Spanish rent a car spec me?

[Scania]

I am off to Murcia in southern Spain on the 1st of November,returning on the 12th. The weather over there will be nice, but not great / beach fodder I'd imagine.

Thus, I guess I'll be doing some road trips...

What to rent?

Last few times, I have had Seat ibizas which were sitting waiting at San javier airport,they were fine for what they were,but Los Alcazares to Alecante was a bit of a drag....

I'm thinking of Los Alcazares to Gibraltar - and back again - as a possible trip.....

Size is not an issue,just me and my 13year old daughter are going.

This should be interesting....

 

[[TW]Fox]

Renting in Europe sucks. Resign yourself to the fact you will be collecting some generic diesel hatchback unless you are prepared to pay £££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££.

And by £££££££££££ I mean something stupid like £600+ a week.

Best off with a Focus/Astra/similar I'd imagine.

 

[Pyscho_Si]

Car rental prices in Spain have got stupid over the last few years with the major rental companies not keeping the same levels of stock. From experience, you should be able to get an A3 S-Line Diesel for not much more than a Focus. The biggest negative I've found is that the Spanish are not really into powerful engines so it is likely to be the 110BHP model which can make overtaking interesting.

Personally, I tend to take my own car over these days.... Although Santander to Gib is a bit far to do in week.

 

[Witor]

Aha, my territory(ish).

Weather will be nice, though as you say theres a (relative) nip in the air now round these parts, so if you're going to beach it, best do it closer to Cartagena than Gib, as the sea's much warmer in the former. (Looks at dates - Actually no, will be cold for the beach...)

Could either take:

Coastal route to Gibraltar or:
Cartagena - Granada - Malaga - Gibraltar, depends what kinda scenery/drive you want, pretty much a 5-6 hour drive either way.

Motorways down here are good, so i'd pick a Focus tbh for the more involved bits.

Let me know if there's anywhere/anything in particular you need info on.

 

[Sagalout]

Strangely the last few years it's all been diesels, but this time I noticed most of the fleet were petrol. We had a 1.6 Golf GT. Nice trim and comfort, but very slow and uninvolving drive. Focus is much better.

Prices are expensive but we got 10 days for £250 with Malagacar by booking last minute.....checked prices earlier in the year and they were double.

As for routes, try the Ronda run - awesome road

Edit - if you just want transport then even crappy little hatchbacks are fine - we did Nerja to Gibralter and back in a day in a 1.4 Fiat Punto. As long as you have aircon and a radio it's fine

 

[#Chri5#]

Ths A-397 from Ronda to the coast is a superb drive.

Last year we got a Focus in Malaga - it was a total wreck. There wasn't a straight body panel on it (yes, even the roof was dinged!). The clutch slipped like an old granny on ice.

This year we got a Hyundai i30. Zzzzzzzz!

 

[a1ex2001]

Hire cars on the continent are expensive and boring, the US was so much more fun. Our last car in France was a delivery milage meriva diesel, got the job done but was hardly what would be described as entertaining.

 

[KASM]

Just had 11 days in Majorca and paid only £122, though it was a new Micra, it served it's purpose and was actually quite comfortable, have just done some qoutes for a week in December and got the price down to £49 for a basic i.e. Micra or similar again or $56 for a focus.

 

[Scania]

Thanks for the replys guys.

It does indeed look like Ibiza's, Fiesta's & Ka's are my pick, on-line prices seem fairly reasonable - all three are available for under £90 for the term required.

I was hoping for something a bit bigger, but the prices do start to jump up considerably.

My lasting memory of the Ibiza was hitting a rather large pothole / bump in road - it was dark and I did not see it until too late - and it was all over the place I did vow there & then to get something more substantial next time....

I'll keep looking, I do admit part if me is thinking to hell with it and get a convertible something or other but tbh I am reluctant to spend more on the cost of the hire car than the cost of return flights! (Circa £305).

Food for thought provided though as hoped for, thanks.

Aha, my territory(ish).

Weather will be nice, though as you say theres a (relative) nip in the air now round these parts, so if you're going to beach it, best do it closer to Cartagena than Gib, as the sea's much warmer in the former. (Looks at dates - Actually no, will be cold for the beach...)

So I should tell my daughter to not pack too much beach gear or can I expect odd good days?

Coastal route to Gibraltar
Cartagena - Granada - Malaga - Gibraltar, depends what kinda scenery/drive you want, pretty much a 5-6 hour drive either way.

Yes, the costal route would be my choice. I think for me to spend my time on motorways whilst on holiday would be just plain wrong! although it in itself is no issue to me.

Let me know if there's anywhere/anything in particular you need info on.

I will do, thanks.

 

[blueboy2001]

I hire in Spain at least 4 times a year, and always use www.carjet.com.

They are very reasonable for anything up to a Focus, beyond that it gets silly.

Make sure you either insure your excess or go with a company that does zero excess - the Spanish do not give a stuff about their cars in the main and if you park it anywhere busy it will more than likely get scuffed or dinged..

 

[Scania]

I hire in Spain at least 4 times a year, and always use www.carjet.com.

They are very reasonable for anything up to a Focus, beyond that it gets silly.

Make sure you either insure your excess or go with a company that does zero excess - the Spanish do not give a stuff about their cars in the main and if you park it anywhere busy it will more than likely get scuffed or dinged..

Cheers!

£509.77 GBP 601.07 EUR - For a Pug 307cc Cabrio!

My God, Fox - true to form! - was not kidding!

I never thought a Ford Ka could hold so much appeal!

 

[Witor]

So I should tell my daughter to not pack too much beach gear or can I expect odd good days?

Early November is when rain starts to make a regular appearance in Southern Spain. Roughly expect High teens/low 20's during the day, mid/low teens at night. Don't pack too beach stuff methinks...though Cold it is not.

Yes, the costal route would be my choice. I think for me to spend my time on motorways whilst on holiday would be just plain wrong! although it in itself is no issue to me.

See where you're coming from Mr Stobart . Coastal route down to Gibraltar will be slower, but you get some amazing "i'm 5 metres away from the sea" type roads from Roquetas del mar to Motril, which is near Malaga. After Malaga it takes about an Hour and 15 mins to get to Gib via Toll road, or under 2 hours if you want to take the (usually busy) costa del sol N-340 route. Tolls from Malaga --> Gib are around 11 euros 1 way, by then prices go down after the Summer toll-rapeage. Not condoning it (...) but toll roads are hardly monitored/policed round here, dont worry about sitting at 150km/h.

As a guide: Here, though that's missing out loads of cool places along the way, Granada is great to Visit seeing as you're nearby and route could be modified to go to Malaga via Granada without much difference in time. Ronda too, worth the drive up from Marbella, regardless of what you're driving tbh. Even better, (and less known) is the drive down from Ronda to Jimena, infinitely better than the well known Car-testing Ronda->Marbella.

I will do, thanks.

 

[Demon]

My parents live 100K's or so south of Murcia, so I pop over quite regularly, recently I've been using Auto-europe, a week in November for a Fiesta sized car is under £65, and you can get 8.5% quidco cashback on that.. That's picked up/dropped off at San Javier, and I've always booked the Fiesta size and got either Pug 207's/VW Polo's so far, which had cruise/climate and seemed quite ok for getting around.

I'd also second the coast road getting down to Malaga/Marbella, We do the same Roquetsa de Mar to Motril section that Witor mentions, it's so much better then endless motorways!

It's good to have someone like Witor around, the problem with Spain is, as a tourist it looks quite dusty/baron in the main, you need to go out of your way really to see more interesting stuff. Mind you, my parents seem to have found every pub within 80Km that do traditional Sunday Roasts!..