WARNING ABOUT HOLIDAY CAR HIRE

By Matthew Jones BRITONS intending to hire cars abroad should be careful about hidden charges, mechanical defects and insurance rip-offs, the AA said yesterday. The motoring organisation said even an experienced consumer tester carrying out research was hit with a 300 euro charge on his credit card statement for damage the car hirer could not explain. “Britons need to be a bit more forceful, adopt the attitudes of some of our fellow Europeans, like the Germans for instance who are strong consumers,” said Paul Watters. Watters, project manager for the EuroTest consortium which carried out research last August for pan European motoring groups - including the AA Motoring Trust said damaged vehicles were a major concern. “In many instances, pre-damage was not marked on documentation, which makes a hirer very vulnerable,” he said. “Britons have got to get into the habit of insisting on this. It is common practice in the UK.” While car condition was generally good across 10 resorts surveyed in Greece, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Turkey, Tenerife and Majorca, two resorts stood out as being poor. Four out of six cars hired in Playa de las Americas, Tenerife, were in a poor state as were five out of six cars in Alanya, Turkey. Among faults uncovered by the testers was a car hired in Rhodes which had a damaged tyre, bent wheel and worn out brakes. British holidaymakers should also be on guard for unexpected charges appearing on their credit card statements and be prepared to resist pressure to take out expensive insurance cover. Watters said hirers should understand exactly what they are signing for and should reject cars that are not relatively new or in good condition. The survey showed even well-known international car hire firms don't always perform as they should. Customer service care for more than half of 15 cars hired from these firms was judged to be poor or very poor. Among the more local firms, the level of dissatisfaction rose to almost two-thirds. The survey, mostly carried out at the height of the holiday season, found that 13 out of 15 cars hired out by big operators were in very good condition and 12 had less than 10'000 miles on the clock. But among local firms, only just under half of the 43 cars hired were in very good condition with a quarter having mileages of less than 10'000. Three local firm cars had done more than 100'000 miles. Checks on the brakes, steering and chassis of cars hired out to the Eurotest inspectors, who included qualified vehicle engineers, found that one in the 15 cars from international companies were in very poor condition. This rose to 10 in the 43 from the local firms.