Rental Cars Sometimes With Significant Defects

2023 Author: Eric Donovan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-08-25 09:36

Numerous rental vehicles in the most important European holiday regions do not meet the safety regulations. However, a large-scale ADAC test revealed even more inconsistencies.

Before the start of the holiday season, the ADAC gave rental car providers abroad a bad report. Every fourth car tested had significant defects, every tenth was no longer roadworthy and should not have been rented, the automobile club announced on Tuesday about the results of a test. 61 providers from six holiday countries were examined. Insurance coverage and customer service were also recorded. Taking all these aspects into account, one in five providers failed the test. About half of the stations were graded “good” or “very good”.

Light and shadow

The questionable “front runner” in the test was an eight-year-old SUV in Turkey, which was offered in a technically completely desolate condition. The ADAC announced that the lease had also failed in this case. The test winner was an Avis station in Ibiza. The car there was technically flawless, the service was almost perfect.

Last year, five test teams rented the cars incognito in Corfu, Sardinia, Corsica, Gran Canaria, Ibiza, Cyprus, mainland Spain and Greece and Turkey. They then checked the vehicle's technology - including the chassis, steering, electrics and lighting - as well as the insurance benefits, the rules of the respective contract and customer service.

Scramble for child seats

The testers criticized, among other things, that child seats were viewed by many rental companies as superfluous "frills". In 16 cases there was no such seat, the report says. A landlord asked for a rent of 46 euros a day for the seat. In addition, many contracts were confusing or only written in the national language. "Most of the time it was not clear how the vehicle was insured." (dpa)