I am heading to the UK for three weeks in June and want to rent an automatic car to get me around. Problem is that to rent an automatic car your looking at double the price of a manual. Does anyone know why this is as I have not had this problem with other destinations around the world. If anyone can point me in the direction of an inexpensive automatic rental it would be appreciated.
Rental Car Pricing in The UK (Automatics Are Twice The Price of a Manual)
ascotno1 on 29/03/2019 - 23:01
Last edited 29/03/2019 - 23:20 by 1 other user
Last edited 29/03/2019 - 23:20 by 1 other user
Comments
Manual cars are just simply what they prefer and are used to driving. I just booked and I got a Ford Focus for an OK price.
We went with Enterprise and were very happy with them.
Try changing the pickup point - we saved a small fortune (400 Pounds) by choosing to pick up a 10 minute bus ride from the main one in the centre of town, so hubby just popped down the road then drove back and collected me/kids/luggage from our hotel.
I found it was really random as to which car was cheaper at which pick-up point, just about every factor would affect it in unpredictable ways, you had to just keep tweaking the details to see what prices come up.
are you using car hire promo codes? easy to google for, also may be cheaper if you go to the australia site website rather than UK website
e.g. 1 month rental for skoda octavia automatic ( classed as a large salon in the uk - 2051 pounds on Hertz.co.uk without promo code 1039 pounds on hertz.com.au
Manuals are still popular in Europe. That is why.
Thats what you have to pay to be guaranteed an automatic.
Most rental companies in the UK will allow you to request an automatic but they rarely have any available and usually they upgrade your vehicle for free to compensate for it.
In the UK manual cars are preferred and people who drive automatics are not held in high regard.That's only the poor people. All the good cars made in the UK are strictly auto. (RR, good Jags, etc). It's just there are a lot of poor people in the UK who drive 1.0 Barinas with manual transmissions.
as I said, people who drive automatics are not held in high regard.
Yes, by people who drive shit cars, ergo opinions are invalid.
Try Sixt they normally have decent Autos at a ok price.
It's probably because the UK is a basket case right now!
Take some lessons between now and then, will be cheaper than paying double the price!
Good luck finding a cheap automatic, I had some luck through rentalcars.com with advance booking.