Costs of hire cars 'misleading'

Costs of hire cars 'misleading'

A slew of hidden costs and a lack of transparency prevent car hire customers from getting a good deal, a report from watchdog Which? has found.

During it's investigation, Which? found that 53% of it's participants suffered confusion about the actual cost of booking their hire car, even after the process was completed. The executive director of Which?, Richard Lloyd, said that it was "almost impossible" to work out a good deal when dealing with such undecipherable charges.

When a car hire deal involved paying a charge for a full tank of fuel, 75% of the report participants did not know how much they would be charged when collecting their hire vehicle.

When a car hire package included an excess waiver, 54% of those in the study were not sure if this cover was for the windscreen, underneath the vehicle or damage to the tyres. Also, 44% did not know the price of any excess waivers, and 22% did not know what the excess amount would be.

The report was taken place using the top 10 hire companies. As a result of the report, Which? have made a call for all fees from car hire companies to be made transparent and be detailed to customers before a booking is completed.

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