Lisbon Forum: Drive 4 Less

Thanks for the info FaroFly.

I am also searching for a good cheap rent car company in Lisbon.

Anyone has suggestion? I need an automatic and not manual...

Thanks in advance

Hi

I just posted my experience with Drive4less / Guerin under another thread - it may be helpful to you

tripadvisor.co.uk/…40381111

Automatic gearbox in a low cost company in this side of the pond?! I doubt. Good luck.

I have just returned from Porto where I booked a car thru auto-europe with Drive 4 Less which is the budget brand of Guerin. On arrival it was drawn to my attention that I needed to pay 80euros for the tank of diesel (with no refund for any unused) and that if I broke down, I would have to pay 300euros, even if the breakdown was Guerin's fault. I was told that I had selected the super-economy rental tier which, in common parlance, is the Ryanair no-frills deal.

Now, it has to be said that the auto-europe small print on the voucher did mention the need to pay for the fuel upfront and that roadside assistance was a chargeable extra. Hands up, I missed this.However, I cannot know how much info was presented BEFORE I made the booking so this is definitely one to look out for. Anyway, it was no surprise when I did the math and worked out that even if I used 49.5litres of diesel (which would be irresponsible to attempt with a diesel!), I was in effect paying 1.6euros a litre for diesel which I could commonly get for 1.42-1.45euros.

However, in 25 years of hiring cars, I have never heard of being charged breakdown assistance. Whether this is an auto-europe or Guerin innovation, I dont know, but it is irresponsible and unreasonable in the extreme. Note that you cannot buy additional insurance at the desk to cover for this, only a poor value bundled deal which includes fuel and full CDW which, like me, you may already have as a stand-alone policy.

Whilst one reason I chose this deal was because it was competitive, it was the only one that explicitly offered a diesel and that mattered more than the few euros I could have shaved off by booking elsewhere. The deal was specifically flagged as a 'deal of the day'. As you will realise from the above, it was actually a lousy deal dressed up to look good because extras were hidden away. Sound familiar?

I dont blame Guerin for this misrepresentation. Auto-europe over-sold the deal and I didnt do my due diligence. However, as is all too common with car rental companies, the attitude of Guerin's desk staff was casual to indifferent and they omitted to give me adquate information regarding how a non-portuguese citizen is expected to pay for motorway tolls which are registered electronically and need to be paid for at a post office or newsagent. Given that the data doesnt come thru for 2 days after your number plate has been clocked, it is highly unlikely that you will NOT be able to fully settle your bill before you fly home and, furthermore, if you pay in a newsagent, the limited data available there means you could pay for the person who had the car just before you. Eventually, I dragged the info out of Guerin but they wont volunteer it and will happily fob you off with a portuguese leaflet that addresses none of your questions.

So, after all this, I decided to press the nuclear button and ask for the complaints book, which is a legal requirement in PT. If you want to see the colour drain from someone's face quicker than a bat out of hell, then this is the way to do it.

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I want to denonce an abusive technique from drive4less the lowcost company of Guerin.

I just rent a car in Lisbon for a week.

Before taking the car, i was obliged to pay 100€ of fuel even if i didn't use all of it and 46€ of insurance because they said they could'nt use my credit card for the guarantee !!

So, at the final 254€ a week instead of 154€ considering the real fuel used!

I renounced to take a child seat because it was 45€ more to pay.

That was my bad and last experience with Guerin rent a car.

Thanks for sharing your experience with us.

Would agree with the comments that the unexpected extras mean that what was a very good deal becomes average to dangerous. Will not use again as can only imagine the charges if anything untoward happens.