Anyone who started driving in a virtually penniless state will be familiar with this scenario, In my early driving days, I owned old cars, the type that scraped through the MOT and got you from A to B, but for those runs over about 100 miles, were not really an option.

Thankfully I then got myself a decent car, and had no need of rentals until the point when my radiator blew out on a very cold and wet Sunday afternoon, and then started my love affair with Europcar, who had a depot 30 miles from my house where I could get hold of a Vauxhall Vectra on a Sunday afternoon.

And on to Europcar themselves;
My first paid for UK experience of this company was when I discovered at the EasyJet check-in desk at Gatwick airport that I needed to return home to complete some very urgent work, leaving my other half to tootle off to Madrid on his own, and me back down the M4 to Swansea.

BOOKING
Bookings can be made by contacting your local branch, or their call centre on a national rate number - 0870 607 5000.

Like most good companies these days, Europcar offer preferential rates to customers who book on-line, and you can reserve vehicles at any of their world-wide locations.

I checked on their website, and was offered a Ford Mondeo for less than £60 for two days – now whilst I am definitely not a fan of the Ford motor car in any shape or size, for that price I got to drive my fast and large car, so went ahead and booked it – the website do advise you to read the terms and conditions before booking and it is advisable as you discover exactly what your charge covers, or should I say what it doesn’t cover.

It is easy to see, that what appears to be, on the face of it, a very cheap deal, can very rapidly turn into something much more expensive.

Needing a car for a few days this weekend, I have again booked with EuropCar – 3 days for £61.35 for a VW Golf or similar – please give me the same car – knowing my luck I will have a wreck this time. There again, for the peace of mind it gives me, it is well worth the cost. Ironically, I have just rung the branch to see if I could collect the car earlier, and was told I couldn’t, they have also confirmed that the car, on this occasion, will be the VW Golf, or SEAT Leon, whichever becomes available first.

SCORE – 10/10:
The last car I had was beautiful, and had the gentlemen responsible for despatching it, drooling at the mouth as I was leaving their depot, having driven around in it for 3 days, I can truly understand why.

In this instance, Europcar were definitely the cheapest, however, I guess the motto of the story is that if price is an issue, make sure that you have the full picture of just what those hidden extras are costing and what benefits do they provide.

IS THAT THE END OF THE STORY?
In addition to having used Europcar 3 times in the UK, I have also had the pleasure, (or not as the case may be) to hire cars at three of their overseas outlets, namely:

All booked through the Thomson’s holiday rep, Europcar or Betacar as they are known in Spain, are evidently the ones who provide Thomsons with the most commission, are clients seem to no longer be offered a choice. In all three locations, representatives from the branch arrived promptly to collect us from our hotel, required a passport, driving licence and credit card to process our request, although in typical Spanish style there was never any great panic in being efficient.

In Fuerteventura however, it was a different story. The car was selected by Tasha for a little extra for containing a radio, I know that most of it is in Spanish, but at least it is something to listen to. The ‘prize’ on this occasion was a Fiat Punto that had definitely seen better days, the radio didn’t work, the car had bumps and scratches all over it, and there was over 60,000KM on the clock. I was also transported to the airport by a ‘kamikaze’ driver who approached every roundabout at over 100KM an hour – terrifying to say the least. The service at the desk was appalling, and when I went back demanding a different vehicle, they weren’t overjoyed, but thankfully they did replace it with a new Fiat Punto in which everything worked.

SUMMARY
All in all, a reasonably efficient company, although in what is primarily a service based industry, the motto of the story is that it is people and how they care for their products that make the difference, and therefore my rating of the company is based upon my experiences at Swansea, Ibiza and Salou, as I suppose 3 out of 4 good ones is not bad for such a wide geographic spread – now I am off to pick up my Golf or SEAT, and then off to find the cheapest deal for collection from Valencia airport during July.

OVERALL SCORE: 10/10