For more than 30 years of experience in the field of tourism and hospitality, I indirectly had to deal with renting cars and buses for others. But car rental for yourself until 2024 still remained a certain mystery. So, I will talk about the whole process in more detail in this article.

I did not write about our tour to Italy, because this country accepted us only on the third attempt. For the first time, we booked low-cost tickets from Kyiv and hotels in Bologna and Florence for my birthday in mid-February 2022. Then, after the worldwide psychosis, Italy became the only EU country that did not open entry for citizens of Ukraine.

For the second time already for my wife’s birthday at the beginning of December 2023, we completely “stuck” our tour with a flight from Berlin to Pisa. Due to the fact that we chose the hotel not in Pisa itself, but 23 km from it on the coast of the Ligurian Sea, we decided not to use public transport, but to rent a car.

I talked to my friends in different countries who already had the experience of renting a car in Italy. Here the voices were divided. Those who never rented a car said that they should not bother, but simply use public transport. Those who had such experience were for rent. That is why the process of choosing a rental company took some time and required a thorough check of this company according to the rating on Google, the study of reviews, conditions, prices and offers. Finally, we chose the company with the highest Google rating and, as it turned out, we did not regret it during and after the rental.

I needed a small car with an automatic transmission. So I chose the Toyota Aygo X. Also, as for the first time rental, I chose the extended insurance option, which included theft and body damage insurance. In addition, I selected a few extra options. Such as insurance for damage to glass and wheels, etc. The total rental cost for 4 days was 140 euros.

But this time too, our trip was interrupted due to force majeure. When we drove our car from Halle (Saale) to Berlin Airport 4.5 hours before departure, all roads to Berlin were closed due to snow removal, which unexpectedly fell in a very small amount. So, we were late for the plane, and for the second time we didn’t get to Italy.

We booked tickets with a non-refundable rate for a flight of a low-cost company, so they were simply lost. The same day I contacted the hotel and car rental. Fortunately, the hotel retained the right to -60% of the amount for us, on the condition that we come to them within a year. Everything was more complicated with car rental. We were told that the entire amount can be kept only in the event that we inform today when we will arrive in Pisa. So, we had to immediately look for plane tickets. And we found them at the beginning of March.

Our trials did not end there. Three weeks before the low-cost departure, the company informed us that our flight from Berlin to Pisa would depart 3.5 hours later. Thus, the airline deprived us not only of half a day of stay in Italy, but also of dinner. God is their judge!

Finally, we reached Pisa airport! It was already dark because the plane arrived at 20:30. The car rental point was located in a separate building, 500 m from the airport building. The employee of the car rental company was very kind, quickly processed all the papers and took a deposit of 300 euros from us. He then led us to a white Toyota Aygo X and handed over the keys. I made a video of the exterior of the car to prove, in case there are any misunderstandings, that the car had exactly this and not another appearance.

At first, it was quite difficult for me to get used to an unfamiliar track and a new car at night. Prostitutes strolled along the evening road on the side of the road. The wife, who had enough time to look around, counted three putans. A beaver came across us on the way. No animal or prostitute was harmed!

The robotic Toyota Aygo is very different from the automatic Toyota Auris Hybrid. Nevertheless, we reached the town and the hotel on the coast without incident. You could park only in the zone that stretched along two blocks of our street and several adjacent ones. In the end, it turned out to be a simple procedure.

The next day we drove to Livorno, where we left Aygo X in a public car park near the port. I would like to note that Italians drive cars much more expressively than Germans. Also, their manner of parking almost close to the vessels is also very different from the German one. In the process of driving, the Toyota Aygo X demonstrated the wonders of turning the engine on and off independently, which was facilitated by the robotic engine. The machine also made sounds similar to a motorcycle. Even in the timeline of my Google account, it was indicated that I was not driving, but riding a motorcycle…

The next morning, the wife noticed a large scratch on the left side of the Toyota’s bumper. “Apparently someone scratched our bumper in the parking lot in Livorno yesterday,” she said. I emailed the car rental company with pictures of this minor damage. This incident did not worry us too much because we had additional hull damage insurance.

The following days of our stay in Tuscany passed without incident. On the morning of the fourth day, we arrived at the rental office to drop off the Toyota. The lady who was at the reception at that moment accepted the documents, and then went out with me to the yard to check the condition of the car.

– It’s okay, – she said.

– What about the scratch on the back? – asked his wife.
– So she already was. This is certified in the documents, – answered the lady sweetly.

Such a one! We didn’t even notice the scratch itself during Toyota’s evening viewing, nor a note about it in the documentation. Within a week, we received a 300 euro deposit on the card. In any case, it is not for nothing that the car rental company has the highest rating and the best reviews on Google.

So, now we have a good experience of renting a car in Italy. Here are some tips:

1. Choose a car rental company carefully. Follow the rating and read reviews on Google. It happens that companies in Italy withdraw additional money from the card. Or they don’t record the damage, and then they can blame the tenant.
2. Carefully study the documents and rules, or ask employees about the size of the deposit and the terms of its return.
3. Take videos and photos of the condition of the car at the time of its rental. So it will be easier to prove that the damage was before you.
4. Be careful on Italian roads! There are many more “Schumachers” here than, say, in Germany.
5. Enjoy life and visit new countries and places! Renting a car will help you in this!

(c) Consulting by Oleksandr Fainin