First Car Rental Reviews 186

If you want to save money after your rental period, don’t rent a car here. We returned the car with a full tank, yet we still received a charge of 150 rand for not refueling. See the attached photo. This is outright outrageous. Never again!

Two parties in the queue but it took almost an hour to get the car. The staff were totally disengaged, slow … no apologies…. Even went out to get food. Where is the training????

I had a flat tire in Lesotho and because it was Saturday they did not want to help me. Even if i was only 20 km from the border and i could drive to South Africa. I could call back on Monday, or use the spare wheel and help myself was the advice. I had bought extra coverage for Lesotho but to no avail. After returning the car, i also had to pay 230 euros for replacing the spare wheel. luckily i was well insured.

I booked a car on Friday. The payment went off immidiately but on the system side it gave an error. I phoned them and the person said they would phone back ayer investigating. They never phone back. On Monday I phoned again. The person told me I had not paid for the booking yet and by the end of Monday the booking would be automatically cancelled. On Tuesday I got an email from them confirming the booking. I phoned them and explained the situation and wanted to cancel my booking as I already booked another car. They again told me that I had not paid for the booking, even though I had a confirmation email. I had to speak to 2 people and had to be put on hold for quite a while while they"investigated". They eventually informed me the booking was cancelled and my money would be reimbursed. Let's wait and see how long that takes....

George Airport branch - Excellent, friendly and fast service received today

Poor Service Alert – First Car Rental 🚨
As of today, 27 February 2026, my issue with First Car Rental regarding the R3,500 hold on my account remains unresolved. Despite repeated communication, the case has been reopened yet again, with promises of feedback “within 2 business days.”
Here’s the timeline of events:
. Rnt car on 11/2/2026.
• 25 Feb 2026, 16:11 – I was told the matter was “resolved” and given an authorisation letter to submit to Capitec myself.
• 25 Feb 2026, 16:33 – I provided feedback, pointing out that this was the same story repeated over and over, and that hiding behind an automated system is unacceptable.
• 27 Feb 2026, 09:02 – The case was reopened by their customer service team.
First Car Rental claims they cannot clear the hold directly with the bank, yet other rental companies (such as Blu Car Hire in Mossel Bay) have managed to do so within two days. This proves it is possible.
From the start, my experience with them has been disappointing: dirty, scratched vehicles, poor service, and now weeks of frustration over a simple card hold.
I urge First Car Rental to take responsibility and release the funds immediately. Customers deserve better than endless delays and excuses.

The rental went perfectly until after we returned the car, which we did with a full tank. I then received an invoice for about £7 for fuel and top up charge.
I then tried to submit a complaint via their web site, seeking to get the charge reversed but found that, while I was immediately offered the option to "Pay us a compliment", the only means I could find of actually complaining offered only phone numbers (no email), which would likely have cost me more in call charges.
A quick Google search show that others have had similar experiences and some worse (eg. scratch charges) with First South Africa,

TERRIBLE EXPERIENCE, DO NOT TRUST FIRST COMPANY.
We rented a “compact” car such as a VW Golf, Mazda 3, etc. for 10 days, and they gave us a 2011 Opel Meriva instead. The car is almost 15 years old and has 140,000 km, with all the issues that come with that. It is surreal to pay for a 10-day car rental and be given such an old vehicle. Their excuse was that they had no other cars available.

They do not have an office. A man personally brings the car and makes you sign the contract directly next to the car.

There is no Bluetooth, so we had to buy speakers just to play our music. Of course, it also does not have GPS, so we had to buy a phone holder as well.

Three lights are not working, and they do not care. The car display shows multiple error codes related to lighting failures.

The steering wheel shakes above 100 km/h, and the alignment is off. When driving straight, the steering wheel is turned.

We requested the car with a full tank, and they delivered it almost on reserve.

The windshield wipers are in poor condition and leave the windshield dirty directly in front of the driver, seriously affecting visibility while driving.

The front passenger air vent is broken, and the heating cannot be directed toward the passenger. It remains pointed at the window.

Cape Town branch: I will endeavour to ensure that no one connected to me will ever use this company again.

The service I need to is to arrive , pay and get in my car. I am not bothered by a smile or by anything else. I my needs are very simple and could not be met.

The lady said I had never used them again which was incorrect and extended the entire process. Then I wasn’t allowed to pay using my company car which again I had done two months prior. So eventually I decided to walk to Europe car and their service was SO MUCH better.

Paid booking ignored: 08:30 collection, still no car at 12:00 (East London Airport)

We booked and paid for a car with First Car Rental (East London Airport) for 08:30. It is now 12:00 and we still have not been given a vehicle.

We were told we must wait for a car to be returned, which makes the booking time meaningless. No proper ETA was provided, and no upgrade, shuttle to another branch, or alternative vehicle was offered.

This is unacceptable service, especially for a paid reservation. It wasted hours of our day and disrupted our travel plans. I would not recommend this branch if you need reliable collection times.

I am requesting a refund/discount for the hours lost due to failure to supply a vehicle at the booked time.

We rented a car via booking.com from Johannesburg to Durban and with same company a car from Cape Town to Cape Town. All cars was in good condition; same class as we had ordered, handling was quick and correct without any big discussions about additional fees etc. Absolutely seemless with good service. Would definetely use First Car Rental again

Still waiting for my deposit and corrected charges two weeks after my trip.

I rented a car through Booking.com and ended up with this company, whose office was difficult to find. The main issue: the deposit was never released. Despite multiple attempts to contact them, I received no response at all.

After weeks without any reply and no refund of the €500+ deposit, I had to file a chargeback with my bank — which fortunately resolved the situation.

What travellers should know:

All my messages were ignored once the deposit wasn’t returned.

If anything goes wrong, you may be left completely on your own.

I’m sharing this so other travellers can protect themselves. If you encounter a similar situation, document everything and contact your bank immediately.

I had the absolutely worst experience with them. Firstly, I was prompted to fill the rental form online so that I am not delayed at pick up. I get to East London to pick up the car and there is a whole 10 minute form I need to fill. Secondly, I find out I was charged R2000 for fuel before pickup (I should have double checked before I paid, I assumed it was the deposit fee). I was shocked! I was only borrowing the car for a day so why would I be charged such a ridiculous amount?! Thirdly, I am informed at check-point that I need to use the same card I paid the rental (and petrol) fee with online and it had to be a physical card. I explain that I used a virtual card. The staff member then proceeds to enter the last 4 digits of the virtual card I used online and the CVV number of the physical card. She does this about 7 times and the card keeps declining. Another staff member comes and says my physical card will not work because it is a debit card it was actually a credit card. Then they say the card is not working because it is a VISA card. I then use a Mastercard, it still declines and she says the machine is rejecting it. THE MACHINE IS REJECTING MY CARD!!! Should this not be communicated beforehand??? That certain cards will not be accepted??? This took an hour and we had to cancel the booking and try another car rental outlet and we so lucky to get the last car at Europcar and the booking was seamless. I was so frustrated. I am not booking with them again. I am expecting a full refund.

On the 18 October 2025 07:55 I arrived at the First car rental East London airport to drop off the vehicle but when I arrived there was a lady who was dressed in First car rental's uniform who did not bother coming to assist me after I waved to her for assistance but she shouted from a distance that I can leave the car and drop the key in the slot on the wall and I did as she said and I carried on with my way to the airport as I had a flight to take, when I got to JHB I received a call from the representative at 12:20 asking that was I aware that the windscreen of the vehicle was cracked and I explained to him that the windscreen was not cracked when I dropped off the vehicle and I only drove the vehicle when I was driving to the hotel and when I got to the hotel and the vehicle was parked the whole time and he then said that he will get his manager to contact me on Monday to discuss the matter and I requested that he send me pictures or video as proof that the windscreen is cracked but I have not received any picture and I am still waiting for the manager to contact me but I receive an email with an incident report that I must fill.

vehicle rented, diff from website. the fact that they advertise through flysafair is misleading. only by then you are stranded and don't want further delays, you settle for the rubbish they impose on you. Not happy.

I booked a luxury-class vehicle with seating for 8–10 people. What I received was a severely worn-out Opel Zafira with nearly 400,000 km on the clock — a car that should have been scrapped years ago. It was riddled with damage, had no floor mats (making the pedals dangerously slippery), and constantly displayed a false tire pressure warning. This was not just disappointing — it was unsafe.

To make matters worse, I was told in Cape Town that the car actually belonged to another company and needed to be returned to Cape Town. So I ended up doing their job for them — driving a wreck across the country — and still had to pay one-way fees. That’s not just bad service, it’s exploitation.

And the final insult? Despite refueling the car at the airport before drop-off, I was charged for missing fuel. This is blatant dishonesty.

First Car Rental’s behavior was unacceptable on every level: unsafe vehicle, misleading rental terms, and fraudulent charges. I strongly advise others to stay away — this was the worst car rental experience I’ve ever had.

From beginning to end - fantastic. From initial contact, booking, delivery, collection and, importantly, the deposit refund, all went extremely well. Thank you Bloemfontein (Town branch) for your professional handling. I'll definitely recommend you guys!

They did not Cancel the Authorization Amount. After 11 days, they still have a hold on our money. After numerous emails, they just ignore us. I urged you do NOT hire from them. They are a fraudulent company.

You can not treat clients this way.

Don't get a fine when using their cars. I got a fine of R200 and they charged me a service fee of R400 so I ended up paying R650 for a R200 fine. Unbelievable