Cheap U.K. car rental ??

[DwizzleyMatthews]

So , I have been browsing cheap car rentals in U.K. for a 3 week trip I have booked for August.

As the flights are twice the price of my last booking in December 2019 I expected a similar price hike .

But, seems like car rentals have increased 5 fold !! , or am I missing something ??

Anyone noticed similar ??

[BigHewer]

49 minutes ago, DwizzleyMatthews said:

So , I have been browsing cheap car rentals in U.K. for a 3 week trip I have booked for August.

As the flights are twice the price of my last booking in December 2019 I expected a similar price hike .

But, seems like car rentals have increased 5 fold !! , or am I missing something ??

Anyone noticed similar ??

Same here DM, not UK but Ireland in December. Absolutely prohibitive. They’ve lost out for two years and now they’re playing catch up.

[DwizzleyMatthews]

24 minutes ago, BigHewer said:

Same here DM, not UK but Ireland in December. Absolutely prohibitive. They’ve lost out for two years and now they’re playing catch up.

I’ve been searching and seems like picking up and dropping off at a non- airport location brings the price down quite a lot .

Seems like grabbing a taxi to Manchester instead of picking up at the airport will be my cheapest option.

 

[BigHewer]

1 hour ago, DwizzleyMatthews said:

I’ve been searching and seems like picking up and dropping off at a non- airport location brings the price down quite a lot .

Seems like grabbing a taxi to Manchester instead of picking up at the airport will be my cheapest option.

I used a private taxi last time (2019 - from Manchester airport to Birkenhead) and it was cheaper than renting a car. In the end I didn’t bother with renting one.

Here in Japan it’s the reverse. Renting a car is always cheaper than relying on taxis.

[DwizzleyMatthews]

12 minutes ago, BigHewer said:

I used a private taxi last time (2019 - from Manchester airport to Birkenhead) and it was cheaper than renting a car. In the end I didn’t bother with renting one.

Here in Japan it’s the reverse. Renting a car is always cheaper than relying on taxis.

I have to go to near Leeds and will use the car pretty much every day so a cheap runaround would be ideal.

Just did a comparison on cheapest option:

Pick up/return Manchester Airport   £1,436

Pick up/return Leeds Downtown.     £747

Looks like taxi/train from airport to Leeds best option.

My last , cancelled, trip in Mar 2020 would have cost me £340 for a bigger car .

[DwizzleyMatthews]

Just heard about a rental website called Turo ( and another lesser one called Getaround ) where Joe public can rent out his private car , could be an old banger or a 3 year old Benz !.

 The prices are very reasonable but not much availability currently , seems like a great idea especially with the rising cost of rentals, think Airbnb for cars !!

Seems like the idea has been around for a while in the US .

[BigHewer]

10 hours ago, DwizzleyMatthews said:

Just heard about a rental website called Turo ( and another lesser one called Getaround ) where Joe public can rent out his private car , could be an old banger or a 3 year old Benz !.

 The prices are very reasonable but not much availability currently , seems like a great idea especially with the rising cost of rentals, think Airbnb for cars !!

Seems like the idea has been around for a while in the US .

I had a look at getaround.com, what a great option.

I searched a U.S. address first and a map appeared with loads of icons representing available cars. Very user-friendly.

The UK version shows results in a list format. I entered in “Manchester Airport” as a pick up location and there were loads of choices. Good value too. Worth looking into.

[DwizzleyMatthews]

15 minutes ago, BigHewer said:

I had a look at getaround.com, what a great option.

I searched a U.S. address first and a map appeared with loads of icons representing available cars. Very user-friendly.

The UK version shows results in a list format. I entered in “Manchester Airport” as a pick up location and there were loads of choices. Good value too. Worth looking into.

Yes, for someone like me who just wants something to get from a to b and have the flexibility of a car always at hand it’s a good cheap option. Probably more sites will appear as the word gets round, someone nicknamed it “ Airbnb on wheels “, very apt.

Turo.com seems more established, at least in the U.K., more “hosts” with more rentals and many reviews.

[DwizzleyMatthews]

Soo, I did a little checking into the Turo “ car sharing “ site.

Chose a cheap Skoda Citigo as a test:

Initial listing says £26 a day and £538 estimated total.

Bit of messing around with creating a profile, needing a selfie, driving license photo and information, credit card information also required. Getting to the final screen, Checkout, before getting the real total figure.

Result: with the cheapest , of 3 options, mandatory insurance, tax and a trip fee (?) the estimated £538 turns into £885

So, this is typical of the big rental companies who will entice you with a low daily rate and the final bill is a lot more.

Soo, not ruling out Turo but now know that the quoted daily rate is roughly 2/3 of the total.

[DwizzleyMatthews]

In the end I decided that still using one of the larger rental companies but going through one of the search sites, rentalcar.com or Booking.com etc  and modifying the pick up location will be my preferred route.

Probably, arriving Manchester Airport and catching the train to Leeds, renting from the large rental hub in Hunslet .

It works out around half the price of renting from the airport and cheaper than Turo.

[BigHewer]

On 5/30/2022 at 6:16 PM, DwizzleyMatthews said:

Result: with the cheapest , of 3 options, mandatory insurance, tax and a trip fee (?) the estimated £538 turns into £885

That kind of stuff is annoying. I’m noticing it becoming more prevalent with hotel consolidators  as well.

Makes me respect (and bookmark!) sellers with transparent pricing.