I did some research on Italian car rental companies via Xiaohongshu and noticed various strategies they employ. It's recommended to purchase full insurance through the platform, as it's more cost-effective compared to buying it directly from the rental company. When returning the car, make sure the interior is kept clean to avoid risks. The shuttle driver from the rental company was nice and helped with luggage. The service was relatively fast, although the car provided was not the model I originally booked, but it was sufficient for use.
1. The shuttle at Milan Malpensa Airport had a long waiting time, over half an hour.
2. The car was downgraded upon pickup, and the staff had a tough attitude.
I booked a car from Avis, but ended up with a car from a brand called DR. After searching online, I found out that DR is a brand authorized by Chery for sales in Italy. Overall, the car was in good condition, with about 8000 km of mileage, and it was fairly new.
The car was great, but during the return process, they found a barely noticeable scratch on the rear bumper and charged over 100 euros. I had to claim it with insurance afterward.
This was my third time driving overseas. Before going, I was mentally prepared for aggressive insurance upselling, but honestly, this was the worst car rental experience I've had, and it completely deterred me from planning future self-driving trips in Italy. Next time in Italy, I'd rather take the unreliable high-speed rail. If you absolutely must rent a car, I recommend buying basic insurance through Zuzuche and getting the car rental company's insurance as well; this will save time but will be more expensive. Otherwise, you might encounter problems like I did, where I not only ended up buying the car rental company's insurance but also wasted three hours there. The staff's pricing seemed arbitrary, so I suggest recording everything from the moment you step up to the counter to pick up the car. Photograph any price-related paperwork as well. Here's the detailed breakdown:
First, the cross-border fee was initially quoted at €110 plus tax, but they said it could be waived if insurance was bought. The first attempt to upsell insurance was priced at over €300. After Zuzuche intervened, the cross-border fee changed to €9 per day (total amount).
Second, surprisingly, the car rental company's POS machine showed a 'credit card limit exceeded' message when trying to charge €1100 without their insurance plan. My credit card app showed an available limit of over €6000, so there shouldn't have been any issue handling €1100. I wasn’t the only one experiencing this; another foreign customer, who had booked through a website starting with 'B', had the same problem. Whether this was a coincidence or intentional is unclear. This issue has been reported to the bank after returning. Despite trying every possible solution, the only workaround was to buy the rental company's insurance. I recommend calling your bank beforehand to check your single authorization limit for pre-authorizations.
Finally, when the rental company staff notice that your card can't handle the authorization amount, they'll either cancel the rental (with full loss of the rental fee) or push you to buy their insurance, which lowers the deposit to a few hundred euros and gets approved instantly. At this point, the insurance upselling price had changed to €500+, discounted to €400+. When I pointed out that they had earlier quoted me just €300+, they denied ever saying that. It's ridiculous, and unfortunately, I didn’t take pictures of the initial quote paper or record the entire conversation. Eventually, I argued with the staff quoting me earlier and managed to get the price back to €300+, but it was still higher than the initial quote due to the addition of a 22% tax.
On a positive note, the rental staff's attitude was relatively good. After the pre-authorization issue, I asked to make a phone call and try again, and they patiently waited.
Returning the car with purchased insurance was smooth. They checked the trunk, seat conditions, and fuel gauge but didn’t mention any additional charges. I'm unsure if more unexpected issues will arise later since trust was completely shattered due to the arbitrary pricing during pickup. Currently waiting for the bill and will monitor further.
The car provided was a 40,000 km nearly new vehicle. They proactively reminded me to take photos and videos for records. Very satisfied with their service attitude.
The service was decent, although they did try to upsell. Communication might be a bit challenging due to language barriers. They added a 30-euro towing insurance during the process, but after reviewing the payment records and communicating in time, it was refunded. However, I was charged 25 euros about ten days later, supposedly for a violation.
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