Sixt car hire experiences?

A snowHead

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/advice/cheap-holiday-car-hire-guide-saving-money/

A snowHead

Sixt absolutely shafted me in over insurance. I buy the annual excess insurance for Car Rentals for about £40 in the UK that works but they caught me on a bad day when I was overwhealed with family stuff. They spotted the weakness and basically, virtually doubled the cost of the booking using insurance issues. I was mug enough to have booked directly and they used this against me. Never book directly, and always use Holiday Autos or Auto Euope or another good broker. They are a buffer that you can use against them if they do this type of fleecing. I have come across others who have had the same problem in Munich.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

You need to Login to know who's really who.

I've considered Sixt a few times when looking to hire as they have attractive prices, however they require a ridiculous deposit and I've just found them really unhelpful in answering questions etc.

We've rented into double figures now. Always use Enterprise or Europcar. There is usually one of the other available. Never had an issue with either and always book direct.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

@JWillsnowhead, not sure which one BRi87 is using, but Amex platinum charge card (the one with a £450/yr fee) has CDW as well as excess insurance. Whilst it’s very pricey, it does let you get 4 people into airport lounges and apparently covers heli skiing according to a mate who uses it.

I 100% disagree with “never book directly” and would say “always book directly”. When you introduce an intermediary you’ve got a whole world of potential confusion. My worst travel experiences (flights, hotels and car rental) have always been when there’s an agent involved. I never use one personally, but unfortunately it’s mandatory for work travel.

For 3+ rentals per year always book direct, join the loyalty scheme and try and be loyal. That way you matter enough to the rental company that you get decent service.

You'll need to Register first of course.

I agree with @snowdave, I booked directly over the phone with Hertz, established a bit of a rapport with the lady (who was in their Dublin switchboard), I asked her "off the record" about the excess insurance, which she told me to avoid as their own reps on the desk are on commission. She added me to the gold club or whatever it is and also applied a 20% discount to the price for me.

I just hope her call wasn't recorded for training and quality purposes as I don't think her supervisors would be too pleased with the advice she gave! Laughing

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

All of the major suppliers work in the same way. Insurance or CDW is included with every rental but this does mean you are left with an insurance excess which you are liable for if any damage is caused to the vehicle. Even in a non-fault accident you will have to pay this and recover it when fault is confirmed or not as the case may be. Reducing your excess is possible with all suppliers but can be costly. Have you considered an excess reimbursement policy? This would cover your excess liability, you still need to payout but can claim it back very quickly.

Sixt are the biggest supplier in Germany and I would trust them, but don't ignore the other big players Avis, Enterprise and Europcar ect. My suggestion is to always use the company who best suits your requirements. Some offers things that others don't like free winter tyres, or the ability to pay with a debit card instead of credit card. Some allow younger driver ect. Do your research Smile

After all it is free

@RobGillespie, I think you missed the bit where Sixt do not provide CDW as standard in some cases, which is why they sometimes seem very cheap.

id be shocked to see an example, I have worked in car rental for 15 years and have never seen a daily rental product that doesn't include CDW or an equivalent product

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

@RobGillespie, Sixt in Germany have definitely been renting (or at least advertising on their website) cars without any insurance. This now seems to have stopped (it was really not a good idea!!). You had the option of choosing the CDW level and the first and unfortunately default option was no insurance at all, the hirer was responsible for all damage to the vehicle up to the full replacement value it it was written off. I never chose this option when booking and I guess Sixt staff would have made clear what you were signing up for when you collected the vehicle.

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

@munich_irish, never ever seen that, it can't have lasted long. what about third parties? damage to property or worse, someones life?

snow reports

@RobGillespie, 3rd party was insured, that being the legal minimum

They were certainly quoting without CDW when I was looking to rent around Xmas last year out of Venice. (Thus my comment on here earlier)

I had ended up booking with them via rentalcars.com as the price looked good. Then I was alerted to this happening via another thread on snowheads (a great tip off) so checked the booking and lo and behold no CDW, no wonder the price was so good. I think their site might have mentioned the cost per day of adding it which, from memory, was exorbitant. Luckily I could cancel at no cost, so I did and rebooked with someone else.

You know it makes sense.

@ster, @holidayloverxx, @munich_irish, ok i have just done some digging. This offering from SIXT is correct, they do have a rental product that only comes with TP cover. Thus the driver is liable for any damage to the car. LDW will reduce this to a manageable excess or SCDW will remove this excess and liability.

On our third party system (cartrawler) this products is only shown to those with country of residence set to the USA, Canada or the Americas because most of the time their credit card company covers this cost. If you are from the UK or Europe or indeed anywhere apart from the Americas, the product you see 'has' to include CDW, so if it is not then stop your booking.. Change your settings or look elsewhere. Ive just done some test quotes with sixt direct and on my website and it does happen.

My bad, everyday is a school day! never leave yourself open to such liability, or not knowing how much additional insurance is until you turn up to collect the car. Book an inclusive rental, with me if you like Toofy Grin

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

@RobGillespie, Just checked your site vs autoeurope. Yours is much more expensive

A snowHead

@holidayloverxx, what did you search for ill take a look Smile

A snowHead

@RobGillespie, 7th to 14th march Salzburg airport. I look at all car sizes then look at prices...usually mid size

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Renting cars is a minefield. I rent about 30x a year, either for work or pleasure as we don't own a car. Best thing you can do is to call your credit card company to see EXACTLY what and where you are covered for. I learned two years ago that the Visa card I was using did not cover collision damage in Italy. Why? Who knows. Luckily the only time I scratched a car there I had accidentally taken the rental company's CDW but with a 1k deductible. I escaped by paying only a few hundred euros but had I declined the CDW and had a major smash up I would have been SOOL.

We have an Amex gold that covers collision and other damage -- but ONLY if you decline the renting company's collision damage "deal." So while you might be tempted to take the zero deductible package, you're probably already covered. It's a PITA to have to file for damage after you pay up front but I've never been stiffed by Amex. And if you rent a lot, some damage is inevitable, including big stone chips in windshields and parking lot dings and wheel curb rash.

I will say that Italy is the most perilous country to rent in, in my experience. Several times we've been asked for TWO credit cards, and every time, whether I book through Auto Europe or direct, they hit me with the CDW, usually at the counter when all I want to do is rent a car and get the hell out of there. France is super easy, however.

We just rented a car for a week out of SFO...one thing I learned that if you rent from Europe, as a European, you have basic coverage for everything except item theft and I think personal injury, as well as CDW. So again, you should ask EXACTLY what your coverage is, and then you can make an educated decision as to what you want. Personal injury is a hard decision.

I haven't found Sixt any worse than others but usually their prices are higher than my go-tos like Avis, Dollar, Budget and Enterprise. If money was no object I'd go with Hertz every time as I think they have the best service and cars, but they can be really expensive.

You need to Login to know who's really who.

@holidayloverxx, Europcar is being omitted from our search result for some reason, im working on a fix. We should have similar if not better rates with them. offline I have a Skoda Rapide for £167

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

@RobGillespie, £228 for skoda rapide when i do the search.

You'll need to Register first of course.

I presume everyone knows about, or uses, this - https://www.questor-insurance.co.uk/car-hire-insurance or something similar? The only drawback is that the car hire company charge your for any 'damage' (spurious or otherwise) and then you claim it back. I have claimed once and they paid the amount back within a few days. Excellent value.

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

@Klamm Franzer, a lot of us use insurance4carhire ... same experience as you 're payment. Never had spurious damage charged
. I once had someone else's damage charged but the car hire refunded and I repaid the insurance claim

After all it is free

@Klamm Franzer, yup. £42 for annual peace of mind, rather than €20 per day to the car hire company.

@JWillsnowhead, UBS Platinum for us (CH residents) but have also had it with AMEX in the UK and in France.

The fee includes travel insurance and lounge passes for all of us so it is more than worth it. Also you don’t have to use the card to pay for the travel to be covered.

Help!!

Sixt car hire experiences?

snowHeads Forum Index >>> The Piste