Europcar South Africa Arvostelua 

La location (voiture assez âgée tout de même, une petite kia) s’est bien passée jusqu’au retour… où trois jours apres j’ai reçu une facture pour 3 litres d’essence !!! Oui il manquait 3 litres dans le plein. (Toutes les barres étaient présentes au voyant) !!! Il me faillait prouver avoir fait le plein juste avant le retour avec u. Ticket de caisse précisant l’horaire du plein !!! Ubuesque.

Please don not rent car from Europ cars .The biggest scammers these people .I rented a car for a month and I even took tire and windshield waver for a month and they charges me extra for that .now when I returned the car they are saying my deposit is on hold because of that and there is no update from them at all no emails nothing .I need call every day and ask these people .please avoid taking cars from Europ cars .I know this feedback doesn't matter to these people and they are least bothered ..will never every suggest Europe cars to anyone .

Overall, I was very dissatisfied with my rental experience in Johannesburg.
Picking up the vehicle was a hassle; the trunk wouldn't close, and we wasted over an hour at the depot while they tried to "jury-rig" the hatch—there was no equivalent vehicle available for an exchange that wouldn't have cost us so much time.
During our trip, we notified them that the vehicle was making strange noises, but I didn't receive a reply to my email until I was already back in France—it took them three weeks to respond.
Regarding the return of the vehicle: be sure to photograph the entire car when you pick it up to avoid nasty surprises.
When you take possession of the car, Europcar sends a PDF showing minor existing damage; however, it’s impossible to verify everything at pickup—the document is hard to read, and you're in a parking garage. The result? Upon return, they flagged a small scratch on the front rocker panel—damage that might have already been there but wasn't shown in the photos.
Europcar logged a damage claim and is withholding my security deposit. The vehicle was driven under normal conditions (including a drive through Kruger Park) with no driving incidents.
Finally, when booking, we paid for a cross-border option to travel to Mozambique and Eswatini. To my great surprise, after returning home, I received an invoice for €260 in border fees, which was automatically charged to my card without any explanation.
A complaint is currently being processed, but—naturally—there is still no news.
It’s outrageous. I’ve rented many vehicles during various trips—including in Botswana during this same vacation—and I’ve never seen anything like this.
Europcar is a disgrace; never again!

I recently rented a vehicle from Europcar Cape Town International and unfortunately had a very disappointing experience.

Although my security deposit was eventually refunded, I noticed when reviewing the final financial statement that I had been charged a fuel fee despite refuelling the vehicle at a petrol station immediately outside Cape Town International Airport before returning it. This was particularly frustrating.

The bigger issue, however, was the handling of my lost property and the lack of communication from the branch.

I realised shortly after passing immigration that I had accidentally left my sunglasses in the vehicle. I contacted the branch as soon as I realised, but found it extremely difficult to get through to them by telephone. My emails also went unanswered.

The branch eventually called me approximately 24 hours later to say they had checked the vehicle and could not find the sunglasses. I appreciate that they did check, but given that I contacted them as soon as I realised, I expected considerably more urgency in trying to locate the item.

I am also disappointed that I still received no proper response to my emails.

I understand that Europcar cannot necessarily be responsible for personal belongings accidentally left in a vehicle. However, I believe rental companies should have a much stronger lost-and-found procedure to protect customers' belongings once an item has been reported missing.

Overall, the poor communication, unanswered emails, difficulty reaching the branch and lack of urgency regarding my lost property have left a very poor impression.

Unfortunately, I would think twice before using Europcar Cape Town International again.

I’m honestly happy with their services. I saw one comment that said they didn’t get their money for a full tank. Of course you won’t get it because you got it with a full tank meaning you need to return with a full tank. In any case I called before fetching and making payments to ask for any hidden fees. They were thorough with me and in fact the reservation I made online compared to payment was far less. I’m really happy with how they explained what to expect, how to avoid unnecessary charges etc…I hired the car from the 7th Aug to the 9th it came with the first free 200km per day. Full tank and clean. I inspected the car myself and uploaded pictures of parts they missed then all went well. My only advice. Make sure you don’t exceed the free km, return the car clean with no dents or scratches, take out a windscreen protection policy it’s very cheap then you should be good.

01/08/26

We initially had a frustrating experience with Europcar following a dispute regarding alleged windscreen damage after returning our rental vehicle. Our main concern was the lack of communication and difficulty getting a response despite repeated attempts to contact them.

After raising the matter and following it up, we are pleased to say that the full deposit was ultimately refunded, and the matter has now been resolved.

We appreciate that Europcar has returned the deposit in full. However, we feel the situation could have been handled much better from the outset, particularly in terms of communication and providing timely clarification when a significant amount of money was involved.

Overall, we are happy that the matter was resolved fairly and that our deposit was returned in full, but we would hope Europcar improves its customer communication going forward. Thank you to Dumisile Msimango for acknowledging our email and for being the only Europcar employee to take the time to email us and confirm that the case had been closed.

04/08/26: I rented a premium vehicle from Tempest for more than two weeks and only later discovered that Tempest operates through Europcar.

When I collected the vehicle, I was simply handed the keys. No joint inspection or walk-around was conducted with me.

Before returning the vehicle, I filled the tank at the BP station at Cape Town International Airport with proof of payment. A Europcar representative received and inspected the vehicle, told me that everything was in order, and then drove it away.

Almost 24 hours later, I received an email alleging that there was a scratch on the vehicle. A day later, I was sent an “inspection report” containing a photograph dated the day after I had returned the vehicle. This does not establish that the alleged damage was present when the vehicle was returned or that it occurred while the vehicle was in my possession.

I then received an invoice for fuel and associated charges, despite having returned the vehicle with a full tank and having proof of the final refueling and of course not being mentioned by the official receiving the car as it was full.

Although I purchased comprehensive insurance, I dispute these charges as a matter of principle. I have formally requested the original return inspection records, the precise time the alleged damage was identified, supporting fuel records, and the prompt release of my deposit. I have also begun seeking legal advice because I do not want this matter to be unnecessarily drawn out.

Having seen other reviews from customers who report waiting several months for their deposits, I am seriously concerned about how this matter is being handled. I will update this review once Tempest and Europcar provide a satisfactory response and return my deposit.

Update 07/08/26: Europcar/Tempest has reversed the unfounded fuel charge by issuing a credit note. While I appreciate that the charge has been withdrawn, it was sent via a no-reply email without any explanation of how the error occurred or any apology for the inconvenience. I am also still awaiting the outcome of the separate damage dispute. I have requested a full internal investigation.

Avoid if you have other options. I returned the car with the tank full. After that, they sent me the deposit except a charge for refuelling tank. Very dissapointed.
Believe me, choose another rent a car company. Europcar is not reliable.

Very disappointing experience.
I rented a car at hoedspruit airport, the vehicle was handed over to me with the fuel tank not actually full, despite being recorded as full. Pre-existing damages were documented very vaguely, and the quality check at collection was rushed and superficial. After returning the car, I was even charged for damages that had already been recorded and were present before my rental. Avoid if possible.

Never use this car hire, they bring you a car with dents.
Take claims from people but never fix

I have not had a worse experience from any other rental company and been a frequent user of rentals for over 20 years. In short they do not check their vehicles before booking out. at 28000km's their vehicle (Toyota Vitz 1.6XR) has a vibration which turns to grinding on uphill driving. On reporting this to ORT Staff (Nana would get back to me shortly about a replacement - 5 hours later nothing) I called again and Mandie preferred to rather have another conversation in some other language instead of assisting me and the manager is not in the branch, hence things going to sh.t there. So we call the head office where I'm referred to the head of Customer service, explain myself for the seventh time to Trycina who for 20 minutes could not get hold any manager except for Billy Mombati who was in a meeting.. probably about a meeting and would be calling me when done. I have yet to hear from 'ol Billy.

Mosimane and Noah at Europcar, Skukuza in the Kruger National Park, South Africa, were extremely helpful and walked the proverbial extra mile for us. I booked the car for a later hour, but when we arrived, we realised that they waited almost two hours to accommodate us, while they could have gone home earlier. And yet they were jolly, kind and efficient in their work. We truly appreciated it. With their affordable fees and helpful staff, we will certainly use Europcar again.

Europcar Insurance lack of compliance concerns.
My vehicle was legally parked outside my home (Sea Point Cape Town) when it was struck by a Europcar insured driver who admitted liability immediately. More than a month later, despite extensive cooperation on my side, Europcar still had not authorised repairs or confirmed payment, leaving me driving a damaged and unsafe vehicle while absorbing the disruption, administrative burden, and loss of use myself.

What followed was extraordinarily shocking in terms, both in service and compliance from Europcar. Despite this being a straightforward third party claim involving an innocent parked vehicle owner, I was repeatedly required to follow up, resubmit information, obtain at least 3 independent quotations for their own assessment process, and spend days attending to administration that should reasonably have sat with the insurer and claims department. They refused to send an assessor.

I was further advised that:
• Europcar would allegedly reimburse me a fee "they feel appropropriate" and possibly note the lowest quote ob*****ed, rather than settle repairs directly with the repairers
• no interim vehicle would be provided despite the admitted liability and loss of use
• I was expected to source quotations myself rather than have the vehicle independently assessed promptly by their own assessor despite quoting the CPA, and despite requesting an assessor in central Cape Town.

As a consumer and innocent third party, I found the handling of this matter inconsistent with the principles of fairness, reasonableness, and timely resolution contemplated under the Consumer Protection Act 68 of 2008. A consumer should not be subjected to unnecessary delay, prejudice, or procedural obstruction in circumstances where liability is clear and the damages are straightforward.

The issue was never merely the accident itself.Accidents happen.The real issue was the prolonged delay, the shifting of administrative responsibility onto the innocent party, and the apparent lack of urgency in restoring me to the position I was in before the incident occurred.

Based on my experience, I would exercise extreme caution before using Europcar or relying on their claims handling processes should something go wrong. To date, one month later, Hanli Strydom and Danie Snyman , the legal team at Europcar, continue to ignore all my emails. I am now forced to pursue the driver, who resides in Germany directly, and he will have to claim. Do not use Europcar, they are not an ethical operation at all.

Was charged 15000 ZAR on pick up, and have still not received any final invoice or refund of deposit. No response from them via whatsapp or their website.

Crooked and Corruption! Repair Scam! If you dare use this company for a hired car make sure you have 100% cover with your credit card or insurance company for ANY damage or theft! I had a minor dent in the back hatch door of a nice cheap Renault Kwid for two weeks in April 2024. I called them immediately and filled their form out before I came and even got a police report even though the dent was on private property. But I am a good honest customer and followed their rules! Their deposit was very high for a two week rental (R8800) but I have never had a problem until now. The car is only worth less than R200K new and they wanted to try to tell me this repair was going to be R19K and I still owed them another R10K! Outrageous and I demanded the quote from the body shop. They did not have that but instead an estimate from a company they pay in Johannesburg that from what I understand does not even look at the car but makes a guess. This estimate had all kinds of things like replacing glass and the badges and reflectors and bumper supports! Bloated corruption! Someone is getting paid under the table! I believed this is crooked so I took 50+ hi res photos of my own and a video and send to a few SA panel beaters and did NOT tell them the story. They ALL came back with quotes from R6000-10000 MAX! I was right! I told Europcar my findings and agreed to top up the deposit to make it R10000 out of pocket in good faith for their admin costs but that was ALL they would get from me. They have now tried to threaten legal actions for R9000. Such a joke! Again make sure you have FULL cover with your credit card or own insurance and excess and DO NOT TRUST Europcar with any way! They had a similar scandal in the UK in 2017 and the same is going on in SA. Time to get Carte Blanche to investigate this corrupt fraud!!

DO NOT RENT WITH THEM!!!! SCAMMER!!!

I returned my car. 20 minutes later I get an email that the taillight is broken. Good that I made photos from everything when returning the car.

We hired a 4x4 car from Europcar at Hoedspruit airport for a 3 week trip around Kruger . When we picked up car they went through existing damage to car, however we noticed some damage to a tyre which wasn't recorded. The man said oh that won't affect your driving, but we had to insist that it was added to the damage list ( whether that was done or not we do not know) . Any way we went off on our trip , but every day we got the message that the car was over due a service , and a couple of times a message flagged up that the car key battery needed changing. Unfortunately we managed to get a puncture ( drove over a screw in the middle of the bush?) but we fitted the spare and the damaged tyre was repaired temporarily by one of the camp guards . Everything else went fine on the trip , apart from on a very hot day , one of the letters on the name of the car started to peel off. We put it in the car so it was not lost. Before we returned the car we gave it a wash and checked there was no damage , which there was not. We arrived back at Hoedspruit and was met by a member of Europcar staff , Leonard, who walked around the car with us and checked everything was ok. He said that was fine and we could leave, we asked for something to sign off the vehicle , but he said he could not do that until the repair team came to replace the punctured car. We had to leave to check in our bag , and we were just getting a coffee when Leonard came back in and said he had just noticed some damage he didn't see before . On the rear bumper filter there was now a series of marks , which looked like they had been scratched by a key or coin. We insisted they were not there when we left the car with him, but he insisted they were but he did not notice when he checked. He said he would have to report it as damage , and the repair centre would invoice us for the cost. We were not happy about this , and after a long discussion he said, well there is a way around this . I am happy not to make a report if you give me something . My husband only had a 20 rand note to which he said that was not enough. We found another 100 rand and he said thats fine do not worry I will not send a report in . We had to leave then as our flight was being called, as yet I have not had an invoice from Europcar so don't know what or if we will be charged for . We are so angry with ourselves as us and friends have had issues before with car hire in South Africa, and normally we go around with the guy and take photos and videos when we handed it in. Think we had just had a lovely holiday and were too relaxed and just forgot. My husband wanted to take his photo , which he refused. I am making a complaint to Europcar , and just advise anyone if you are hiring from them make sure you double check everything and take photos

Trotz sorgfältigster Vollbetankung ca 500 m von
PE Airportstation entfernt wurden insgesamt 145 Rand
Tankkosten abgebucht.
Ist wohl der übliche legale Betrug

They gave me a car with a flat tyre and told me to pump it up myself then kept my deposit despite there being absolutely no damage.

I then had a second rental with them a few days later which was also faulty. The power steering cut out on the motorway and I had to arrange for an replacement.

I tried to contact someone at the branch probably about 20 times but nobody answers the phone.

Avoid and go somewhere else to save yourself the stress.

Hired a car through Europcar in Skukuza, South Africa, 2/3/26 - with a return to Johannesburg the following week.
Marvin was hands down the most helpful person I have come across. Nothing was too much trouble, even brought a replacement car to us when we had a problem with the tyre and we were over an hour away! He didn't mind all the questions and made everything so effortless.
Super cheerful and such a credit to the company.
Shamefully I don't leave enough reviews, but honestly I couldn't let the service we received go unnoticed.
Thank you Marvin we appreciate you!!