Drive on Holidays Movida, Funchal Aeroporto in Funchal

STAY AWAY! We have never had such a bad experience with a car rental company! Like on at least six other trips, we booked the rental car through a German company. Since I don't have a credit card, we were told that we wouldn't be able to get the car due to the deposit requirement. My girlfriend had her credit card with her, but it could only be used in my name if we paid an additional 210 EUR. After unsuccessfully trying to transfer the contract to her name, we finally set off with a three-quarters full tank (should have been full). On the third day of our vacation, the coolant warning light turned red! We were in the middle of nowhere and had to make it to the nearest gas station... Two days later, the windshield washer fluid was empty (I may have used it four times in those five days). When we returned the car, we were greeted with extreme rudeness. We've rented cars in many countries, but we've never experienced anything like this.

I was rented a car by this company with tyres that would not pass basic vehicle inspection standards, let alone meet safety regulations. We had to spend a full day to get the issues sorted out and the company is currently unwilling to take any form of responsibility, for the endangerment and losses caused. I would strongly advise to NOT rent from here, for your own safety (and sanity in dealing with their horrible customer service) -------- addition: there is already a ticket at the operations dept, this is the horrible service I am reffering to.

***BE AWARE*** We rented a car for a very fair price. Car we had was great and had no issues. BUT, They only accept credit card but not American Express. Luckily i had an extra credit card, otherwise they will charge you 250EUR to use the car. Staff was not friendly at all on return. The guy seemed to want to spot as much damages as possible in order to charge us for extra money. LUCKILY as experienced travellers we took 2 full videos of the car, and managed to avoid to get charged. SO AS ADVICE, TAKE A CAREFUL AND DETAILED VIDEOS OF THE CAR ON COLLECTION. Be aware of scammers and Enjoy Madeira.

Unfortunately I didn't read the reviews before booking the car, but actually everything went as expected and very smoothly. Maybe this company is changing their practices for the better. The security deposit is huge, I paid 2100EUR on my credit card for the cheapest car they had, but this was transparent as I read their policy before booking. I got my money back instantly after drop off. Drop off was fine, they didn't try to take my money unfairly, I didn't have to pay anything. The car was in good condition. The chair had a big stain on it and I feared they would accuse me of making it dirty because I forgot to take pictures of it, but this didn't happen.

I was very scared because of the bad reviews about how car rental with this company would turn out. I've booked the car on booking.com, with the basic insurance. But there was really a strange thing, when we took over the car, we were offered an additional insurance policy of about 220 EUR, directly with the company, and then we had to make a deposit of 0 EUR. Or, alternatively, we have to commit 2100 EUR. This is a slightly high amount compared to regular car rentals. We felt it could be some kind of tourist trap. In the end, fortunately, everything went well and the credit card was quickly untied. The staff was nice, the shuttle to the airport was also ok.

I'm writing this review because prior to picking up my rental, I got scared by all the negative comments - I figured people are more likely to leave a negative review than a positive one, so here's my positive review: I rented an automatic Peugeot 208 from Drive on Holidays a couple weeks ago, and I had zero issues. The car worked great all around Madeira. We did wait a bit more than expected to get picked up at the airport, but that's because there were a lot of us at once, so the driver had to make multiple trips. We didn't mind the wait though. The drive to the airport was very quick, as soon as we dropped the car off, one of the employees took us to the airport (we did arrive more than 2 hours prior to our flight though, around 6:30 AM). No extra charges or hidden fees like some people are saying. Our excess was reduced to zero because we paid for the total insurance. Staff was very polite and willing to explain everything and answer all our questions. Even prior to our arrival in Madeira, they were very responsive to my email inquiries. Thank you for the great experience!

Despite some negative comments, I have only positive recommendations to offer. The service, pick-up, the car itself, and the return process were superb. It's important to note that a credit card is required for the reservation and deposit, but this is standard practice.

All in all a very good experience. Convenient Pick up with shuttle bus, car pickup very smooth and clear instructions from the staff, car as expected (fairly new, clean and in great shape), returning again very smooth and an easy shuttle to the airport. Very friendly and helpful staff, we recommend this company. 'Till next time!