Car Rental South Africa / Car Hire South Africa / Rent  Arvostelua 

SANI Car Rental (SANI SIXT) is withholding my R8,084.69 deposit 3 weeks after my rental ended. All promised processing deadlines (3–5 business days) have long passed, and they admitted in writing that the refund was never processed. Now they are completely ignoring all emails and formal notices. Unprofessional and unacceptable business practice. I am proceeding with a formal chargeback via my bank and escalation to regulatory authorities. Avoid this company!

I believe this entire business is a scam. I rented a cal for 2 days where it was parked the entire time, drove it a total of 60km to a retreat. I trusted the person reviewing the car on check out as he took forever and seemed very thorough. When I returned it I was charged for several scrapes and bumps that were impossible for me to have cuased. They won't respond to me and have charged me for damage that was literally impossible to have happened when I had the car. I think they do this to their customers as a total scam. It is absurd and they should be put out of business.

It started all well, we got an upgrade from an urban cruiser to a corolla cross. Booked through booking. Unfortunately our car broke down, immediately we had to pay the waiver and the car was replaced. It turned out it was not our fault and we got our waiver back, it took 10 days... We dropped off the car after 16 days and when we've got home we got the bill. They charged us a swco d time for a second driver because the car was swapped. I got in contact with the, my mail was forwarded but no answer. I mailed another time but still no answer. This was once but never again.

They scam you by charging you additional costs. Read your rental agreement very well. After returning the car never received a notice or bill. My deposit wasn't returned and after checking turns out that they charged me for all kind of extra insurance wich I never asked for.

The worst nightmare of a company. Never emailed me the contract. A trap because then they levy charges that you don’t expect. I was charged £5000 for late return despite booking to coincide with return of my flight. It wasn’t explained when the vehicle was to be returned. Refused to refund me. It’s a robbery and a fraud! Avoid at all cost!!!

We rented a car from SANI SIXT at Cape Town Airport from 10 to 15 August 2026 and purchased both the Zero Holding Deposit product and the MAX/BF zero-excess damage cover.

At collection, despite having purchased this protection, the paperwork initially reflected an excess of ZAR 5,500. This was corrected only after we noticed it and challenged it.

At return, staff initially tried to charge us for damage to the vehicle. We had to point out again that we had purchased the zero-excess cover. The final vehicle condition report records an excess of ZAR 0 and lists the damage cost as ZAR 0. It also shows that one of the two marks—the scratched right front rim—was already recorded at check-out.

The final rental invoice showed the full amount paid and a zero balance. Nevertheless, several days later, an additional unexplained charge/authorisation of ZAR 1,380 appeared on our card, without any invoice, breakdown or prior notice. We have formally disputed it and requested documentary justification and reimbursement.

This experience involved repeated attempts or apparent attempts to charge amounts that were inconsistent with the protection purchased or the final documentation. It left us with no confidence in their billing controls.

My advice is to photograph every document, check the excess before leaving the counter, keep the signed condition report and monitor your card carefully after returning the vehicle. I will update this review when SANI SIXT provides a satisfactory explanation or refund.

I told SANI I was driving to Afriski and Lesotho. Their agent knew the trip well enough to recommend additional insurance because of the roads and conditions — which I paid for.

What they didn't mention was that my mileage allowance wouldn't cover the trip.

Afterwards, SANI's own Customer Experience Manager admitted the mileage allowance “could have been discussed” and that this “may have been an oversight.”

So they acknowledge their staff could have prevented the charge, but still made me carry 100% of the cost and refused a 50% compromise.

If they know enough to sell you extra insurance, they know enough to warn you about extra kilometres.

I was also subsequently charged a refuelling fee despite refuelling at the airport immediately before returning the vehicle.

My advice: check every kilometre yourself. I won't be using SANI again.

ZERO STARS... This is an absolute joke of a company, avoid by all costs. They purposefully leave scratches and marks off of the pre inspection and then try and bill them to you after you return the car, make sure you keep a record of all photos taken! Several incorrect invoices sent by the head office team has left me so stressed and confused it is seriously not even worth it at this point. Horrible service and will NEVER be back.

Double check your final invoice. They unbelievably charged me R255 (R228 in fuel and R27 fee) in refuelling charges for a car I returned fully fuelled up! After weeks of back and forth with Sani Sixt Kruger, they finally said to me the charge was for driving 6km from the petrol station to the airport - but there is no other petrol station closer than the one I used, and it does not cost R228 in fuel to drive 6kms!! This branch is corrupt!! Unbelievable!!

Very disappointing rental experience with Sani Sixt at OR Tambo Airport.

We booked two SUVs from April 9th ​​to 20th, 2026, for a self-drive family trip to Kruger and Pilanesberg National Parks, but to our great surprise, we received lower-category MPVs. No proper explanation was provided at the time of delivery.
The vehicles were clearly not equivalent to the SUVs originally reserved for this type of road trip. Being in a great hurry as we needed to reach Skukuza before Kruger closed, we were forced, reluctantly, to take these replacement cars.
Upon return, a small chip in the windshield was correctly noted on one of the two vehicles. However, forty-eight hours after our departure, SANI SIXT cashed our deposit (8640 ZAR = €451.08) and then never provided the official documents required by the insurance company for reimbursement, despite repeated follow-up emails over several weeks.

There are many positive reviews on Google Maps, but I think we shouldn't rely on them too much, because it's obvious that without any problems to report when returning vehicles, the reviews can only be positive, whereas if you report a problem (even a very minor one), you quickly lose interest, and that's when the real ordeal with this agency begins.

This situation created unnecessary stress during and after our trip to South Africa. The communication and after-sales service were extremely poor (and continue to be so). Future travelers should seriously consider using a more reliable and professional rental company (and there are plenty at Johannesburg airport...).
So, in conclusion, and quite simply, "RUN AWAY!"

Booked SANI Sixt through DiscoverCars
Paid insurance to DiscoverCars.
Arrived at airport and told have to take insurance with them which cost more than the car hire £235/SAR 5,185. Car hire only cost £ 228/SAR 5,02. Inferred that their cover was better and glibly told that I could try and get a refund.
Contacted SANI Sixt like wading in treacle - took over a week to respond. Essentially said tough not interested.

I would strongly caution anyone considering Sani Car Rental.

Our experience started off okay, but looking back, there were concerning signs from the beginning. A number of the staff seemed poorly trained and we repeatedly had to explain their own services, policies and what was included in our booking package. At first, we were polite and patient about it, but the mood changed quickly once we pointed out that they were trying to charge us for things that were already included in the package we had booked. The professionalism dropped from there.

Because we were renting in South Africa and know that things can happen, we chose their highest tier of insurance, the “Super Cover”. Unfortunately, the car was broken into. We followed the process, provided the police statement, and paid the maximum standard liability as required. At the rental office, we were told that everything was fine and sorted.

We were therefore expecting our deposit back. Instead, six months later, the deposit has still not been returned, and Sani continued charging our card for different alleged damages, despite those damages supposedly being covered under the most expensive insurance option we purchased from them.

We have tried to resolve this matter properly, but our emails are now being ignored. Even worse, their responses stopped being signed, so there is no longer even a named person taking accountability for the issue.

Be very careful with their high ratings. In our experience, they push customers to leave reviews on the spot using QR codes, before the full rental process has actually been completed and before any post-rental issues emerge. That creates a very misleading impression.

What started as a normal rental turned into an extremely frustrating and expensive experience. Based on how this was handled, I would not recommend Sani Car Rental. Read the fine print, keep every document, monitor your card carefully, and do not assume that paying for their highest insurance cover will protect you from further charges.

We have just got back to the UK from a glorious family holiday in South Africa, hired a car from Sani Sixt at Tambo airport. The young man at the desk was courteous, helpful and friendly. We took out a full insurance and car was in excellent condition and easy to locate. Dropped it off, lady looked around it, signed the pad and took the keys. We never filled up before the airport which was deducted but absolutely no problem and totally recommend.

Never again.
I have used Sani Sixt twice when renting from Cape Town airport. Twice it has been a problem getting my deposit back. It has now been almost 2 months.
I have photos of the car at collection and drop off.
In future I'll just pay enterprise/hertz - they may be fractionally more expensive, but it avoids all of this nonsense.

We rented from Sani Sixt, Cape Town international airport.
The first car had warning lights on, before we even set off.
Changed to a second car and half an hour later on the road to Simon's Town, a warning light came on.
Minutes later another warning light came on and it was a serious one.
We were not comfortable driving with the car, so they did bring us another car and the driver told me "don't worry about all the warning lights, it will be fine". SERIOUSLY!!!!
So, 3 cars from Sani Sixt and not one was serviced or looked after. People pay a lot of money to hire a car and that is what you get!!!!

Forgotten items in car 'not found'
I hired a car for two days from the Oliver Tambo airport branch. The car hire process was efficient and I felt satisfied to use them again in future.
However, when I returned the car, I forgot my Sony overear headset and my ABSA bank card in the car.
I realised my mistake right after I had been through security for domestic flights and called the office immediately. I got no response and sent an urgent email notifying them of my issue.

I have had many calls and emails since but after three days, I finaly got this response from them:

>>We received a query about lost items that you believe belonged to you during the course of your rental. After inspecting our lost and found area and consulting our Car Park Attendant, who inspected your vehicle, however we unfortunately did not any find of the lost items you were looking for.

We take grate pride in keeping lost items safe that belong to our clients and we do apologize for the inconvenience caused about your items that were not found.<<

To be clear, I am 100% sure that those items were left in the car and that someone is now very pleased with their lovely noice cancelling headphones worth R2000. The debit card was imediately cancelled and has since been replaced.

I would simply not trust this company in future and will take my busiiness elsewhere.

I have been renting with SANI SIXT at Cape Town International Airport for several years, typically for long-term periods of 4–5 months per year, so I consider myself a loyal and high-value customer.

Unfortunately, my most recent experience was very disappointing.

When I tried to extend my rental, I was initially quoted over R15,000 for 13 days, which was far above the current market rate. After questioning this, the price was reduced to around R10,000, but this was still significantly higher than a reasonable rate.

I clearly pointed out to the reservation agent that the exact same vehicle was available for approximately R5,600 when booking directly through the official SANI SIXT website (not via any third-party platform), and asked how such a large pricing difference could be justified. After raising this, I did not receive any further response.

As a result, I had no choice but to make a new booking online through the official website at the correct rate and drive to the airport to return the existing vehicle and collect a new one. This entire process could easily have been avoided.

At collection, I was then given a manual vehicle instead of the automatic I had before. When I asked to switch to an automatic vehicle, I was initially quoted around R10,000 extra, which was then reduced to R6,600. Even at that level, this would have meant paying more than double the original rental price just to get a comparable vehicle.

This pricing approach is simply not reasonable.

As a long-term repeat customer, I would have expected a more transparent and customer-oriented solution. Instead, the entire process felt inconsistent, overpriced, and unnecessarily complicated.

It is disappointing, as I have rented here multiple times in the past, but based on this experience, I will reconsider future bookings.

I gave away a perfect car. They didn't return my deposit. They don't respond to messages. They look like scammers! I will always avoid this company. A scam with a deposit.

This company is a scam
I rented their vehicle, it came back with damage, they forced me to pay full R16,142.66 damage amount, telling me that the insurance I took and extra super cover i paid for won't pay for this damage, its insane
They refused to return my R8700 deposit and try to forcefully take another R7442 from my credit, people be careful these are scammers.
I sent them many emails complaining and they ignored me.

We had a good experience with this company, no problems, and the staff were very friendly. We picked up and returned the car at Cape Town Airport. The deposit was refunded promptly.