Monday, 05 January 2015 00:00

Top Tips For Hassle-free Car Rental In Gran Canaria

Most people rent a car in Gran Canaria and have no problems at all. Here's our guide to hassle-free rentals and our advice on choosing a good company and avoiding sneaky tricks. 

Gran Canaria car rental contracts

Standard contracts for car hire in Gran Canaria should include the following:

  • Unlimited mileage.
  • All taxes.
  • Some level of insurance (check the conditions and excess).

Most car hire contracts in Gran Canaria will not cover you for the following problems:

  • Problems or breakdowns caused by off-road driving, including damage to the undercarriage, wheels or tyres or damage caused by rolling the car.
  • Parking fines or any other fines due to dangerous or negligent driving or drink driving.
  • Loss or damage to the key, including water damage caused by going swimming with the key in your pocket.
  • Damage caused by putting the wrong fuel into the car.
  • Damage caused by non-registered drivers, unlicensed drivers or drivers under the age of 21 or with less than two years driving experience.

You almost always have to leave a credit card number as a deposit when renting a car on the island.

How to avoid car rental problems in Gran Canaria

Provided that you check the condition of your vehicle before driving off, the vast majority of car rentals in Gran Canaria are trouble-free. Look out for bald tyres, dents and interior damage and make a record of them with the company.

Unfortunately, some car hire companies in Gran Canaria advertise very low prices and then recoup their money with sneaky tricks. This happens most with the cheapest deals on car rental aggregation websites. The main culprit in Gran Canaria has a seven-letter name starting with Gold and ending with Car. 

This trick works like this:

Normally you either return a car with the same fuel level as when you rented it, or return it with a full tank. However, some unscrupulous companies insist that you bring your car back with a completely empty tank and charge to remove fuel if you don't. Since it's almost impossible to empty a fuel tank in Gran Canaria, lots of customers end up paying high fees for emptying the tank. 

To avoid the scam, we advise you to find out the name of the car hire company you are booking with. This is often tricky on car rental aggregation websites and is why we recommend going directly to the car hire companies themselves. 

The best Gran Canaria car hire option

After years of recommending car rental companies in Gran Canaria we've found that the most reliable company is Mr Car Hire. Here's why:

Mr Car Hire Gran Canaria is an independent car rental professional who works with all the main rental companies in Gran Canaria. This means that he can always find you a good deal.

Mr Car Hire also offers fully comprehensive insurance on all car rental, three-day bookings, and delively of your car right to your door anywhere in Gran Canaria.

We advise all Gran Canaria visitors to avoid booking the cheapest possible car on generic car rental websites or via their flight company because you often end up paying large deposits, extra fuel and insurance costs and all kinds of other costs once you arrive to pick up your car at the airport.

Instead, contact Mr Car Hire for a quote...

 

Published in Transport

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Tip of the day

  • The Parafarmacia In Gran Canaria Is Not A Chemist!
    The Parafarmacia In Gran Canaria Is Not A Chemist!

    If there is one thing we hate it is visitors being tricked in Gran Canaria. In the past we've warned about overcharging at Gran Canaria chemists, and rip off electronics shops in resorts. 

    In this Tip Of The Day we return to the island's chemists or rather, to the island's fake chemists.

    A chemist in Gran Canaria is called a Farmacia and always has a green cross sign. Farmacias are the only place tobuy medicine in Spain, even basics like paracetamol.

    However, there is another kind of shop in Gran Canaria that looks and sounds like a chemist but doesn't sell medicine. This is the Parafarmacia and it also uses a green cross sign.

    A parafarmacia is a herbal medicine shop that is not allowed to sell any normal medicine such as paracetamol, ibuprofen or antibiotics. 

    Instead, parafarmacias sell herbal alternatives to medicine but don't have to prove that they work and they can charge whatever they want.

    We recently heard from a visitor to Gran Canaria who went into a parafarmacia and was charged 40 euros for a herbal alternative to Ibuprofen. It was only when they read the label that they realised what had happened. 

    To locate a genuine farmacia, see this website and search within your municipio (Puerto Rico is in Mogán, Playa del Inglés is in San Bartolomé de Tirajana). At weekends and on fiesta days many farmacias close but there is always one open, known as the farmacia de guardia, in each municipio.

    Search for the nearest one to you with this tool

    Lex Says: To keep costs down, see this article for the way to ask for generic medicine rather than expensive branded alternatives. 

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