Has anyone rented a car in the UK?

[Mitsu3000gt]

We switched up our trip to Scotland recently, and I am having difficulty understanding car rentals there. I have checked both local sites and re-sellers and the price varies a ridiculous amount for the exact same vehicle.

For example if I go on Kayak (or similar) and look at Glasgow for 12 days, I can pay anywhere from $80 CAD for all 12 days (through resellers like Holidaycars.com) or $600++ CAD for all 12 days for the identical vehicle through one of the larger rental companies.

It looks like most if not all cars have a collision waiver included, but what you pay for is to waive the deductible (they call it an "excess") which differs from North America where you usually pay to have CDW insurance at all.

I have a really hard time trusting re-sellers setting up a rental for $7 CAD/day, and even with maximum insurances, it is only $250 CAD or so for all 12 days which seems sketchy but it would be great if that was actually the price.

If I go directly to a company like Hertz, Sixt, or Arnold Clark (which everyone seems to love), its $550 CAD or so for a basic rental and full deductible ($750-850 CAD with zero deductible and roadside assistance which seems really high).

Further, I have read that some places do not recognize North American credit card insurance, so I am reluctant to rely on that other than as a backup.

Has anyone rented in the UK or Scotland before? I'm also going to be driving on the left side of the road for the first time there so the chances of a mistake are theoretically higher so I want to make sure I'm covered, but I'm having a difficult time figuring out what I should be paying.

TIA!

[tonytiger55]

Just taking the discussion sideways. Will you be driving just Scotland or around the UK..?
If going around the UK. Take the train, dont rent a vehicle.

[JustinL]

I can't help you with the pricing, but I have rented in the UK. My Canadian insurance policy has the extended rental coverage... but that doesn't cover outside North America, so double check on any North American policy before you head over, including your credit cards. Scotland is fairly easy to drive around in. Edinburgh is the toughest spot because of the narrow roads and it's busy etc. You get used to driving on the other side of the road quickly, but the one instinct that doesn't go away is to dodge right in a panic, which causes confusion for other drivers when you do it. Make sure you're confident with a manual transmission, because that's probably what you're going to get. There's lots of roundabouts, so learn the rules on those... and finally there's the double-mini-roundabout... I encountered only one of these and had a complete WTF moment.

[My_name_is_Rob]

A couple of my siblings are heading over there in the next week and they are renting a car, so i'll find out who they are renting from, and approximately what it is costing them.

[gmc72]

I've done it a couple of times. Once through an off site rental and once through Avis (?). The off site was an older car with higher mileage, while the Avis was a newer car with much lower mileage. That could be the price difference. Plus, like others have said, learn how to use a round about, and shifting with your left arm. Plus they all drive like maniacs!!!!

Enjoy your trip!!!!

[Mitsu3000gt]

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I can't help you with the pricing, but I have rented in the UK. My Canadian insurance policy has the extended rental coverage... but that doesn't cover outside North America, so double check on any North American policy before you head over, including your credit cards. Scotland is fairly easy to drive around in. Edinburgh is the toughest spot because of the narrow roads and it's busy etc. You get used to driving on the other side of the road quickly, but the one instinct that doesn't go away is to dodge right in a panic, which causes confusion for other drivers when you do it. Make sure you're confident with a manual transmission, because that's probably what you're going to get. There's lots of roundabouts, so learn the rules on those... and finally there's the double-mini-roundabout... I encountered only one of these and had a complete WTF moment.

Yeah I've only ever owned a manual vehicle for my ~20 years on the road so that part should be OK as long as I can shake my muscle memory for the rest of the rules being backwards haha. We mostly plan to drive between the cities and day-trip out of them, but traveling within the major cities we will still use public transportation if possible to avoid driving/parking in the busy centers. All our AirBnB's have a parking stall as well.

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I've done it a couple of times. Once through an off site rental and once through Avis (?). The off site was an older car with higher mileage, while the Avis was a newer car with much lower mileage. That could be the price difference. Plus, like others have said, learn how to use a round about, and shifting with your left arm. Plus they all drive like maniacs!!!!

Enjoy your trip!!!!

Thanks!

Yeah looking into the fine-print rental agreements I think some of the cheaper ones don't have unlimited mileage ($0.25 pound per mile after 95 miles per day) which could be part of it, but the cost disparity is a factor of 6 or 7 so I don't really know.

$500-600+ just seems like a lot for a 12 day rental. Even Hawaii is like $13-17/day and everywhere in the USA is similarly dirt cheap. I'm not used to spending anywhere near that on a car rental.

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A couple of my siblings are heading over there in the next week and they are renting a car, so i'll find out who they are renting from, and approximately what it is costing them.

That would be great to have another data point - thanks.

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Just taking the discussion sideways. Will you be driving just Scotland or around the UK..?
If going around the UK. Take the train, dont rent a vehicle.

Sorry - good question and I did not specify. Just Scotland. We're spending 2 days in London beforehand just because we fly into Heathrow, but are just going to use public transportation there. So 12 days, Scotland only for the car. Pretty much driving arounf the country stopping for 2-3 days in each major place (Skye, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Inverness, etc.)

We are also looking for a cool castle to stay in for at least a night and came across the "Dalmunzie Castle Hotel" which seems to look pretty good.

[SkiBum5.0]

I have a hard time getting a rental with a manual in the UK when I was there last. 328i I ended up with had an auto - only option in manual was a Ford Van

[Mitsu3000gt]

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I have a hard time getting a rental with a manual in the UK when I was there last. 328i I ended up with had an auto - only option in manual was a Ford Van

I'd be alright with an auto, just one less thing to worry about. They seem to charge quite a premium for automatics so I have not even been considering one. If they want to give me an automatic BMW instead of my manual Fiat 500 I'd be very pleased haha.

[Twin_Cam_Turbo]

I’m over here right now (Italy today but back to London tomorrow to rent another car). It’s not cheap, a 1.4TSi Golf on Avis preffered cost around $400 for our first 6 days of rental. I’ve never had a rental in the UK that wasn’t manual transmission, however we usually only rent mid size/level cars like Golf etc. If you are renting one way it will generally be more expensive than dropping off at the same location.

[Mitsu3000gt]

Thanks again guys.

So my trip is in 3 days and I had to pull the trigger.

Ended up using Celtic Legend (a re-seller for Arnold Clark Car & Van Rental which most people seem to love). They include roadside assistance for "free" (normally about 4-5 GBP per day which really adds up) and the excess (deductible) is only $750 pounds compared to others that are $2500++.

They also use in-house insurance which was impossible to buy through anyone else online - the options were third party insurance (I'd have to pay up front and fight a third party for a claim), or buy at the counter for a ridiculous price.

For 10 days I paid $292 pound for the rental (5 door small manual hatchback) + $140 pound for the zero deductible. Basically $730 CAD which is absolutely insane compared to what I am used to paying for cars (Hawaii is like $13-20 CAD/day depending on the island), but $73/day for use of a vehicle and no worries about damage doesn't sound too horrible for Europe. I probably could have done it cheaper if I trusted my CC insurance more, or went with a shitty company. At least this way I have peace of mind but I spent hours researching other companies and none of them gave me a good feeling with their third party insurances and they needed 3-4 days to confrim bookings. Celtic Legend replied immediately with detailed emails, quotes, etc. and even answered all my questions about their competition. Hopefully the rest is just as smooth. I have read countless times that the rental companies there go over the car with a microscope when you return it, so I just took the zero deductible insurance.

I was going to get an automatic just because it's one less thing to worry about while driving on the "wrong" side but it was $200 more and since I've driven manuals all my life I am hoping I can get used to it relatively quickly. We also got parking spots at all our AirBnB's so I don't need to cruise around looking for public parking.

[My_name_is_Rob]

Sounds like you got a decent deal then. I did ask my sister who she booked with, but I guess she booked it a while ago and couldn't remember. They just flew over yesterday though, so if you see another person hitting the wipers when they should be signalling, and vice versa, maybe it's them. Haha

[Mitsu3000gt]

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Sounds like you got a decent deal then. I did ask my sister who she booked with, but I guess she booked it a while ago and couldn't remember. They just flew over yesterday though, so if you see another person hitting the wipers when they should be signalling, and vice versa, maybe it's them. Haha

No worries at all, thanks anyway for checking.

I think I did OK. I maybe saved $100-200 compared to just going with one of the mass online companies and taking a gamble on third party insurance or buying hugely inflated insurance at the desk, but if I was more comfortable with everything and if I had time to investigate the things I wanted, I may have been able to do without the excess waiver and used my CC for that. Oh well - it'll be nice to have nothing to worry about. First time in my life buying the rental car insurance haha.

Aw jeez, the wiper/signal is on the other side too? I'm going to have to go back to my roots and do some practicing in a parking lot when I get the car to build up the new habits 100% for sure on my first signal I would have hit the wipers. Good thing 95% of our driving will be highway.

[Twin_Cam_Turbo]

We rented a 1L Skoda Octavia wagon from Stanstead 2pm Sunday which was returned to Gatwick 8am Tuesday and cost over £240, so your deal could be worse.

[Mitsu3000gt]

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We rented a 1L Skoda Octavia wagon from Stanstead 2pm Sunday which was returned to Gatwick 8am Tuesday and cost over £240, so your deal could be worse.

Yeah that is steep!

My breakdown in GBP is as follows:

10 days rental (5-door, MT, - second smallest vehicle class, Ford Fiesta or Vauxhaull Corsa or similar): $210
Airport Return (Glasgow): $25
Airport Security (WTF? They aren't at the airport haha): $8.33
Deductible waiver: $116.67
VAT: $72.14

$432.84 GBP total = $735 CAD

Not horrible I guess. My car rentals have usually been in North America where it would cost $130-$150 CAD for a larger vehicle over the same period and I can use my own insurance, so it just seems expensive because of what I'm used to.

At those prices they must pay off their entire rental fleet in a summer haha.

[tonytiger55]

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Yeah that is steep!

My breakdown in GBP is as follows:

10 days rental (5-door, MT, - second smallest vehicle class, Ford Fiesta or Vauxhaull Corsa or similar): $210
Airport Return (Glasgow): $25
Airport Security (WTF? They aren't at the airport haha): $8.33
Deductible waiver: $116.67
VAT: $72.14

$432.84 GBP total = $735 CAD

Not horrible I guess. My car rentals have usually been in North America where it would cost $130-$150 CAD for a larger vehicle over the same period and I can use my own insurance, so it just seems expensive because of what I'm used to.

At those prices they must pay off their entire rental fleet in a summer haha.

Ha! Wait till you see the price of gas..

[Mitsu3000gt]

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Ha! Wait till you see the price of gas..

Yeah it was exactly the same as here ($1.31ish)....but in GBP haha. Not ideal. Thankfully we had a 1.2L Renault Clio that had a hilarious 87HP but was amazing on gas. We used 2 full tanks the whole trip, not too bad for what was probably over 1000km of driving. It helped that most of the time you're doing 80Km/h or so which is perfect for maximizing mileage.

Driving on the 'wrong' side of the road wasn't bad at all, I got used to it almost immediately ("stay left, stay left, stay left" haha). Downtown Glasgow was a bit stressful as nothing is marked clearly and some of the roundabouts had like 4 interior lanes in them. My A pillars often blocked the traffic lights, so I had to always stay well back from the stop lines. I am so glad I didn't pay another $200 for an automatic, the manual driving aspect was literally a non-issue and was instantly comfortable. You don't even think about it.

It's always refreshing to travel outside Calgary where other drivers are actually courteous and posses basic driving skills, sign reading abilities, etc. It was literally the first thing I noticed when I returned to Calgary, even more so than having to drive back on the right hand side. Speed limits were all very generous too - 70 MPH on the highways and 50-60 MPH pretty much everywhere else. 40MPH on roads that would be 30-50KM/h in Calgary. I often found myself driving slightly under the speed limit by choice, which is exactly what would happen if we had reasonable speed limits here.

I did not know it was metric EXCEPT for miles / MPH though - that surprised me.

A lady in an X5 drove right into me while at a scenic lookout stop (no damage that I could see as her tire hit the side of the car and it was pissing rain), so I was really glad to have bought the zero deductible insurance and not have to stress about that for most of the trip.