Older drivers – anyone over 65 or so – often get a raw deal when it comes to car rentals.

Just as with younger drivers, companies have various restrictions in place for older drivers.

Some might have a blanket ban from a certain age – anything between 65 and 80 – while some might impose a surcharge, as with younger drivers.

While I can understand that some (much) older drivers may have health or fitness problems that impact on the risk of them being involved in an accident, I do think that the current system of arbitrary age limits is unfairly harsh.

I’m obviously not the only person who feels this way, as illustrated by this story from Ireland. The driver concerned, who was over 70, was asked to pay a €25 per day surcharge on his car rental at Dublin Airport and warned that next time around, when he would be over 75, he would be banned from hiring a car altogether.

Unhappy with this arbitrary approach, he complained to both the rental company and then to Equality Authority, Ireland’s anti-discrimination body. The result was that the car hire company concerned has dropped its blanket ban on drivers over 75, scrapped the daily surcharge for drivers over 70 and introduced an individual safety assessment for older drivers instead.

Result. Presumably this will count as case law so other car rental companies in Ireland will be motivated to follow suit.

Will it happen in the UK? Not unless people start complaining like Brother White did.

Arrive at most airports car rental offices worldwide, and you would be forgiven for feeling a certain sense of deja vu. Rather like MacDonalds, most major car rental companies make all of their branches look pretty similar.

Arrive at Avis‘ Moorea Airport and Bora Bora offices, however, and you will be pleasantly surprised with both the decor and the unusual choice of vehicles. These locations in French Polynesia (Tahiti is the main island) offer something that is guaranteed to add the finishing touch to your dream holiday and bring a smile to your face.

Local-style wooden panelling adorns the rental office counter and open top beach buggies an on offer to fun-seeking drivers. Don’t worry – regular cars are available too from all five of Avis’ French Polynesian locations:

• Bora Bora
• Papeete
• Moorea
• Huahine
• Raiatea

You can book cars anywhere with Avis by clicking on the link below:

Car rental giant Hertz has just opened a new car hire branch at Dubai Airport. The branch is in Terminal 3 of Dubai’s International Airport and is part of Hertz’s UAE expansion plans.

The Hertz branch has been opened to meet the demands of Dubai’s growing number of visitors and will provide 24/7 car hire facilities. Hertz has also recently opened a branch in the Radisson SAS Dubai Marina hotel and has plans to offer a branch in the town of Al Ain.

Other Hertz car hire branches in the United Arab Emirates include Abu Dhabi, Fujairah, Ras Al Khaimah and Sharjah.

Stopping at tolls is a hassle most of us simply accept – especially when we are abroad and can’t have an automated pass for the toll system in the country we’re visiting.

National Car Rental has decided that isn’t good enough for its customers. According to Greg Stubblefield, President of National Car Rental, “our customers want to get on the road and to their destination quickly and safely. We know from listening to our customers that they don’t like fumbling for loose change and waiting in line at toll booths.”

To address this issue, National has introduced the Toll Pass system in the USA. Initially being piloted at Newark Liberty International Airport, Toll Pass uses the established E-ZPass automated toll payment system. Customers will pay an additional fee to use Toll Pass and will then be billed for all the tolls they incur after the car rental has been completed.

The scheme will shortly be expanded to National’s sister company Alamo and will be expanded to other states including Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia over the coming months.

National Car Rental Introduces Day Use Rate in UAE

National Car Rental has introduced a ‘Day Use Rate’ for car hire customers in the United Arab Emirates. The rates allows customers to rent cars for durations from 1-10 hours – rather than the standard 24 hour minimum.

This isn’t the first time this service has been offered – in the UK, Europcar has provided a similar service for the van rental market, allowing hourly van rental to meet the needs of customers who don’t need a full 24 hour rental. This appears to have been discontinued recently, however (mid-2011?).

National Car Rental currently operates more than 4,000 vehicles from 16 branches in the UAE and has plans to open further branches in busy areas such as Dubai.

Click here to compare car hire quotes for Dubai and the United Arab Emirates.

To learn more about National Car Rental or to book a National hire car, click on the image below:

Europcar is now offering the Toyota Prius – “the world’s first and most succesful hybrid vehicle” – from all of its London car rental locations.

Londoners can now enjoy the freedom of car use without impacting on their city’s carbon footprint and without having to pay the London Congestion Charge. The Toyota Prius is exempt from the LCC and can be driven for short distances on electric power only – ideally suited for urban driving.

Toyota is leading the way with hybrid technology and expects to be producing one million hybrid cars per year by early in the next decade. The Toyota Prius was one of the first mainstream hybrids and is by far the most popular and well-established hybrid model on the market at present.

With hybrid technology looking almost certain to be the next big trend in car drivetrain technology, why not rent one for a few days and see what you think?

I came across this article on The Guardian newspaper’s website recently, bemoaning the fact that green car hire (e.g. hybrids) is still more expensive than hiring a regular car.

It’s a bit of a shame the author of the article didn’t research it a bit more carefully. There are good reasons that hybrids and other specifically ‘green’ cars cost more to hire than conventional cars.

The main reason is that they cost more to buy. Let’s compare the list prices of the Toyota Prius (a green favourite with its hybrid powertrain) and the Ford Focus – a direct equivalent in size and quality but conventionally powered:

• Toyota Prius – list price £17,932 – £20,832)
• Ford Focus – list price £12,495 – £20,545)

(Prices as published on manufacturers websites 09/09/2008)

That’s right – a basic Prius costs a whopping £5,500 more than a basic Focus.

It’s no great secret that car rental companies get substantial discounts on list prices – but even they will have to pay more for hybrids and other super-green cars. On top of that, production volumes of newer, green models are often lower than for mainstream models, making them harder for car rental companies to buy in the kind of numbers they need.

The reality is that all new cars are getting greener – even with conventional petrol and diesel engines, many are now reaching emissions levels below 120g/km and offer exceptional fuel economy. These regular models are much more readily available from car rental companies than hybrids as they are being made in normal mass production volumes.

It’s also worth remembering that all those expensive hybrid battery packs will need disposing of in 5-8 years’ time and replacing at considerable cost – while most modern petrol and diesel vehicles will still be happily thrumming away on their original engines…

Car rental rates could rise as residual values on second-hand cars fall, according to several leading car rental companies.

Car hire companies’ business models involve buying or leasing large numbers of new cars at heavy discounts  from manufacturers. They then sell these – typically 6-12 months later – and replace them with a new intake of brand new cars. According to John Leigh, managing director of Europcar UK Group, “Weakening residual values are both a serious concern for us and the manufacturers.”

Falling second-hand prices means that the gap between purchase price and resale price gets bigger. The only way to compensate for this is for rental companies to increase their daily rates – something which seems likely.

Free Upgrades No Longer Desirable

Rising fuel prices and tightening purse strings look set to mark the end of another honourable rental tradition – the free upgrade. Corporate rental customers increasingly have stringent environmental policies that specify maximum carbon emissions for rental vehicles – and private customers are increasingly concerned about minmising fuel costs.

The result of both these trends is that “people are getting very vocal about not wanting a larger car”, according to Chris Payne, a spokesman from Dollar Thrifty who was speaking to The Guardian.