Skyrocketing Car Rental Rates

Michele Erdvig · Host

Skyrocketing Car Rental Rates

tony2phones · Guru

What do you mean the bad old days? I live in the Rip off Republic. Nothing has changed.

The problem with renting a car in Ireland is not just the cost of renting the actual car itself.. The biggest cost is the Insurance, a rental car costs the same to insure the experienced driver renter as it would for a just old enough to drive learner to insure their own first car, Thousands per year. The Rental market has the only short term insurance option available in this country any other car insurance is for a full 12 months so the 2 or 3 Underwriters have the monopoly and can charge whatever they want (or can get away with) per day.

Other big expenses like the road tax and the running costs are stupid but already built into the day rate which does reflect the supply and demand curve so higher in peak season than off peak.

Ireland is though not alone

Itallian Chauffeur · Moderator

Tony -- Michele usually goes the 'Waive Insurance' route (as do I) so that big an increase in pricing doesn't reflect rising insurance costs. furious

Maybe were in for a New, Higher Wave of "Rip-Off!" hmm hmm

tony2phones · Guru

I can get a manual Station Wagon on Dooley for under a grand but a micromobile Auto costs over a grand or 3x the same price as the same car stick shift That's 28 days September declining Insurance.

Itallian Chauffeur · Moderator

Michele -- Barry may have to 'Dust Off' his manual shifting skills! biggrin biggrin

Michele Erdvig · Host

Going up about 500% in a couple of months?

I do understand that there are more tourists traveling to Ireland this year. Just from the US it is up around 25%. This has me thinking that perhaps there are too few cars and too many tourists vying for them. Since I use my credit card for insurance coverage the rate is usually much lower than those who buy all insurances offered by the car companies.

Just did another comparison. An automatic is 300%+ more than a manual right now. And, yes, I do know that there are more manual cars in Ireland than automatics. So the problem could be supply and demand issues.

My wild, unsubstantiated guess: Less cars + more tourists = higher prices.

bdokeefe · Veteran Member

Michele- Just took a picture of the Adam Smith statue in Edinburgh yesterday; he would concur w/ your supply/demand curve. smile

I booked an automatic for 13 days for our September 2017 Ireland trip back in January. It will be 453 euros for a compact, no insurance.

Even though I've owned a few standard shift cars over the years, I really prefer the automatics when driving on the left. My brain is having enough issues with that. To me, the extra cash is worth the reduced nervous yelling from passengers.

Just finished driving 700 miles through the Scottish Highlands with no yelling to get over, just a few little reminders. Having my 18 year old daughter as co-pilot, with my wife in the back also seems to help (wife's idea, isn't she brilliant?). Btw, the cost for a compact for 8 days in Scotland was 280 pounds, no insurance, automatic. That includes a fee for drop off @ a different location.

Also finally broke down and bought a GPS with Ireland/GB maps loaded. Very nice, and w/ my oldest daughter taking her boyfriend to Ireland next month, it will get 3 uses in first year! First 3 trips were with paper maps, great in the country, no so great in the city streets.

Michele Erdvig · Host

Seems most of the cars in the US are automatics. I wonder when Ireland will catch up with that or if it is a European thing and will never happen? I agree that even if you can drive a manual renting an automatic makes life easier. Hubby can do manual but I can't so we go for the automatic.

I finally got a GPS last year for Ireland and Europe. It has tried to send me astray several times but is great for roundabout exits. It is a Garmin and has a little English woman living in it. She cannot pronounce some of the Irish towns correctly. Fortunately the town name also appears in print on the screen. I have had a few laughs and "what the heck?" moments with her pronunciations.

I am looking at car rental rates now through "consolidators". Their prices are much less. Much as I prefer to book directly with a company, looks like it will not happen next time. Funny thing is - in the past - I have called the car company directly and asked if they would match the price. NO! Yet when I booked through a third party for a much lower price I got the same car with the same company who would not lower the price. Surely they must be paying a commission to the third party for the booking? That does not make sense to me. confuse

But what does make sense with Irish car rentals?

Irish_Phil · Member

I think the consolidation in the companies has open the way for higher prices.

Enterprise bought Dooley a few months back and now they need to pay for it.

I rented from Fox but thru Dooley two weeks ago. I waived the insurance and everything went fine.

They did put the squeeze on me to buy more insurance b/c "you might be a great driver but what about the other tourist on the roads?" It took an hour to get the car at the airport b/c of the long line.

But it did work out and I got an SUV for 10 days for $425.

:)

Itallian Chauffeur · Moderator

You might be right, but I still think all the increased Demand is playing a HUGE role! biggrin Ireland's Tourism numbers are WAY up. Glad it all worked well for you, though.

Michele Erdvig · Host

Glad to hear Fox and Dooley worked out for your trip.

wckc · Guru

With Dooley the cost of an intermediate, manual trans, no insurance ha been quoting the same 283.10 euro for 16 days in September for the last two months. I just checked the same care with an automatic and the price jumps to 617.50. I'd really prefer for us to rent an automatic, but not at more than double the price...

Michele Erdvig · Host

Have you tried Fox Rent A Car? Although they are a broker your rental will be through Dooley in Ireland. I've used them the last few times and got much lower rates than booking directly with Dooley.

wckc · Guru

Fox does appear to be about $90 cheaper. I don't see a spot on their website to decline the CDW. Does their listed price exclude that already?

Michele Erdvig · Host

Fox does not include CDW. This is what their website states:

The purchase of Collision Damage Waiver (CDW) and/or Super Damage Waiver is optional providing that written proof of coverage in Ireland from a third party is presented at time of rental.

-AND-

An additional EUR 3,000 credit card authorization can be secured at time of rental and a 25 Euro administration fee will apply.

Michele Erdvig · Host

Try this promo code with Dooley: PADDYABU

Michele Erdvig · Host

I've been fooling around with car rental rates lately just to see what happens. The price goes down dramatically in October. If you start a rental in Sept. into Oct. it seems on some sites that the price quoted per week is the Sept higher price for the whole rental period including Oct. If you break up the rental to include part of Sept, then return the car and get another in Oct. the price is a lot less.

It might be worthwhile phoning the company, pointing out the discrepancy and asking for a lower rate. Just my two cents.

tony2phones · Guru

I've been fooling around trying to get Insurance over here this past few days. I'ts Doubled in the past 2 years. That's on my own car so Temporary insurance as tied to rental cars will have at least doubled.

Michele Erdvig · Host

So far the cheapest rate I found using 21 days in October as the rental month is $218 for a VW Up (whatever that is) and $232 for a Ford Mondeo mid-size. Both are automatics. The prices for manuals was less. That is with no CDW but add on an airport fee of 34 euro and processing fee of 34. Still not bad.

tony2phones · Guru

VW Up. Imagine something a decent sized dog could drag away. I could fit 2 inside the back of my van but there are people who insist on getting the "smallest car possible" of course our roads are too narrow for a bicycle to manoeuvre so maybe it makes sense to drive something that's like sitting in sub economy for a week?

Itallian Chauffeur · Moderator

In reference to vehicles available in the USA, think of something along the lines of a Smart car or the smallest Fiat 500 (2 door).

Might be ideal for a short, slight-framed solo traveller that packs light. aww . aww

Michele Erdvig · Host

I thought that the VW Up was probably a roller skate with a wind-up rubber band for an engine. Thanks for the additional info. biggrin

Itallian Chauffeur · Moderator

Rather than IMAGINE what an "UP!" is like, here's the REAL DEAL: https://www.volkswagen.ie/en/models/up.html#

wckc · Guru

I finally booked our car - through Fox. $197.98 for a standard (Renault Fluence or similar) 9/4-9/19. The same car through Dooley was 268.20 euro.

Michele Erdvig · Host

Glad that worked out for you and you saved some money. Now you can spend it on having fun in Ireland.

wckc · Guru

Does anyone know how large the trunk of a standard (Renault Fluence or similar) really is? We're trying to decide on which suitcases to take...

Itallian Chauffeur · Moderator

I found this: "The Fluence sits in size between a C- and D-segment car, so is larger than most key rivals, such as the Ford Focus saloon. It is generous inside, and has a 530-litre boot. And it comes with the same engines as the Mégane, meaning 1.6-litre 16V petrol, or more importantly 1.5-litre dCi diesel engines with 86 and 106 horsepower. . . . The Fluence starts at 18,890 for the 1.6-litre petrol, which is impressive, especially when you look at the standard kit which, even on the entry point, the Royale, includes air-conditioning, cruise control and Bluetooth hands-free. A diesel will cost 1,410 more, and then 1,000 more for the Dynamique spec model, which adds alloys, dual-zone climate control and others."

http://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/motors/fluence-continues-renault-renaissance-1.652114

And THIS: "The Renault Fluence goes up against rivals like the Skoda Rapid, Ford Focus saloon and Mazda 3. Each of the three aforementioned pack better quality interiors. The Fluence on the other hand feels spacious inside and provides good levels of comfort for front and back seats passengers. Boot space is very impressive standing at 530 litres leaving plenty of room for luggage and large items. The rear seats also fold forward to open up the rear of the cabin for further versatility." https://www.cbg.ie/new-cars/renault/fluence/

FYI -- 530 litres = 18.71677 Cubic feet. As a rough comparison, a new, US built Ford Focus offers 13.2 in the Sedan and 23.3, in the hatchback.

wckc · Guru

Thanks for the research Bob!

Itallian Chauffeur · Moderator

wckc -- De nada.

FYI -- I just booked a manual, petrol, Ford Focus class from 26 Sept - 8 Oct through FOX (waiving all insurances) for $123.07. biggrin biggrin

Dooley's quote for same -- even after using the 'PADDYABU' discount code -- was 160 Euro. I usually prefer to book directly, but the price difference was too good to pass up! hmm hmm

Flying in/out of SNN this trip! biggrin biggrin Prices / flights aren't ideal, but worth it to avoid a DUB/DUB for such a short visit when my aim is to spend all my time in the West and SW.

-- Edited by Itallian Chauffeur on Wednesday 30th of August 2017 09:44:36 PM

Michele Erdvig · Host

Woo Hoo! biggrin What number trip does this make Bob? Fox is very easy to deal with. I've never had a problem with them. And, of course, Shannon is the easiest airport for Ireland.