Europcar Reviews 

Rented a car at Dublin Airport through a 3rd party provider. It had insurance (minus excess) plus a cross-border fee. The operator at the airport told me it didn't, and that 3rd party operators often misinform people. She didn't look at my form. Once at the hotel, I realized she had charged me for full insurance at an extra cost of $2000NZ including the border fee again. It was a blatant misrepresentation to up the insurance cover. 3 calls to customer service, nobody wanted to know. One told me I had signed a form, so there was nothing I could do. Don't use this company, they prey on tourists and pressure situations

Extremely Disappointing – Left Stranded past Midnight with No Support

We’ve travelled extensively and rented vehicles across the world — but our experience with Europcar Auckland Airport was one of the most disappointing and distressing we've encountered.

Due to a flight delay (NZ126 from Melbourne), we arrived at Auckland International a bit late — only to find the counter completely closed.
No signage. No instructions. No way to access the pre-paid vehicle.

Worse still, I called the staff's number (provided by the other rent a car companies around that were open) multiple times — and after several unanswered attempts, the line returned an engaged tone as if deliberately taken off the hook. It was clear nobody was coming to help.

Meanwhile, other rental companies like Hertz, Ezi, Thrifty, and Dollar were still open and serving customers during the same timeframe. Only Europcar was shut, with zero support available — despite knowing travellers arrive on delayed flights.

We were travelling with young children and an elderly family member with a heart condition, and this failure left us stranded well after midnight, exhausted and forced to rent another vehicle at significantly higher cost just to get to our accommodation.

Even after providing full documentation and contacting Europcar via Trip.com, no apology or refund was offered — just a cold “no show” response, ignoring the context entirely.

This wasn’t a no-show. This was a clear failure in basic service.

❌ If you value reliability, customer support, or even basic professionalism — do not book with Europcar Auckland.
I certainly won’t again.

Paid for a car in NZ with no extra insurance. Told the man at the desk at Gatwick we didn't want it as well. Got back to NZ to find we had been charged an extra $1500 plus dollars. Do not use this company.

Do not trust this company. They are trying to say I caused a scratch on a rental car, which I didnt. When I dropped off they asked if there was damage, I said no, they didnt bother to do an in person check, but apparently in T's and C's they then have 4 hours to do a check. I then receive en amail claiming there is a new scratch on the door. The bill to repair as an astronomical $1400, assessed by someone out of town with only photos. They want to remove the door to repaint and the adjacent panels too, for a tiny scratch that looks like it could be buffed out, approx 50mm long. Do not trust them, they will do this to you. Be sure to take photos. Not only that, the customer service was horrendously slow at the counter and they misquoted me for the cost to upgrade insurance by a lot. Hence why I didnt reduce the excess to zero.

Deceptive Practices and Hidden Fees

I am extremely disappointed with my recent experience with this car hire company. I was charged a cleaning fee for a vehicle that was, by their own admission, not excessively dirty.

After a three-week rental, the car had some loose sand inthe footwells —the kind that would be expected from normal use at the beach and needing nothing more than a vacuum (or shaking out foot mats had they been provided).

None of the documentation provided at the time of rental stated the vehicle needed to be returned in a pristine condition. Thier hidden online terms and conditions state that a cleaning fee would only be applied for an "excessively dirty condition" and that "fair wear and tear" is acceptable.

They applied a €135 charge without hesitation, even despite later saying the car was not excessively dirty in subsequent correspondence.

This feels very much like a standard, unadvertised practice to add on fees after the fact, with no prior notice or advice given at the time of rental.

To make matters worse, they also tried to accuse me of damaging the car until I showed them photos I took at the time of collection. This is despite the damage being described in the initial rental agreement which was also provided.

I would strongly advise prospective customers to be wary of these hidden costs and consider a different rental company. I'm certainly never using them again.

We recently had a very disappointing experience with this car rental company. Upon returning the vehicle, no staff were present during posted business hours to assist us. Additionally, we received conflicting information from different employees regarding various aspects of the rental.

Customer service was unhelpful, making the entire process unnecessarily stressful. Based on this experience, we cannot recommend this company to anyone looking for a smooth and worry-free travel experience.

Although this was not our first time renting from them, it will certainly be our last. Unfortunately, we’ve consistently had negative experiences with this company, and this latest incident confirmed our decision to look elsewhere in the future.

Six months ago we hired a car from Europcar at Greymouth New Zealand and we immediately discovered it had a slow leaking tyre due to a nail that was embedded but we had already travelled down to Franz Josef which is quite remote. We persevered with maintaining suitable tyre pressure but eventually tried to get advice from Europcar on how to resolve this issue before we embarked on longer journeys. We had no choice but to call Roadside Assistance as per Europcar policy who attended and could not assist. After consulting with the Europcar Branch at Dunedin Airport we were advised to take the car to a tyre repairer. We did this and the repair was paid for at our cost. The tyre repairer advised us that the tyre had been damaged for quite some time - longer than our period of hire. When we returned the vehicle to Europcar at Christchurch, we provided them with a copy of the invoice / receipt and the subject nail that had been removed. At the conclusion of our holiday in late February 2025 we believed the matter was resolved. To our absolute surprise, just now in mid August 2025, Europcar advised us that they intended to charge us $180 for the Roadside Assistance call out fee which we have since contested. At this time we are currently overseas and cannot avail ourselves of our full travel records to fully assist with our dispute. Nonetheless, even though Europcar provided us with a vehicle that was not roadworthy or safe; today they have charged our credit card with the call-out fee. How very disappointing; noting at the time the rental charge was quite high and Europcar has chosen NOT to exercise any discretion. Shame on you Europcar. I encourage anyone who is considering a hire vehicle; they should carefully consider their options and exercise great care with any proposed engagement with Europcar.
UPDATE 20/8/25
Europcar has just advised by email that after further investigation they have decided to refund the additional charge they made!! This is a great outcome for us; however, they should never have pursued this 6 months after the event without undertaking their own due diligence which required us to take responsive actions. Nonetheless, we are very happy with this being closed out

Waited over an hour in Birmingham, as company gave us incorrect vehicle class, and waited while they cleaned correct vehicle type. Received a infringement for accidentally entering a bus lane, as tourists this can happen. Happy to pay the fine which was only 35 pounds but the fee charged by Europe car for processing the fine was another 45 pounds.

Terrible service I would never use this company again. I was drilled on pick up that the vehicle included snow chains and that I would be charged $100 if I broke the seal on the snow chains packaging. Drove 20 mins to my sisters, realised there were no snow chains in the vehicle. I called Eurocar to tell them as I didn't want them thinking I'd stolen them when I went to drop the vehicle back. They told me I had to go back to the office to pick up the snow chains so I get back in the car drive back to the office, a truck drives past and flicks up a stone on the windscreen leaving me with a stone chip. Then another Eurocar person calls me and tells me "oh actually we don't have any snow chains left in stock". So I get back to the office show them the stone chip. I told them I don't accept liability for the stone chip as I was misled twice by Eurocar and had I not been this never would have happened. They accepted no accountability for their stuff up and charged me the excess of $690 for the stone chip. I had taken out full insurance for an additional $650 which only allows for stone chips of 2mm. Anything larger and you're charged the full excess. Such a scam!

Just terrible.
Got off the plane , found the car we ordered was substituted for a small suv . had to go back and get a bigger car , had to wait for it to be washed .was dark and wet when we collected , when returned there was a small black mark on the rim , was charged $350 for the damage .At our next car collection in a different city we were 1 hour late due to a late flight . was considered a no show , was still charged , and had to pay for another car .Never ever again . we are now out $500.00

We rented a vehicle from them and the first interaction by the customer service team in Auckland was below average, firstly the guy couldn’t find our booking, he picked us from the airport late, after we checked in we gave him our return time in which he told us we’d have to drop the vehicle off at the international airport and because we needed to be at the domestic airport we’d have to walk there cause they don’t have any after hour service at their domestic car place. Honestly overall the actual interaction with them and email correspondence were awful, rude and no empathy for their customers. Absolutely diabolical service. They don’t offer zero excess damage yet call their damage cover “premium”, they will find anything to ping you for more money. We will never ever use them again and will tell our people to dodge them like the plague. We’ve used much better car rental services in Auckland & it’s a shame we decided to try a new place, rookie mistake!

Service at the rental desk was frustratingly slow, even though we had checked in online - the staff member was new and inexperienced and the other was disinclined to help her. Directions to the carpark were vague - no map, just a hand wave towards the door and turn right. It was pouring with rain and when we found the vehicle, it was not what we had asked for. We were not told about the change. We booked a GWM Tank and ended up with a RAV4 - a lightweight vehicle which we were not at all comfortable about driving. We called the Airport Desk several times - no reply at first and then the general customer Service line which told us to go back to the desk. At this point, in torrential rain and time restraints we took the vehicle.
We submitted a complaint on the Company website, received a reply 10 days later and a $4.64 refund, being the difference between the cost of the vehicles. No acknowledgement of the real issue at all. We went to this company because we could (supposedly) book a particular type of vehicle. Extremely disappointed with this experience.

Rented Europcar SUV one night Christchurch airport, drove to CBD. Parked in Hotel basement. Returned rental to allocated rental car park. Was emailed 2x weeks into our International Tour to be notified, the rental had a cracked windscreen. It costs $1175.00 for replacement windscreen. We checked inside & outside of the vehicle then returned keys to customer service desk. Was good customer service at Europa front desk. Waited for further customer service, anything to be processed then was advised was in good hands. We left Europa service desk thinking we had done what was required. We do not recommend using this company. Stay away from this company. They are not sympathetic, or understanding.

Avoid at all costs.
Service at AKL airport and CBD was exceptionally poor and slow.

Would have left it there had they not tried to charge us for toll road fee when we paid (plus an extra toll charge) using the information from NZTA and paid NZTA directly.

One star is generous.

We made a booking through Economy Bookings, which provided a voucher for Europcar. We rented our car at Christchurch Airport. We paid for an SUV vehicle and were given a Toyota Corolla. The person who attended to us was strongly arguing that they are the same type of car, but they are not. The Toyota Corolla is cheaper on webpages for rental (in Europcar and Economy bookings). We requested an SUV, and Charlie lied to us again, stating that they had no available SUV. I took a picture with my phone at the Christchurch Europcar parking at the time of rental, with an SUV parked there. Charlie argued that Europcar had constant customer complaints with bookings made through Economy Bookings. I replied that this is a problem that Europcar and Economy Bookings need to solve, but I don't feel responsible as a customer. I think this is a case of misrepresentation and downgrading. Bad experience.

Case Number: 25HV08239 Europcar Corporate
Please be very careful when you decide to hire a rental car from this company. On the 8/4/2025 – 11/4/2025 I rented a Toyota Corolla, Reg QYS130. At the time of renting Europcar was marketing a Mystery car promotional campaign at a set price. Please don’t be fooled like me, thinking that hopefully you get an upgrade to the next level, NO I was given a car that was probably the worst vehicle in the entire NZ fleet. There were deep scratches on the bonnet, scratches on the driver’s door, and superficial scratches around the outside of the vehicle. The passenger’s side mat was caked of dry mud. In hindsight I wish I had just turned around and walked backed to the office and demanded a full refund. How ever because of time constraints and business matters, I proceeded on. On return a day early, I was suddenly billed for all the damages on this vehicle. Shame on Corporate, (Brienna) after severe communication and explanations of the damage and after fabricated hollow lies of laying the blame on me. It made me feel sick. There was no inward look on your staff, a dirty vehicle with mud on the passenger floor should have been a clear indication, along with all the damages on the vehicle. That the staff were not doing their job. There was no consideration of compromise from (Brienna).
At the end of the day, I was made to pay $965.06 dollars for fabricated damages in which I did not do. If I failed to pay within 7 days, then Bay Corp will be contacted. SHAME ON YOU EUROCAR. STAY CLEAR OF THIS COMP

Wollten hier ja über die Ereignisse auf dem Laufenden halten. Europcar NZ weigert sich weiterhin, uns die über 2.000 EUR zu Unrecht abgebuchte Miete zu erstatten. Diesmal wird mit neuen Hinhaltetaktiken agiert. Das grenzt schon an kriminelles Handeln. Wir können daher nur weiter warnen, bei Europcar ein Auto zu mieten und berichten an dieser Stelle weiter.

What a rip off company, we got a parking ticket, that we paid to the local authority on the day we received it. We then get an email from europe car informing us of a $110 charge to our credit card for transferring the ticket name from europcar to our name. (Even though we had already payed it) They then hid behind the fine print in the contract. Just a rip off, don't use them

Completely disonest way of managing a waiwer after a hit an ran event during my rental. I did everything correct, went to the police making the report and gave the procees number to Europcar, etc. Europcar retained when I pick the car 4500 NZD (Damage Excess) and they have arranged unnecessary repairs of the car till get this value. I've claimed against with facts based on the photos sent before and during the works but without any consideration from Eurpocar claims management. I do for living mechanical engineer and I know what I'm talking about. I've spent lots of my precious time exchanging emails with claims department but without any success, with the final result of charging on my credit card the amout of repairs without any consideration about my arguments. They think that is normal to accept that a small scratch on the front bumper right side can originate a complete disassemble and radar calibration... for a not informed person this can be normal but not for an engineer... on ther way around, a bigger scratch on the right door was repaired without disassemble the door???... you know why? because the damage waiver was not enough to cover it!!! Of course, I've putted a cross over the name Europcar for future rentals that I'll going to do.

A disaster. Having paid my travel agent in advance, Europcar staff at Queenstown NZ airport insisted they hadn’t received the amount had not been paid. After 45 minutes of discussion and haggling they finally released the car to me after I paid a further amount of NZ$ 2036. As it transpired the transaction remained pending for about 10 days and was then not processed, vindication that I had in fact paid previously. So I was out of pocket to this extent for the duration of my stay in Queenstown. Then, subsequently , I received a parking fine. ( my fault and nothing to do with Europcar). Europcar then sent me an administrative fee of NZ$50 to cover their cost of sending the mail. I pleaded that the inconvenience to them of having to send me a mail was negligible compared to the inconvenience to me for waiting at the airport for 45 minutes for the Car as well as the inconvenience of not having the funds readily available for my Queenstown stay. I therefore requested that they waive the administrative fee but they were not interested. So no more Europcar for me thank you.