Europcar México Reviews 

I wish I could give them ZERO STARS. Absolutely appalled about the whole situation. I arrived at the place and had to wait a while without any acknowledgment we were even there. That was the least of my worries as I soon found out. I booked with Expedia and got a full package with car, flights and hotels. When I arrived at Europcar I was told that I either had to put down an almost 12,000 DOLLAR deposit or pay for extra insurance along with a 400 dollar deposit. They wouldn't allow us to deny the extra insurance unless we put the almost 12,000 (US DOLLARS) on our credit card. Keep in mind I have insurance that covers any travel and usage of a car abroad and also had more insurance through Expedia. They said that the Expedia insurance DIDN'T count at all which is unbelievable. They threatened me into buying the insurance. Said that if I got into an accident, the cops would arrest me, since I was a woman and driving with another female passenger. I would have no one to contact, would have to pay them almost 12,000 dollars and then pay off the cops to get me out of jail!! This is totally unacceptable. Using scare tactics and also sexist remarks. I thought this company was supposed to be reliable??!!! They also did it to someone else who was in Europcar and they fought it but the representative didn't care even if you had other insurance which covered any type of damages. The best part is they never even told us what it covered even after asking. They said they'd send an email that was fully in Spanish. Nowhere did they say booking with Expedia would cause you to have a 12,000 USD hold on your card or pay for extra insurance. You think I would've paid for the extra insurance with Expedia or EVEN BOOKED with this Europcar if that was the case?? NOOO. We were forced into getting the insurance or otherwise we would be put in Mexican jail if anything was to happen to the car according to them. No one ever charges for the full amount of the car for a deposit. The car was also not worth almost 12,000 dollars. It was a Chevy Aveo (not sure what year) but the 2020 ones only go for 10,800 USD brand NEW. I was also sent outside to retrieve the car and left outside without anyone telling me what was going on. Ended up getting bitten to death by mosquitos and eventually 25 to 30 mins later someone finally acknowledged we were waiting for a car. People need to know about this company and DO NOT RENT FROM THEM.

Don't rent from them. They overcharged for deposit 900 dollars.. the car was all beat up and dirty. We put 1/3 part of car value we rented on 01/31/20and returned it on 02/05/20 when they process the beginning transaction it took them a couple seconds to finish transaction and to this day 5days later I still haven't received my deposit which had supposedly went back to my card the day I turned it in.Bottom line is Don't Rent From Them.

Do not rent from them. I repeat DO NOT RENT from them. Horrible experience. Staff was very rude and unprofessional but the best part was when I return the car One of their employees told me that if I don’t give him $100 cash he’s going to charge me 2000 pesos for smoking in the car. Funny thing is that I don’t smoke and my wife doesn’t smoke but when we arrived there it was three of their employee sitting 6 feet away from us all of them smoking cigarettes so I end up paying $125 from my debit card just because. Funny thing is that I don’t smoke and my wife doesn’t smoke but when we arrived there it was three of their employee sitting 6 feet away from us all of them smoking cigarettes so I end up paying $125 from my debit card just becauseI highly recommend not to rent a car from them because no matter what and once again my wife it was right when the reviews are bad the company is bad

Shocked by number of negative reviews on Europcar Mexico. Even though I had rented through their daughter company (Keddy by Europcar), I guess, apple had not fallen far from the tree.
Absolutely negative experience!!!
When we arrived to the rental office outside of the terminal, we had to wait for over an hour as there were only two (and very slowly moving) clerks. I reside in warm places and thus level of their efficiency was not a surprise for me, but after long trip we were eager to get the car and go to the hotel as I needed to drive to Playa Del Carmen (some 50 km in the late evening on unknown roads). These details are given to readers to understand that our state of mind was oriented on getting everything done soonest.
Once I, finally, reached the desk of the rental officer, there were - kind of - usual questions asked either I speak Spanish, was it my 1st trip to Mexico, and if I already booked from Keddy before. All related answers were "no", which - I think, could make me an easy victim of what happened after.
The clerk informed me that I have to deposit guarantee sum (normal) of USD 2,500 (a bit too high in my view, but OK). I agreed, of cause, but only to know that
they can only book it from CREDIT card (not debit cards). I had 2 credit cards with me, and Keddy's terminal rejected BOTH, even though those were from different countries.
Strange, I though, but it is different continent, and it might happened. So, I was not very suspicious at 1st.
So, I asked, if I can deposit it in cash (which I still did not have at full amount with me).
They answered that it is not allowed, and the only other way was to purchase FULL insurance, which I can buy in cash. The cost of this option was quoted $1,188!
After counting my cash, I realized that I only have a mix of Euro and USD in equivalent of +/-USD 260. When I told them though, they agreed to have this amount, and get the rest from one of my DEBIT cards. That is where I start having the first doubts on how legit this request was...
As I did not want to lose my Eur 360 already paid through Rentalcars.com, and accounting for the time of the day (night), I swallowed this extra loss and their "discount" from USD 1,188 to USD 915, and paid USD 260 in cash, and USD 655 by debit MC card.
Then, the papers were processed, all in Spanish, and I was told I got a car upgrade too for the next higher type (booked Chevrolet Aveo, got Nissan Kicks). The receipt was given (as I understood later) only for card, but not for the cash paid! Nevertheless, despite of buying full insurance, I also paid USD 200 as deposit, but this amount was successfully returned to me 2 days after the car was checked-in back to Keddy.
As a summary, in addition to my initial cheap price of €360 (USD 400) for whole rental period of 16 days, my final price became USD 1,275, or - USD 80/day, which is not seen any longer as attractive as initial quote.
The problem was not only mine, I believe. What I have observed while waiting in the queue, was that other Europeans had been shuffling the cash before my turn, and the couple, which was behind us is the line, had turned into panic mode when their credit card(s) was "declined". They took a shuttle bus to terminal to get cash from ATM, and I suspect their issue was the same as mine...
At the end, even that we had an upgraded car, it was not done out of the good will of Keddy, I am afraid as there were no Chevys left in the lot. Also, the Nissan was not cleaned before we took it, and I just opted to drive away without spending more time in their premises.
I tend to think that the readers might already guessed by now that my both Credit cards had been in perfect operational mode. I have paid the balance in the hotel 40 minutes after leaving Keddy's premises, and used another one to fill the car next day.
So, when I put 1 and 1 together, I definitely have a feeling that I was a victim of the well-set scam, which I had not been prepared for... Lesson for next trips (if I ever decide to come back to Mexico).

Do yourself a favor....STAY AWAY from Europcar Mexico !! Pay attention to the bad reviews (which are true)...and rent somewhere else.
Don't do what I did...despite the terrible reviews I still reserved and pre-pay for a vehicle at Cancun Airport for my two weeks vacation. On Dec 25th, 2019 when I arrived at the desk with my reservation and they almost laughed on my face.
They had no cars available....some customers were waiting since the day before.
After 1h30min insisting that I need a car, the agent David Carlos told me that maybe he can find a car only if I was willing to pay almost 1500US$ insurance....this company is a really JOKE! Stay way, incompetent and crooked people.

Simply disgusting the way the treat their customers. DON'T RENT WITH EUROPCAR MEXICO.....you definitely end up with my same opinion.
Please do yourself a favor and don't waste your time and money...and start your vacation how you deserve...enjoy beautiful Mexico.

I am sad that I cant Put 0, because 0 it is what it is deserved.
Prepaid my car 3 months in advance. Show up at the counter on Dec 26th, and they basically said: Sorry we have no cars, u show up 2 hours late, so there is no car for you.

We've been bringed to AKUMAL (1h30 away from the airport) and being told that we would have to wait the day after between 10 to 12am to have the car. We stayed home (because without a car we couldnt go anywhere around because of the distance from our Airbnb to the city 2hour walk).
Could not believe that even I prepaid this car, they did not honour their contract. I was not the only one with the same situation.

Had to make 25 phone call (cost me 100$) during two days, no one answered, called Europcar Mexico (no one helped), wrote them on whatsapp (no one answer) and wrote them to their costumer service (that will probably write me to answer my review) - photo attached

We even been to the nearest Europcar to the map, in Gran Bahia Principe Resort thinking that maybe they could give us another car. The guy simple answer: "it is not my business" or "too bad for you, but I dont care it is not my location, it's not my business"

I never had such a bad experience with a car rental, and ruined 3 days of my family and I vacation. Very humilliating situation. I ended renting at another company and paying $400more than expected.$ (plus the money we prepaid for Europcar that we haven't been refund yet).

Stay away from this company.

The worst place to rent a car I had made reservations 4 months in advance. When I got to airport there was like 6 oyher people having the same problem no more cars. Bunch of liars then you call to make a complaint and no one knows nothing.I landed at midnight and had to rent hotel because I had no car and I had my kids with me. Was I supposed to sleep in the street.my plans where ruined I have a wedding to attend 3 hours away and have no car. All other rental cars are booked to to holidays its not fair.

Worst car rental every they are just trying to take your money. If you want to save yourself a headache and money just move on. Worst experience in my life.

We rented a Dodge Caravan from a Europcar satellite office at our hotel on 9/12/19 and when you have that 'trust your gut feeling', believe it! The agent Saul Diaz kept trying to convince me that my credit card info was safe, I did ask him why, was there identity theft going on? 'Oh no, just trust me you are safe.' Well, guess what? the very next day I got a call from Visa asking if we had put through 5 money transfers?, it's a good thing we had credit protection and the charges did not go through. The moral of this story is, be very careful when traveling abroad.

Tuesday July 30th 2019, we return out a car at Oaxaca airport. The employee received the car but declined to release the payment due to, under his opinion, a dirty tissue in the back seat, despite all the very expensive insurance we paid. I cleaned the few dirty spots we could found, but to his view it was still not clean enough. Furthermore, he argued that the stain was made by someone that sat with wet clothes, which is completely false and outrageous, firstly as he has no evidence of such argument, secondly, because during our stay in Oaxaca, there was no rain and no one from our family members sat wet in the car.

What is most disappointing is that the inside of the car was NOT part of the check-in when we received the car as has never been part of any check-in in any agency So there was absolutely no valid argument from his side that we received a clean back seat indeed.

We would also want to raise the fact that they provided us a car with used back tires, which could potentially cause a risk to the passengers of the car, since the tires will not be responsive in case of wet road conditions or emergency break. We strongly believe this are NOT the tires of origin. Additionally, there was a clear difference between the front and back tires and definitely not the tires of origin, not when they claim the car has only been used for 17,000km as the tires were completely worn (our estimation is at least 40,000km)

We were charged 500 pesos that we were obligated to pay because 1) we know for sure we didn’t cause the stain, 2) it was just impossible to argue with their employee and we deemed it useless and 3) we had a plane to catch, which of course was used by their employee to just ignore our arguments and abuse his power as we needed to give back the car.

We understand we have maybe lost this 500 pesos and we know the amount is not too high, but is the principle and the whole experience that make us write this review.

We or course contacted the customer service with no response so far, we do not expect one also given all the reviews here.

Update 29.08, after receiving the below message from Europcar, I resend them the original e-mail and so far there is absolutely no response from them (which I already expected, they just want to pretend to care about a customer but in fact they just really don't care at all and will do nothing about the issue here described)

Unfortunately, I will be piling on with the other reviews, this for the rental agency in San Jose del Cabo airport (SJD)
I will echo the complaint about the cost of insurance, $90+ for three days of just liability insurance. The other insurance was so outrageous I didn't even consider it.
I was given a car with multiple scratches and a couple of small dings, all in all, not a bad car. Sensing I should be careful I took a video of the car.
When I returned, I was told there were three more scratches on the car then when I left, I pulled out the video and magically two of the three were resolved! In taking the video, I missed 12 inches of the front right bumper. Low and behold there was a scratch there (actually a series of curb/parking scratches) which I know were also there when I left. But, these tiny, really after wiping them almost not visible considering the other dings, were going to cost me $97
US. I could not budge the guy and left. I will now take it up with Amex and see what they can do.
I have used Europcar for decades, in Europe mostly, never had an issue, but reading the reviews here I see the company has changed, I will do my damndest to block this charge and since I go to SJD twice a month on average (to La Paz) will be sure to steer clear of Europcar.

Open Letter to Giovanni Sanchez

Mr. Sanchez,
We just visited the beautiful city of Merida a couple of weeks ago. We had a very enjoyable moment in Merida which is the city known as the White City. I was left with the impression that this not only represents the color of the buildings but it also represents some sense of purity and nobleness to the city.

This image of Merida was a little distorted when we did business with your company (Europcar). When I rented the car from you I was charged a ridiculous amount of insurance of $537.00 USD for 5 days, and the paperwork was processed since I was under the impression this would be in $$PESOS MN. I was not happy and was going to decline the rental. You offered another price for $225 which was a little more affordable. At that time you told us you could not change the contract but that you would make sure you would make that adjustment at a later time. At that point I did not want to cancel my rental because I could not get a corrected contract. I was afraid I would be left with no car. I took your word that things would be fixed. Three weeks later and no change has been made, with no efforts from Customer Service to investigate further or to look for another employee that could have been a witness to the price you gave me.

Remember you are the first person in contact to most of us travelers that are visiting Merida for the first time and I think it's very important that you portray the nobleness that represents the city. You were even talking to us about your Grandfather giving you values that were important in today's world. I hope you really understand that you have a lot of influence and responsibility on helping Merida to keep that beautiful culture alive!

If I could give a negative star rating this place would get it. I booked my rental through Orbitz thinking everything will be ok. That is not the case. I don't know why Orbitz even does business with this shady company that tries to scam you for more money. I was told I had to pay an extra $789 and some change for mandatory insurance. I told them I do not because my credit card and insurance company said I was good to go in Mexico. After much heated debate the guy said he could give me a deal and reduce it to $286 and some change for the 10 days with an $800 credit card deposit. I said no to the $800 so he said ok how about $400. At this point i was arguing that it can't be mandatory if it is reduced from $789 to $286. I had my kids and was traveling solo with them and we didn't have any backup reservations so I said fine but let them know I would be filing a complaint with Orbitz and I will push for them to stop referring them for car rental. SO they give me a car that has 1/3 of a tank of gas and now i am looking for gas on my way north. 30 minutes after I leave my credit card texts and ask if i authorize a $789 charge to SENORPOGO. I text no and they immediately shut down my card and now I can't use that credit card for the next 10 days and spend 20 minutes on the phone with my credit card company. They don't check the car as you leave and there is nothing to mark on the paper they give you if there are scratches etc, but check the hell out of the car when you return it. I have used Europcar in Europe many times without any issues but the one in Cancun never never use this place it should be shut down.

They hook you with dirt cheap daily rentals when you make your reservation. When you turn up for the car, your informed of the mandatory insurance coverage (unless you happen to have a letter from your insurance company showing that your coverage extends to Mexico). When we returned the car, they identified 2 small scratches and charged us an addition $75 for the damage. Seriously. It’s an obvious racket. Any reputable rental company wouldn’t have bothered as the scratches were so small. Avoid this con operation.

.... and the response (below) from Eurocar to my negative review is a pure BS tactic to counter critical reviews (attempting to make it appear that they are responsive). As suggested, I sent an email to their customer service account. Didn't get any response to it, not even a basic confirmation that they'd received it. More evidence of their crappy customer service.

We prepaid for a car that should be ready for us at 8:00am on May 26th at the airport in Acapulco. They had no cars at that time luring us that some cars would be returned soon. Around 9:00 am they acknowledged that the earliest car they expect back will be around noon. We asked for money back. After talking with the agent on the site and with someone on the phone we were assured that the refund would be made the next business day, what was Monday, May 27. That refund still has not been done. Our emails have not been returned. None of the phone numbers listed on the Europcar allowed us to reach a service representative there. Looks like some of these phone numbers are disconnected.

Update on July 8, 2019
A few hours after Europcar posted the response, I emailed info as requested. So far, I did not receive even a confirmation that my email was received. By the way, the email address given by Europcar is the same email to which I sent originally my request for refund.

After years renting cars in many cities, NOTHING WORST THAN EUROPCAR. This company stoles your money! Employees ineptitude is beyond limits.

First: We booked online using Europcar website and when we picked it up we had to pay 80 dlls extra for an old and defective Golf! “What?! Why!?” Everything supposed to be included, but they seem colluded and invent their own odd rules. No matter what you can argue, they will charge you extra money.

Second: The car’s key did not work well. The car has many scratches. But they do not mark anything in the agreement, because they are bandits.

Third: When we returned it, they DID NOT RETUN US the “deposit” of $450 dlls because WE did not take “clear pictures” to prove each “1 inches scratch” of that ugly car was “before” we rented it. Of course, conveniently they took NONE picture when we picked it up. They made NONE comment on the agreement about these issues, because they do not care about clients, but about stole your money.

My family and I have had plenty of great experiences renting cars in Cancun with National, Avis, Hertz, etc., BUT Europcar renting experience was just the opposite! Those employees should be in jail instead of in “customer service”.

UPDATE: after this complaint, surely global customer service saw it and they finally returned us the “deposit” of $450.00USD.

I was very careful to call Europcar before my trip to Huatulco Mexico to find out what insurance was mandatory, if any, and if I wanted to waive collision coverage, what information would be needed. After speaking to a representative, as well as one from The company I booked through (holiday auto), I requested and received the only letter I was told was necessary from my credit card company to waive any additional insurance. When I arrived at the desk to pick up my rental and attempted to show the clerk the necessary letter allowing me to waive this additional insurance, he told me that Europcar had another mandatory insurance at a cost of $200, and that in order to waive it I would need a second letter, although he refused or could not tell me what this letter was or from whom I needed to obtain such letter. I spent a few minutes attempting to explain that this was unacceptable and was not disclosed at the time that I booked the vehicle, but he either did not understand or did not care. At this point, I told him I wanted to cancel the reservation, and he told me that I would have to do it through the agency I booked the car with. Since I did not have the ability to contact Holiday auto at the time, I contacted them upon my return. They did not reply until I wrote a bad review on their Facebook page. At that point, they attempted to say that Europcar was asking for a deposit for waiving the additional insurance, which was clearly not what they were asking for, and this still unexplained $200 insurance fee was clearly never disclosed anywhere in my rental agreement. By the way, I was able to book a rental at the Hertz booth next door but at more than double the price. They allowed me to waive additional insurance, as long as I put a deposit on my credit card, which I gladly did, as my credit card would have covered any damage had I had an accident. Neither Holiday Auto nor Europcar are honest companies. Be warned

FRAUD! EXTORSION!
I HAD RESERVED A COMPACT CAR FOR MY HUSBAND FOR ROUGHLY 300 DOLLARS TO BE PICKED UP AT THE ACAPULCO AIRPORT. WHEN HE ARRIVED TO PICK UP THE CAR, GUESS WHAT HAPPENED...… (YES) THEY DID THEY NOT HAVE THE KIND OF CAR I HAD RESERVED, MY HUSBAND SHOWED THEM THE EMAIL CONFIRMATION BUT THEY SAID THEY COULD NOT DO ANYTHING BUT OFFER HIM A MORE EXPENSIVE CAR RENTAL WITH A EXTREMELY EXPENSIVE INSURANCE, HE STATED THAT HE DIDNT WANT INSURANCE BUT THEY SAID THAT IN ORDER TO GET THE CAR HE WOULD HAVE TO GET THE INSURANCE OR LEAVE A EXTREMELY HIGH DEPOSIT, TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THE FACT THAT HE WAS IN A HURRY AND WHERE HE IS DRIVING TO HE HAS TO HAVE A CAR. SO AT THE END I ENDED UP PAYING DOUBLE OF WHAT I HAD ORIGINALLY RESERVED !! THIS COMPANY IS FRAUDULENT! PLEASE DO NOT BY ALL MEANS RENT A CAR FROM EUROPCAR.!!

I had a great experience picking up my rental car at the Mexico City - Centro location. The guy was very friendly, and gave me the advice to take a video of the car in case they see damage when I return the vehicle, I can prove it wasn't me. Why didn't I take his advice?? It was very dark, so it was hard to see existing damage to the vehicle.

My experience returning the vehicle was awful. The Europcar employee went straight to the right mirror and said it was broken and would need to be replaced. There was some very minor cosmetic damage below the mirror - not the mirror itself, just the part that rotates the mirror. Everything still worked, but the plastic part below the mirror was slightly bent. I had the car parked inside a parking lot the whole time I had it, so there was no way this was my damage. Unfortunately, I had no proof it wasn't me. The two Europcar employees talked to each other for quite a while, thinking about what they would charge me. The one employee made a phone call, and then quoted me $3000 pesos. But then he said that if I paid him $1500 in cash, he would write down that there was no damage. I knew that I was being extorted from, but I just wanted out of there, so I accepted his offer, paid and left.

I will NEVER rent from this company again. And I will always take a video of the car so that I can show it wasn't me that caused the damage if someone tries to rip me off like this again.

Avoid Europcar and probably most of the other Rental Car companies located at or near the airport.

A scam is being operated by all the rental car companies in Mexico and in particular at the Airports.

In the case of Mexico City Airport, none of the suppliers are located at the airport itself, although all have offices in terminal.

You will be taken by shuttle bus a very short distance (almost walkable) once there, your options to leave are reduced.

The area where Europcar, Mex Rent A Car, Avis and others are, is close to a very poor district and driving away from the airport
at night can be particularly dangerous on roads that are not even fit for horse and cart.

So the scam goes like this:- Cars are offered online at ridiculously low rental prices. Quite common is a rate of $5 a day.

When you get to the office you will be forced to take the “mandatory” (but its not) Mexican Insurance at $20 per day, or more.

Plus a sizable deposit.

Some companies do allow you to supply your own insurance, but then will hold a deposit of between $3000-12,000 on your card.

Another trick is to pretend your card does not get authorized, so they can extract large cash deposits.

Europcar vehicles are dreadful, old and full of minor damages.

My advice, is use UBER or don’t rent at all, and certainly not from any airport location.

You have a much better chance to negotiate a better all round deal once you are in your hotel/accommodation and can walk or taxi to a local city office.

If you are considering renting and driving in Mexico City, I recommend you seek advice online for free from Tipoa Rental Car (google their website)