Europcar Car Rental

When we arrived at the store, they told us there was no A3 available as we had booked. They said Golf is a similar-class vehicle, but choosing an A5 would require a significant extra cost.

The car rental service was quite good. I booked a Mitsubishi but got a Haval H6 instead. It's a bit large, but I got used to it and found it quite fuel-efficient.

Pretty good. They recommended insurance, but once they knew we had already purchased the highest coverage, they didn't insist. The pick-up and drop-off process was straightforward, without any hassle.

Very satisfied.

There was no queue when picking up the car, but since I bought insurance through Zuzuche, a deposit of 500 euros was held during pickup. Fortunately, it was refunded to my card two days after returning the car. The car interior wasn't very clean and seemed to lack proper cleaning.

Satisfied

A very good experience.

Very satisfied, excellent service.

Very satisfied

Very satisfied with the service, the car pickup process was efficient.

Satisfied

The price was reasonable, but unfortunately the rental company in Norway went out of business.

This car rental experience deserves a poor review for Europcar: We rented a Jimny specifically because it was winter in New Zealand, and we were concerned about rain and snow. The goal was to ensure driving safety with a 4WD vehicle, and also to take the opportunity to enjoy driving a Jimny during the trip. When we got to the rental counter, the staff saw that we had booked a Jimny and immediately whispered to someone nearby. Then, she came back and told us: "You booked a Jimny or an equivalent vehicle. There’s currently no Jimny available; instead, you’ll get a car of the same category." Hearing this, we were already halfway disappointed. However, we thought as long as the replacement was a 4WD, safety would still be guaranteed. So we explicitly told the staff that our itinerary included snowy mountain roads and that we needed a vehicle with 4WD for proper control and safety. To our surprise, she gave us a Yaris Cross (renting this car costs significantly less than a Jimny, by the way). I asked her three times to confirm whether the car was four-wheel drive (All-Wheel Drive) and if there were any other 4WD vehicles in the same category available. She insisted that the Yaris Cross was a 4WD, said there were no other options unless we paid for an upgrade, and started pitching various insurance options to us. In the end, we reluctantly agreed to take the Yaris Cross, added snow insurance as she suggested, and proceeded to pick up the vehicle. So far, everything seemed fine. Once we left the airport and headed to the parking lot, there it was—a shiny Jimny parked right next to our car. And as for the Yaris given to us, its door and body were covered with scratches and scrapes. At that point, we were feeling pretty unhappy, but we decided to overlook it since the damages didn’t affect functionality. Moreover, we wanted to make it to the lodge before dark, so we didn’t go back to argue. Little did we know, the drama was far from over. Driving from Queenstown to Wanaka went relatively smoothly, but upon reaching Mount Cook, we encountered lower temperatures and roads with a light mix of ice and gravel. Every time I stopped at a stop sign and tried to accelerate, the front wheels felt like they were slipping, as if losing traction completely. This alarmed us, so we looked it up online and discovered that the Yaris Cross isn’t even a 4WD! For the remainder of the trip, we had to drive extremely cautiously. We were fortunate not to encounter heavy snow; otherwise, the potential risk would have been unthinkable. Throughout this trip, we couldn’t understand why the rental staff falsely claimed the Yaris was a 4WD, why the available Jimny wasn’t rented to us, and why multiple insurance options were heavily promoted.

Not bad.

The service attitude of the rental company is absolutely the best I have encountered in Europe, very nice.

Excellent service

Very convenient. The staff confirmed if extra insurance was needed, and after I declined, there was no aggressive upselling. Both pickup and return were smooth. Great experience with a big company.

Satisfied

The vehicle was in excellent condition! The navigation system was impressive and accurate! Picking up and returning the car was very convenient!

Very satisfied.