Rent a car smartly with these 8 tips

Renting a car gives you the freedom to go wherever you want when you are away for a weekend or a week. Renting a car can also be useful in many other situations. However, arranging a rental car can sometimes cause stress and uncertainty. We would like to relieve you of this as much as possible. How can you rent a car with peace of mind? The tips in this blog give you a good overview of the things you should pay attention to when renting a car.

Tips for renting a car

When renting a car, keep the following tips in mind:

1. Make sure you have good insurance

When renting a car, always pay close attention how the car insurance is arranged. We recommend that you take out comprehensive or all-risk insurance, so that you are not faced with unaffordable, unforeseen costs if you accidentally hit a wall or have an accident. Many car rental companies work with a deductible, but you can choose to buy off this amount with additional insurance. This way, you can hit the road with peace of mind. After all, you do not have to pay anyone anything if you have an accident with the car.

2. Check the car for damage beforehand

One of the car rental tips that you should keep in mind is that you should always check the car that you are going to rent for any damage before you drive away. After all, you have probably heard the horror stories of people who have to pay for costs that they did not incur at all.

Imagine: you rent a car for a day, drive it very safely and calmly and then return it neatly to the car rental company. When you get there, someone points out a large scratch on the back of the car. You hadn't even noticed it yet, but it certainly wasn't caused by you! You know for sure that this scratch was already there. Yet you are held responsible for this damage and you have to pay for the damage. At such a moment, you actually have no leg to stand on if you can't prove that you didn't cause this damage.

It is therefore important to always check the car for scratches, dents, etc. before you leave. If you discover damage, take a photo of it with your mobile phone. This way you can always show later whether certain things were already there or not.

3. Choose the right car

Before you choose a rental car, it is of course important to determine what you are going to do with it, how much luggage you have and how many people you need to fit in it. If there are four or five of you and a whole load of luggage, go for a slightly more spacious, luxurious version. It may seem tempting to go for the cheapest and therefore smallest option, but no one likes to be on top of each other and have to struggle to cram all their stuff in.

Please note when choosing a rental car also on other important things like the type of fuel, the type of driving license you need and the type of driving (manual or automatic). Take all these things into account when choosing the right car to avoid unnecessary costs and problems.

4. Book on time

It may seem obvious, but our next tip for renting a car is to book well in advance! Many people leave this task until the last minute, which brings with it a number of unforeseen risks. For example, it may happen that your car of choice is no longer available or that the prices are suddenly a lot higher. To avoid these kinds of situations, we advise you to book a rental car well in advance.

5. Compare prices

Before you immediately agree to the first rental car, it is smart to compare different providers and their prices. You do not have to be an internet expert for this. List the different car rental companies and their prices and choose the provider with the best price-quality ratio. This way you can save tens of euros within half an hour.

6. Read online reviews

To make sure you are dealing with a reliable car rental company, it is best to look online to see what other customers have to say about this company. Because a website of the provider often makes you look through rose-colored glasses. The car rental reviews give you much more valuable information.

7. Bring road maps

We would almost forget about it in this modern age, but road maps can sometimes be very useful. Especially when your navigation system (and your smartphone) is empty or fails, you are glad to have a road map with you as a backup.

8. Consider an ANWB membership

It is also smart to have a ANWB membership to conclude. If something goes wrong on the road, you will be helped quickly if you have a membership of the ANWB. No extra costs are charged for this. If you call in the help of the rental company, it is always the question whether extra costs will be charged.

These were our car rental tips

We hope to have helped you literally and figuratively with our car rental tips. Do you have any other good tips about renting a car? Or do you have any questions? Then leave a comment below and help others choose the best rental car.

Once you have rented a car to explore the beautiful Heuvelland, you may also want to know where you can park for free in the beating heart of South Limburg, Valkenburg. You can read more about this in our blog free parking in Valkenburg.