Drivalia UK - MANCHESTER AIRPORT Reviews 

Matthew was great, he helped us with getting a car we needed. He was patient, friendly and I can recommend him to anyone, great experience.

. We flew to Manchester airport on Friday (1st August 2025) evening to attend brother's funeral and wake on Saturday.
. My family and I picked up the car at 9:30 on Saturday morning, having upgraded to a mini-SUV (for an extra £31 on top of our £71 bill). Half an hour into the drive the engine began overheating. We slowed down.
. Twice we lost traction at roundabouts, which could have resulted in a terrible accident. I was travelling with my wife and two daughters.
. We reached our destination for a pick-up to the funeral. I called Drivalia and told them we would be back at the car at 14:30 after the funeral. Initially, they said I should call their recovery and repair (R&R) company. I protested that I had a funeral to attend and they agreed to call their R&R company.
. We waited at the car from 14:30 until 16:00 when the R&R mechanic finally arrived. We missed my brother's wake completely.
. Straight away we saw that there was no coolant. The vessel was empty and dry.
. We spent the next hour bringing the car to driving temperature having filled the car with coolant.
. Unfortunately, the temperature gauge was broken and the coolant boiled. The car could not be driven.
. My wife and I took a taxi to the hotel (£30), having missed lunch at my brother's wake.
. We left the car keys with my brother's widow and took a taxi to the airport on Sunday (£140). The car was collected and towed on Sunday.
. Eventually in November they repaid the upgrade sum of £31.

There was a slight hiccup with my initial booking from overseas, but Ryan managed to sort it out extremely quickly and efficiently for me.
Dealt with Drivalia numerous times over the years and been treated for exceptionally well. Ryan today went above and beyond that.

Book to Car Hire through booking.com, which was Drivalia. I wasn’t aware of the large deposit and extra insurance which wasn’t mentioned on booking.com so when I arrived, I was offered further insurance, despite taking out the premium insurance through booking.com. Nervously, I decided against the large extra cost however, this did not give me the peace of mind. I thought I’d originally paid for. The guy who checked me in, I was very patient whilst I run everything by him. When I return the car nervously for inspection, after the horror stories I have read on the charges they have made, which are deducted from your large deposit, I was pleasantly surprised by the assistance from Matthew Southern, who reassured me that everything was fine And that I should receive my large deposit back from 72 hours after dropping the car and between 14 and 28 days. Not long after I also received the returns notice which was reassuring. There was no extra charges so all in all not a bad experience and the staff were very helpful and it has to be noted that they’re only doing their job. Yes, I would hire a car with them again.

Smooth and easy process, AK was so helpful and friendly and helped us manage our booking to make it the most appropriate for us. Everything was explained clearly and we were on our way in around 20 minutes- highly recommend!

AK, very professional, very helpful explained everything very clearly and made the process very smooth. Excellent.👍

Rahat was very kind while I was in the renting process

Rahat at reception was amazing, the transfer from the Airport took an hour and a half, but they helped.

Rahat was very helpful and such a lovely guy. I will definetly be recommending them.

Ryan at the Manchester branch was fantastic! Had us checked in and in the car in no time at all ! Great customer service ! Thankyou

Really happy with the service we received. Ryan went out his way to make everything as easy as possible. Big thanks and see you again.

Excellent service from Ryan Jones at the Manchester Branch.

I recently hired a car from Drivalia at the Manchester Airport (Ringway Trading Estate) branch and had a really poor experience with their fuel policy. Although my contract was full-to-full, the car was only about ¾ full when I collected it. I even took a time-stamped photo because it didn’t look right.

When I filled the tank before returning the car, it confirmed that it had not been full at pick-up. I raised this with the manager, who told me I “should have just returned it ¾ full” even though the contract clearly said full-to-full. He also admitted that this approach benefits the business because most people will just refill the tank completely.

In my opinion, this is a misleading and unfair practice that ends up costing honest customers money. If you’re renting here, make sure you check and photograph the fuel level before you drive away.

I’ve asked for an apology and reimbursement for the missing ¼ tank of fuel, but based on the response I received, I wouldn’t recommend this branch.

Immad was brilliant best person I've ever come across renting a car was so accommodating and the way that guy explains everything so thoroughly he is an asset to your company. Will definitely rent again from Drivalia Manchester

Great service by Immad excellent will definitely hire again

Great service from Ryan! He saved our family trip. We appreciate his patience and willingness to help.

During my rental, I received a parking fine. When I returned the car, I informed the employee who confidently told me that Drivalia immediately pays parking fines upon receiving them, using the deductible. This was clearly misleading.

In reality, the fine wasn’t paid at all. Instead, it arrived at my home in Belgium long after the rental, and because of the delay, I was obliged to pay twice the original amount. As if that wasn’t already unacceptable, I then received a letter from Drivalia’s bailiffs demanding an additional £60 “administrative fee” for handling the very fine they failed to process in the first place.

The communication was atrocious, the service was nonexistent, and the entire situation was careless and irresponsible from start to finish. I left feeling taken advantage of and completely ignored as a customer.

I cannot stress this enough: avoid this company. My experience was a disaster, and I wouldn’t trust them with a rental ever again.