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Recently opened an account with SIXT as the gave me status to tempt me away from Hertz.
Booked a pre paid rate for 3 days at KEF and opted for lucky dip car.
On arrival things went down hill fast. SIXT does not have an airport desk and you need to get a bus. There is no timetable and no means to call. I gave up waiting and walked the 600m or so to their office which I could see. Dragging even a cabin bag over the gritted roads of Iceland was not easy.
Met my cheerful staff who then presented me with 4 cards and I had to choose one, that would be my car.All good fun till you draw a Toyota Aygo, the lowest possible standard of car. Disappointed I took it and then found it was covered in scratches, had a missing hub cap and was, to be generous a pile of junk.
Surprising my self I drive off and when a survey arrived the next day I let them have it with both barrels. This illicit a reply and a 60euro refund!
Driving back to the airport on Friday I was hit by a stone which cracked the windscreen. A common enough issue and Amex Platinum was covering the cost. I advised SIXT at the counter and they went off to investigate. When they got back they asked me to sign for the damage and said they’d send the damage report to my email. I refused this insisting that the full cost be made known and that I leave with a written report explaining the charge.
The cost, for a Toyota Aygo windscreen was an astronomical £893 / 150,522 ISK. I almost had to be revived! It was pure extortion, bordering on theft and I told them so. I paid collected the paperwork and asked about the bus.
The agent who dealt with me had the good grace to be embarrassed and offered my wife and I a lift to the terminal as they had no idea when the bus might appear.
Claim made via Europ assist so will see what happens, but even for a country as notoriously expensive as Iceland, this just seemed excessive. For a car in the condition it was, it was outrageous!
Whilst lots of sympathy… the majority of car rentals are in the same location, approximately 600m from the KEF airport terminal. There is a free minibus that can drive you around and stops at each of the rental stores. This runs every 10 mins or so in the peak period – picking you up at the bus shelter on the right when exiting the terminal.
Car hire in Iceland is probably some of the most expensive in the world, and that charge does not surprise me. There won’t be many mechanics on the island, and all cars and parts arrive by ship. All car hire blogs advise getting the highest cover, unfortunately for a reason. When travelling there in and around the winter, the risk is always damage to the car… with stones to windscreens being some of the most common issues, which is no5 a surprise when you see the conditions of the secondary “roads” (as soon as you turn off the main roads).
So you didn’t do your research, chose a mystery vehicle and got a mystery vehicle, granted in poor condition, then got an unprompted partial refund. Not exactly awful.
My father in law has a Honda Jazz which somehow got a 2cm crack in an area of the windscreen that meant it had to be replaced. Because of repeated problems with Autoglass the insurance eventually let him get it done at a Honda dealer and the cost was £1150 (but he only had to pay the excess of £100).
Agree with John above. Shame about the windscreen break but also its Iceland, a country where a pint is £10 so not surprised at all on the charge.
You took the ‘lucky dip’ car, presumably because it was cheap, and you got a cheap car. Despite being what you paid for, they gave you a partial refund when you complained. The windscreen cost seems fair, a quick search shows that an aftermarket part without fitting is £285 in the UK. They are entitled to go to the dealer. You did the right thing because you had excess cover, no harm to you beyond the paperwork.
All round, not too bad. Try leaving a bigger gap from the car in front in future.I tend to agree. Lucky dip is exactly what it says and was. Missing hub cap and scratches may reflect the general condition of the car, but in themselves make no difference to the driving experience.
Nothing there to constitute ‘awful’.
Is anyone else thinking they would have checked the other 3 cards and expected all of them to say ‘Aygo’..?!
If you think an Aygo is an awful product you have led a sheltered life indeed.
Is anyone else thinking they would have checked the other 3 cards and expected all of them to say ‘Aygo’..?!
Definitely this, I would have asked to see the other cards at least
There are two issues here.
1. The car you received – unfortunately, you got what you paid for. I have generally had good experiences with Sixt; my one compliant is that they switch cars around, and often try to offer a higher spec but smaller car (eg, on numerous occasions when I booked a mid-sized Peugeot SUV, I received an Audi or Mini compact SUV). A ‘lucky dip’ sounds like the office’s way to get their least desirable cars on the road to highly price-sensitive customers.
2. The repair cost – Let your travel insurance handle it and move on. Car rental repair costs never make sense. This is why it pays to have comprehensive insurance to cover any excess. So long as you agree that the damage occurred, and you won’t end up out of pocket, save your energy.And for anyone reading this heading to KEF, forget points for once, avoid Avis/Sixt and book with Blue, They have a much better reputation.
Don’t wait for the rental bus. If you have luggage you can carry or drag, just turn left out of the airport entrance, walk across the car park and all the rental sheds are straight ahead, much quicker.
Wow, tough crowd!!
The lucky dip car is not the cheapest by some margin. It’s usually mid range, automatic and with some toys. The refund was a recognition that I should not have had this car and this was explained explained in the email which accompanied the refund offer.
Iceland is expensive, £12 for a .5ltr beer. Had they said £300 of £400 for the windscreen I wouldn’t have batted an eye, but am sorry £893 is insane!!
As for the car rental area of KEF. Sorry but there was no bus neither going to or coming from Sixt. There is no marked bus stop, no timetable and no means of. Intact SIXT. They themselves said every 30 minutes but it’s clearly hit and miss.
Colleagues who had the sense to use Hertz collected their car from the car park in front of the terminal, the same place I did the last time.
Hertz in Glasgow today provided a gas guzzling GLE with every conceivable extra. Cost £35. It’s back to hertz for me
And for anyone reading this heading to KEF, forget points for once, avoid Avis/Sixt and book with Blue, They have a much better reputation.
Don’t wait for the rental bus. If you have luggage you can carry or drag, just turn left out of the airport entrance, walk across the car park and all the rental sheds are straight ahead, much quicker.
We had a maximum cross wind landing, I think it was recorded at nearly 45kmph and it started tanking it down with snow. I wasn’t going to go trapsing through the car parks and across the road in that!!
Weather in KEF can change really quick, and I wouldn’t advise anyone old, or with kids or lots of luggage to go across that car park in bad weather.
Though do agree, Blue is the best way to go if the price is right. We get discounts on car hire through OHs work, so in our case used Europcar, which worked out fine even with a chip on the windscreen, caused by a stray stone in high winds, in Nov-24.
As for the car rental area of KEF. Sorry but there was no bus neither going to or coming from Sixt. There is no marked bus stop, no timetable and no means of. Intact SIXT. They themselves said every 30 minutes but it’s clearly hit and miss.
Colleagues who had the sense to use Hertz collected their car from the car park in front of the terminal, the same place I did the last time.
Hertz in Glasgow today provided a gas guzzling GLE with every conceivable extra. Cost £35. It’s back to hertz for me
The bus – granted not very well sign posted outside the airport – definitely stopped outside Sixt, as we were chatting to some fellow travellers who were using them.
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