Car Hire Alicante Airport

I have used centauro, when I returned the car it was checked by their, a few weeks later I noticed 145 euro had been taken from my credit card by centauro, when I contacted them they told me a tyre had been damaged on the inside and needed to be replaced, I would know if I had damaged a tyre and I knew I had not, I hadn't taken extra insurance from centauro as I had taken some from a company in Ireland, which they didn't like, I am convinced that this was their way to penalise me for not taking their insurance, the company in Ireland repaid me, but I think this was disgraceful and dishonest behaviour by centauro, I would not recommend them and will never use them in future. 

I'm sorry but without intimate inspection, and by that I mean getting down on your back to forensically examine all 4 tyres both at pick up and drop off time, there is no possible way to assert that any alleged damage hadn't occurred whilst the car was in your possession.

That's not a defence of the hire companies, just a plain and inarguable fact.

To one degree or another they are all painted with the same brush though and the only practical defence is to have your own insurance which thankfully you did.

The 2nd best option is the hire car companies so called 'full insurance' but unfortunately that will almost universally exclude tyre and underbody damage so even taking that is not a safeguard against post hire charges.

Had a property in Spain for 20 years now and used centauro for the last 10 years or more also  never had centauro insurance always had my own. I have never a problem with this company which I use 3 or 4 times a year+ kids use them too. I use Questor Insurance for the car hire excess. 

Who gets down on their back to check all the tyres? Surely that would be the responsibility of who ever the car is returned to, when you are given a piece of paper saying that the car has been returned in good condition and you know you have not damaged it in any way is that not enough? I will never be convinced that they are not dishonest! 

As already mentioned even taking out their own excess cover doesn’t always cover tyres & wheels. They will of course sell you another insurance for that too. Just remember to have enough in your credit card for them to block for your deposit if you have your own excess damage insurance cover as they won’t recognise it at the desk. That doesn’t cover any specific car or company only covers yourself to recover money they might take off you. It’s this deposit then that many hate giving back, it’s like asking them to donate a limb. Even the best of the companies can succumb to this. It’s in their DNA like the scorpion & the frog. While examining the car will help it’s impossible for you to check everything short of putting it up on a lift to check underneath it. If you’re renting at night with poor lighting the task becomes impossible. Once you’re back at home they can find some “damage” if they want to. The best one was a few years ago when 2 ladies on another site were chatting about a charge for damage & turned out it was the same scratch on the body of the same car under the bumper they were charged for 8 months apart. No doubt they weren’t the only ones caught either. That was a very lucrative scratch. 

Many years ago goldcar found has scratch on a car that I hired and returned and took  about 200 euros. I asked about 4 times for photo evidence but they did not reply so I asked my bank to look into it and they reimbursed me after about 3 months all good 

So basically you are saying unless you get down along with the car hire rep and  inspect the tyres when you pick up your car, you are relying on their honesty and integrity. And of course, do the same when you return the car.  And you are totally correct, under such circumstances you would have to. But no one in their right mind is going to do that. That is why it is important to research, and deal with car hire companies who do not have a track record of ripping off the customer. And equally, then naming and shaming them if they do rip you off,  It helps others. For instance, I have seen so many bad reviews about certain companies that I will never use them. I have been warned, if they are a few quid cheaper, I won’t fall for it. Look at the reviews, not the price. Incidentally, I think they are all out to get as much of your money as possible, I don’t trust any of them, just some more than others! 

🤔 All I wanted to say is car hire is alot cheeper now 😊

Fully agree

Centauro charged me €220 for a scratch which required me to kneel down and look up to see it, the check off guy went straight to it, he knew it was there, also convinced this car will be a mule for income.

Costs easily recovered by annual excess insurance.

Ken