Enterprise

Car & Van Hire Costs Explained

Car hire companies in general have a pretty bad reputation when it comes to hidden costs. At Enterprise we want to be as transparent as possible to ensure there are no nasty surprises when it comes to paying for your hire car or van.

Here we break down the main costs involved in hiring a vehicle with us.

What is Included Free of Charge

Early Return

There is no penalty fee if you want to cut your rental short, you will only be charged for the days you had the vehicle. However, your day rate will have to be recalculated and may increase.

Additional Mileage

Our cars come with unlimited mileage so you will not be charged anything extra for how many miles you cover. In countries where you pay for extra mileage, it is shown in the cost breakdown.

Damage Waiver

You don't need to buy insurance on your rental as all our cars come with Damage Waiver included. This does come with an excess however, so you may want to purchase extra protection.

Breakdown Assistance

24-hour breakdown assistance is included in your car-hire fee. This covers you in the unlikely event of any mechanical faults happening during your rental.

What You Pay For

Fuel Charges

We have three options for how you pay for fuel:

Like for like: whatever is in the tank when you pick up your car, is what you will need to return it with. It will never be less than a quarter of a tank, so you don’t have to go fill up immediately.

Pay for what you use: if it is more time-efficient for you, you can return the car to us without filling up and pay for it to be refuelled to the pick-up level. You will pay slightly more per litre as well as an extra fee (up to €15) to cover the downtime caused by us having to get the car refuelled.

Pre-pay: to make things as convenient as possible for customers arriving at our airport branches, you have the option to pre-pay for a tank of fuel (you will be charged at local pump rate*). This means you don’t have to worry about filling up before you drop your hire car back to the airport, you can return it empty. You won't be refunded for any fuel left in the tank, so be sure this is the right option for you. Prepay is sometimes offered at non-airport branches, so ask at the branch if you are interested.

*The average of blended local petrol and diesel prices, updated every week and displayed in branch

Excess Protection

The Damage Waiver, included in your rental, reduces what you are liable to pay if the car is damaged or stolen during your hire period.

Damage Waivers come with an 'excess', which is the amount you will have to pay for damage repairs before the waiver kicks in. 

The excess on vehicle hire ranges between €1,500 - €2,000* (depending on the type of vehicle). You can reduce this to approximately €100 - €250 by purchasing Excess Protection.

You may choose to use your personal insurance or organise cover elsewhere but, if anything happens to the car whilst you are responsible for it, we will have to charge you directly for the costs and you will have to claim them back from your insurer.

*Amount correct on the 31/07/2023

Damage Costs

At Enterprise we have come up with a clear and simple way of measuring damage so you're not charged for every little scratch – our damage evaluator tool.

We don't believe you should have to pay for normal wear and tear so, as long as any damage is smaller than the corresponding circle on the tool, you won't be charged for it.

When you arrive at the branch, one of the team will take you to your vehicle and walk around it with you, so you can check there is no existing damage. If there is, this should be logged and you will be given a copy of the log as part of your contract. Don’t forget to do your own due diligence and check the car, including tyres and windscreen while you are at the branch to make sure you're happy with the condition of it, so there is no dispute later on when you return the car.

What is a Rental Day

A rental day is defined as exactly 24 hours. So, if you pick up your vehicle at 10am and return it at 9:45 the following day, you will be charged for one day. However, if you return the car at midday the next day, you will have gone into another 24-hour-period so you will be charged for two days.

We understand that things don't always go to plan so, if you are running a few minutes late we won't charge you for an extra day, we give you a grace period of up to 29 minutes to cover unforeseen delays.

What is the Total Price

The 'Total Price' that you see when you book online includes all mandatory charges based on the information you have supplied. This is our drive-away price however, if you choose to add optional extras such as extra protection or special equipment, the Total Price will increase to include these charges and provide you with a new accurate drive-away price.

If you want to add another driver to your rental agreement, this will have to be done at the branch when you collect the car, so this will not be included in your online Total Price.

Optional Extras

You can also pay to add certain products to your rental contract.


Additional
Driver

If you want to add another driver to your rental contract, you can do it in branch when you pick up the vehicle.  The price covers the cost of adding that person to the car's insurance.


Child Car
Seat

Most people will bring their own child seat but, if you need to rent one, let the branch know in advance so they can arrange one that is the right size for your child's age.


Sat
Nav

These are available to rent in branch if you want one, but most people will use their own phone and download one of the many wayfinding apps available online.


Cross-border
Fees

Some countries permit cross border travel. To take your hire vehicle out of the country, please check the cross border policy at the time of booking for pricing and restriction. 


One-way
Charges

If you plan to drop the vehicle back to a different branch from the one where you picked it up, it will incur a charge. This is to cover the branch getting the car back to its original location.


Roadside
Assistance

RAP is a 24-hour emergency service which includes  recovery and call out charges due to a driver fault such as tyre and glass repair. It doesn't cover using the wrong fuel or any breach of the rental agreement.