So after all the horror stories I’ve heard about gringos renting cars in South America and abroad, I was totally expecting to run into problems renting a car to drive to the Ecuadorian coast.  Actually the first place (a western car company I tried to rent from), I did have problems with – they tried to triple the price when I got there …so I went down the street to EURO RENTAL.

I love them!

I rented a car (a manual, love that I can rent stick shifts in South America) for 4 days for $200 WITH INSURANCE (if you pay cash. If you use a credit card its $224).  And they rented me a GPS for $5 a day (GPS wasn’t even available with the western company).   I got a Chevy Aveo, which ran surprisingly good and had no issues going to and from Quito to the coast.  EURO RENTAL gave me enough kilometers free to get to Manta and back and even threw in 200 extra free kilometers as a bonus ‘gringa gets lost’ buffer.

So upon returning the car 4 days later, and after hearing all the horror stories about ‘hidden fees’ and ‘gringo costs’ that mysteriously appear and get taken out of the $1300 hold I had to have placed on my debit card, I was bracing myself for problems and getting screwed.

NOT AT ALL.

I returned the car, they checked the outside to make sure I didn’t get into an accident, turned the car on and off, and called my bank, in front of me, to release the entire $1300 hold.  No questions, no issues, no fighting, nothing.  The whole return was 10 minutes.  The owner even took photos of me in the car and let me take a photo of him with the car.  Then they voided, in English, the hold slip, and didn’t give me a copy…they gave me the ENTIRE slip (cause they had no need for it).

The owner doesn’t really speak English, and I don’t speak much Spanish, but I had no issues at all renting.  I do wish the contract was available in English (felt kind of weird signing something I couldn’t really read), but that is really my only complaint.  Other than that, I love this car rental company.

The owner, Marlon Lavanda, and his employees are wicked nice and friendly, were more interested in if I had a good time at the coast, and kept giving me business cards to tell my friends.  And I HAD NO GRINGO ISSUES AT ALL.

I will totally rent form this company again.  And just for the record, NO, there was no sponsorship or discount of any kind when renting this car. I just really recommend this car company if you are going to rent a car in South America.  Stay away from the western companies.  I actually heard from a guy who rented with the original western company I tried, that upon return he was being charged and extra $50 for some hidden return fee they failed to mention.

So yes, I will highly recommend EURO RENTAL  if you are renting a car in Quito.  I was warned though, if you are planning on renting in December or around any holiday it is a good thing to make a reservation as far ahead of time as possible, because cars rent out.

Just be careful driving in Quito.  I personally love it, but I’m a crazy Masshole driver (from Boston, MA, USA – and driving here is like driving in Boston, but without all the stupid rules – see my post on Ecuadorian Street Signage).

So if you are in Quito, and want to rent a car, contact EURO RENTAL (they are located at the airport, across the street from the domestic terminal).

EURO RENTAL

Av Amazonas N49-321 y Juan Holguin       Call :  (593) 2-3300-991   or 093-389-908    http://www.eurorental.com.ec