Car hire

krappyrubsnif · April 2009

Hi guys and gals,

Anyone know of a reasonable car hire place locally?

Krappy

tosscat · April 2009

This place was pretty good and cheap. [1car1](http://www.1car1.com/)

andy · April 2009

Yep. I'd second 1car1. Down in Kings Cross, pretty cheap and reliable.

injoke · April 2009

i don't know how any of these places make a profit, however badly i mess up a rental car i always get my deposit back.

underscore_cue · April 2009

Budget are pretty good, and they were the cheapest last time I hired a car.

The office is next to marylebone station and the drop off is off Edgeware Road. Apparantly they do deliveries but only when they're not busy.

Last time I hired one over the weekend I booked the cheapest car and they upgraded it to a much bigger one because they had run out of the small ones.

doctorlalloo · April 2009

I've used <a href="http://www.sixti.com/cgi-perl/rental/el?language=en">Sixti in Palmers Green</a>.

In the past I've hired a Smart car and a 6 month old Polo for £18 for the weekend (pick up Saturday morning, drop off on Monday).

You can get the overground to Palmers Green station from Harringay, Hornsey or FP, and then you can get the train back into work on Mnday when you drop the car off.

One word of warning - you are liable for 100% of the damage if the car gets hit, or you damage it.

poxy · April 2009

I've hired cars, minibuses and Luton vans from Best Hire on Holloway Road, conveniently located directly opposite HR tube station. Reasonable prices and never any grumbles about getting my deposit back. Tel. 020 7609 9190

tosscat · April 2009

If you do go down the Sixti route I understand you can get a really cheap damage policy elsewhere - never done it mind.

emskina · April 2009

Hey! I just signed up with streetcar car club, used it for the first time the other day and it really is excellent! I often end up paying lots of extra charges with a hire car but these guys are really straightforward and convenient...

http://www.streetcar.co.uk/

They have lots and lots of cars in roads running off STG, and even have some vans locally!

doctorlalloo · April 2009

As a Streetcar member myself I can say that they do provide a very good service, however here's the good and bad points:

Pros:
- Cheap for short journeys, around £12 for 2 hours (weekly shop, visiting friends etc.)
- Mostly clean smart cars
- Low costs (no taxing or petrol to pay for yourself)

Cons:
- The cars by Wells Terrace are usually a bit scratched or messy inside (the black Golf parked on Moray Road is the best one I've had)
- Bit pointless paying for a car that sat in a parking space while you visit someone for an afternoon.
- Having to return the car to the same bay - pity you can't drive it to Heathrow and leave it in a 'Streetcar Zone' and then someone else could pick it up on their return and use it for a trip home instead of a £40 taxi.

max · April 2009

I second streetcar for same day short journeys, but for a weekend a normal car hire company would be cheaper.

emskina · April 2009

I think it would be a bit of a logistical nightmare to have it so you could leave the cars anywhere, and put a lot on the cost.

I think the attraction is using it to do things like trips to Ikea, or I have got one for the weekend next week visiting family, it will be about £130 including petrol, and just perfect for me, whereas hiring a car normally would usually cost me lots more with fuel surcharges, insurance excess, and all the other charges that seem to get added on, not to mention the £250 deposit!

But I think it depends what you need one for!

doctorlalloo · April 2009

Understandably it would be a logistical nightmare being able to drop cars off where you wanted to - I just had this vision of London being a car free city where you could pick up a vehicle close to where you wanted to and drop it off where you were going - so that the next person could use it - rather than it sit there being unused.

A bit like the cycle system in Paris.

It's a transport utopia that would need 90% of the population to buy into for it to work - and I'm sure there's hundreds of feasibility studies and research reports as to why it won't... oh well.. we can dream.

ShaunG · April 2009

@emskina - make sure you've factored in how far you'll drive, as if you go over the 30 miles per day the additional charge could get expensive.

Having said that, I'm a streetcar convert too (and will be trying the van soon, £8.95 per hour being way cheaper than £30-odd pounds most shops/ timber merchants charge for delivery). Happy to refer anyone wanting to join, which gives both parties free hire time.

andy · April 2009

If a two hour hire is £12.50 (e.g a big supermarket shop), you might as well get a minicab, which would only be marginally more there and back. For a full-on weekend, car hire seems cheaper. More importantly, they don't allow pets (quite reasonably), so they're a non-starter for me as most of my car journeys include a dog.

Chapter none · April 2009

Streetcar is great but don't drive to Edinburgh and back as they really sting you on the mileage (we read the small print half way up the motorway).

H&H hire in Kentish town is a great place for vans.

krappyrubsnif · April 2009

I recently hired Streetcar for a weekend to go to Somerset, mileage 305, total cost £197 (inc VAT). I don't think this is too bad at all really. Plus point - picked up the car at the end of the street and did not have to trail around London tube with suitcases. Ordinary car hire must surely be cheaper though. I am going to need a car to get to Latitude in Suffolk in July, the distance should be similar, that's why I want a hire car for comparison. Will report back. Anyone else going? Krappy

Alex · April 2009

In answer to the original question, nobody should hire a car without using a price comparison service such as [Travelsupermarket](http://www.travelsupermarket.com). For example, a car for Bank Holiday weekend from Friday morning to Tuesday morning in a fortnight's time would be £100.79 from Sixt at Kings Cross all-in, compared to Budget's cheapest one of £157 for this particular example. Different firms are cheapest on different days, so comparing prices is essential. Boring but true.

tosscat · April 2009

They take a cut mind - compare prices then go to the cheapest co direct.

poxy · April 2009

It's worth considering jumping on the tube and hiring a car from Heathrow if you're heading out West. Last time the in-laws were over we went to Bath for the day and we got a car from Enterprise. Being an airport branch meant we could return the car at any time of the day. If you call they will collect you from the airport or - even better - Hatton Cross tube station.

There is a slight premium to pay for airport branches but it's a damned sight cheaper than a second day's hire. The cars are better too. We've had a free upgrade more times than not. We got a convertible one time on a lovely sunny day.

James · April 2009

@krappyrubsnif - I'm going. My first time (taking a break from glastonbury for the first time in years and years). Really looking forward to it.

krappyrubsnif · April 2009

Which reminds me, has anyone heard recently of those geezers who used to run slightly hippy music festivals at the old community centre just off Crouch Hill (past the totem poles)? I went to a few. They generally stuck up a tent in the pit in the park now and again as well and banged on a few bongos etc. Haven't heard of them for ages.

tosscat · April 2009

Chill on the Hill?

krappyrubsnif · April 2009

That's the one

graeme · January 2011

Wonder if anyone's noticed the removal of Streetcar cars from Stroud Green, which is a major disappointment. There were three cars around before new year - Oakfield Road, Osborne Road (I think), and maybe Florence?

Now there are none unless you go up to Weston Park or across SGR to Islington.

Guess no one was using them - assume the spaces will now be converted back to residents parking.

sincers · January 2011

I hired a Streetcar on Christmas day. I had to cycle Highbury in the freezing cold in the morning to find that some low-life had smashed the window in to steal the fuel card. I hope they choked on it. ...so one family breakdown later... we had to get a taxi to Edmonton so that we could use a stand-by van. Nice.

krappyrubsnif · January 2011

There were cars in Osborne, Victoria, Hanley, up Crouch Hill, FP Station and Moray Road last time I looked. There were two parked in Moray yesterday - I used one of them.

I think they may have redistributed them so that instead of having two together in Hanley Road opposite the Dairy, for example, now there is only one - they're more spread out with a new one in Osborne Road now.

Somebody told me all the BMWs had been stolen over Christmas - surely not?

krappyrubsnif · January 2011

But you're right, I just checked and the cars in Osborne, Victoria and some other locations have vanished from the booking screen - sometimes this happens when they are being serviced. I'll find out.

krappyrubsnif · January 2011

Here's the fact of the matter. Streetcar's BMW Series 1 cars in Crouch End have been targetted by thieves. They lost about 20 in north London over Christmas. All the BMW Series 1 cars in the area have been temporarily withdrawn while they fit trackers and security devices to them. They will be back by the beginning of February.

dorothy · January 2011

mmm, that's interesting, the one on Osborne, is in a kind of blind spot, next to a high wall. No one ever parked there normally before. I guess that's why it was chosen as a suitable bay, no one would object because it wasn't outside anyone's house. The one time I parked there, my car was broken into and the steering lock was broken.

drumbeg · January 2011

Annoyingly, they have replaced the VW Golf on Birnam Road with a BMW. I'd prefer to drive the Golf because its:

a) Cheaper.
b) Wont make me look like a cock.

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