Anyone any good advice where to rent without going broke instantly?
Thanks
Checking the rental cars from Sixt for when we (hopefully) go to Scotland in August: Sixt wants an arm and a leg and a kidney for cars with automatic transmission.
As you've probably already read, car rental prices are high everywhere now. I have had to swallow paying twice or more than I ever had to pay before for a 1 week UK rental. Compromising on the automatic would save a bit, otherwise it's a matter of finding someone small away from the airport and hoping (sorry, I don't know any)
You don't say where in Scotland but we recently found GoGeta car rental to be much, much cheaper than elsewhere. It's run by a BMW dealership a 10 minute, £15 taxi ride from Edinburgh airport.
Thanks, yes, from EDI airport.
I used to rent cars semi-regularly in Glasgow and always avoided Sixt because they always seemed extortionate in comparison to the others. I always used Thrifty and they were decent (this is going back a few years now though).
After having to threaten legal action to resolve (what should have been) a minor issue, I would never recommend Avis.
Yes, I noticed a big increase in rentals car prices recently. I flew back to EDI in August 21 and it was really cheap to rent then by February 22 when I returned the prices seemed to have almost doubled.
I went with Arnold Clark. I think they're not on price comparison websites but they have a few sites around Edinburgh, probably the airport itself or Sighthill would be better. If you're needing car seats for children they only charge £1 per car seat for the entire rental which was why we went with them. Might be worth a look.
Car manufactureres have atough time sourcing various components not limited too but quite a high proportion are computer chips.
All modern cars have lots of chips in them.
Manufacturers make very little or no profit on small cars but they make good profits on larger luxurious cars.
The computer chips that go in small cars anmd large cars are the same, so manufacturers concentrate on making large cars.
Rental companies like small/medium sized cars.
During the pandemic they sold a lot of these off to remove costs from their balance sheets.
Now new cars are in very short supply, especially ones that the rental market want, so prices are very high.
In a nutshell, this is a good example of supply & demand economics.
It is likely top carry on until late 2023/early 2024.
Just rented the car last week.
Best option is to rent directly at the airport.
They can give you good deals and maximise discounts.
Try emailing/calling the airpot counters and checking.
ime depends. If they've plenty of cars yes, if they're short won't work.
Car rentals have gone through the roof everywhere. And yes, if automatics are not the norm wherever you are going- they will be even more extortionately expensive.
Related to other thread re US citizen borrowing mother's car in France ... because they have looked at renting and prices are humongous, especially for automatic cars.