&R.
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Surely BBD's rental was neither empty to empty nor full to full, but full to empty. Though knowing how it would put people off, they somehow get away with calling it empty to empty.
I had a similar rental agreement earlier this year when hiring for a week in Cyprus. There was a special offer of £99 for a Nissan Note for a week, though in the T&Cs was this full to empty condition. If going for FtoF or EtoE, I would end up paying for part of a tank anyway, so with the free additional driver and Quidco rebate, this deal worked out cheaper than anything else.
This was through Holiday Autos, while the actual rental agency was Europcar. Unfortunately, I was still slightly stung because of a 'free' upgrade to a Focus saloon and the need to pay EUR70 for a tank instead of EUR55 for their cheaper cars, though it wasn't clear whether the original Note was in the cheaper or pricier group: it wasn't on their chart. There was no way you could opt out of this full to empty condition.
We couldn't use even half the tank in the week. It was an environmental disaster because we tried to get full value out of it. When stopped beside the road to look at scenery or take photos etc, we'd just leave the engine running to keep the interior temperature bearable. There was no incentive for anyone not to drive the car hard, so it felt tired even at less than a year old.
I was surprised not to find an enterprising garage near the airport offering to buy the excess fuel back off you (although they would be unlikely to advertise).
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Spoken to Mrs P (who has archived the details in her MK1 brain) she says that you are quite right. It was an option to pick up a fuelled car and return it empty if you chose we filled the day before at a supermarket and were billed to top it up. There was a 5cent premium on the fuel they charged us -petrol was so hilariously cheap in the states that the cost was neither here or there.
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Heh he. Thanks all for the feedback. Will take the bus to the complex and then hire for a day or so to go out. I'll definitely be checking the fuelling T&C's. From HJ's description of the (twisty) roads on Gran Canaria I only wish I could take the V8 - no worries then of being left with anything in the tank :)
Cheers all.
R40
Edited by R40 on 12/10/2008 at 19:23
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