I'm heading over to Tasmania and renting a car from the Airport. From the list, Europcar seems to be the cheapest, but I've heard tons of problems about them, but back in July it was reported that Europcar Australia has revoked the franchise and is managing it themselves.
Has anyone had experience with them since? And have they cleaned up their act?
Thanks for the feedback. I was reading productreview and am slightly alarmed at the number of bad reviews - almost on par with Europcar!
I have always used Europcar and have never had any issues.
In regards to the revoking the franchise part.. airport and city (cbd) locations are always company owned regardless. So doubt that story would be true.
I've used Europcar Hobart Airport 6 times in 4 years, and never had a problem. Just follow the basic rules of car rental
1. Read the paperwork before you sign.
2. Check the damage report when you walk out to the car.
3. Photograph the entire car (6 photos minimum)
4. If anything new noticed, have the car re-inspected by a staff member and documented.
5. Upon returning, re-photograph car
6. Have a staff member sign the car in - never drop the keys and leave. Once it's signed in, any future damage is not your responsibility.
I like Europcar - their fleet is always much newer (rarely over 20000km on the clock).
I eventually used Budget just to be safe and the car I had was around 40000km, but in good shape overall. Dropping off the key was straight forward. The guy at the counter only asked if I had topped up the fuel, and if I had damaged the car in any way and that was it. Fingers crossed I don't get any weird charges on my credit card and I would give these guys a plus for service.
It might be worth your while to check out Avis. We were in Tassie for 15 days, and using the offer here for 2 free days for bookings of 12 days or more, they worked out about the cheapest I could find for the medium sized car that hubby wanted.
https://www.avis.com.au/car-rental/content/deals.ac?navId=T3…
You'll need to swipe your credit card when you get to the airport, and don't be concerned that the printout you get does not include the 2 free days. These will automatically be deducted when you pay at the end of the booking.
EDIT: Oops, I see you've already had your trip.
I spent a week in Tassie and Budget had a 20% off offer which worked out the second cheapest for me after Europcar. After doing some research I concluded that Europcar was too much of a risk to chance and went with Budget instead.
Not quite answering your question, but we just went to Hobart and used Hertz with the 20% off special; you can book now and pay when you arrive at the airport and we were very happy with their service. It's against the OzBargain spirit, but sometimes cheapest is not always best.
Also depending on the length of your stay, it might be cheaper to get travel insurance to cover the circa $3000 excess fees should the worst happen, rather than paying the Hertz excess reduction premium. Bear in mind that if you do have an accident using your own insurance you have to pay the $3000 to Hertz and claim it back from the travel insurance company, so make sure you get a Police report, etc.