Car Rental : a Review of Auto Rentals

A review of this leading Tobago car rental agency

Auto Rentals are located just ten metres from the airport's main Arrivals exit. They are a member of the Neal & Massy Group, one of the largest industrial conglomerates in the Caribbean. They don't seem to have a website, but according to the Yes Tourism website, Auto Rentals has 900 vehicles, of which 45 are based in Tobago, and claim that none are more than three years old.

The Auto Rentals compound at the airport was just a simple fenced compound with portable office cabin. There were no servicing facilities and only one member of staff was on duty. The seven or eight cars in the compound looked reasonably new and were clean and well presented.

The hand-over couldn’t have been quicker – I doubt whether I was in the office for more than two minutes. Having signed the form, I was was handed the keys and the Hyundai Accent GLS that I had ordered pointed out. No damage inspection was made, nor any offer to explain the controls (not that any was needed).

After a week driving a Nissan Almera, I must confess that the Accent came as a bit of a let-down. It was entirely my own fault, but for some reason I hadn't given enough thought to the car hire. I should have organised it in the same way that we do the accommodation reviews – starting with the most basic and working up the chain to the luxury end.

The Accent was manual transmission, with no central locking and a dodgy immobiliser. A couple of times a day I would have to remove and re-insert the ignition key several times before the immobiliser would disarm. The office had warned me about the problem. It was therefore only a minor convenience, but the fact that the problem was known but had not been fixed, did take the edge off my opinion of Auto Rental's professionalism.

Overall, I guess the best description of the car would be 'adequate'. It felt under-powered after the Almera and the air-conditioner only just coped, but within its class, it was fine.

On the last day, I telephoned Auto Rentals to arrange for collection of the vehicle, rather than drive it back to their office. The response was less than helpful; Although not yet 10am, they claimed it was too late to arrange collection for that evening. Mind you, when I got there, the hand-over couldn't have been quicker. The clerk was having his dinner; a plate of curry on the desk in front of him. He simply took the keys and bid me a cheery farewell. 30 seconds tops!

At US$50 (£31) per day, the Auto Rental’s Hyundai Accent seems a very poor choice in comparison to Thrifty’s Almera at US$55. However, these headline rates hide the insurance costs.

Basic liability with Auto Rentals is US$1,140 (£710). However, for an almost token US$4 per day, Auto Rentals optional CDW reduces liability to just US$160 (£100). This is a bargain and it is hardly surprising that they do not offer a full CDW protection option. With the CDW, the full hire cost of the Accent was therefore US$54 (£34) per day.

So, would I repeat the hire? Well, everything about Auto Rentals was 'adequate'. The vehicle did its job, the check-in and check-out were amazing - it's just a shame they let the side down with poor customer service regarding the collection.

Further Information: no website

NEXT: Sheppy Auto Rentals...

    

The buttons above present articles sequentially, in the order shown in the menu bar at the top
of the page. You are currently on the Car Hire/Reviews page in the Tobago/Getting Around menu.