Funchal Drive Reviews 

Booking was online via discovery car. At the airport we had to pay extra for cleaning the car and to drop the car again at the airport, just what we booked.
The other rental cars were with another company, where we didn't have to pay these extra's.
Disappointed.

From the beginning to the end everything perfect. Top communication, perfect car, no deposit, under 21 possible and full insurance.

I believe Funchal Drive acts in bad faith by charging customers for non-existent damage or damage that was not previously recorded in its system.

In my experience, I rented a car for six days. When I collected it, they told me about the damage already recorded on the vehicle, but they never showed me photographs covering the entire car. When I returned the vehicle, they claimed there was minor damage that I had to pay for. They told me that, because I had excess insurance, I would be reimbursed for the amount charged.

In short, the damage they claimed was not actually there. However, since they had placed a €2,500 hold on my credit card, customers are effectively forced to pay whatever amount they demand, with only the possibility of later recovering it through Global Cars insurance.

We had a fantastic experience renting with FunchalDrive during our family holiday in Madeira. Everything went smoothly from pick-up to return. The car was perfect for exploring the island, and the team was professional, efficient and welcoming. Thank you for helping make our trip so enjoyable. We would happily choose FunchalDrive again on our next visit

No problems at all. Very friendly staff,

The pick up time was too long. 1 hour and more.... no place to stay. You should be more prepare with procedures more simple or fast.

A company whose main business does not seem to be car rental, but rather keeping customers’ reservation money and extra insurance. It was, without a doubt, the worst experience I have ever had with a car rental company.

They took 45 minutes to pick us up at the Madeira airport, even after we called to let them know we were waiting.

They accepted the reservation payment in advance with a Universo credit card. However, once at the office, they cancelled the rental contract, claiming that although the card had available credit and had been validated at the terminal, they would not accept it for the deposit. They cancelled the reservation, kept the amount already paid, and did not even take us back to the airport.

It is incomprehensible that they cancelled the rental because of the card. The contract terms state that the payment and the deposit must be made with the same card. It makes no sense for them to accept that card to charge the reservation and then refuse it for the deposit. I also informed them that I had a Visa debit card, which, according to the conditions published by the company itself, should have been accepted. However, they did not even try to process it.

I asked to speak to the responsable for the office. They said that person was not there. I asked for their phone number, but they refused to provide it, limiting themselves to giving me a generic company email address.

I and my family ended up walking back to the airport, a journey of about 50 minutes, because they refused to transport us. At the airport, we rented a vehicle from another company without any problem.

An extremely disappointing experience. I do not recommend this company.

Our trip to Madeira was awesome, the place is beautiful. We rented a car at Funchal Drive company. The crew is very friendly and professional, our rental process went easy and without any problems.
The extra transfer service what they offer (belongs to the rental, no extra price) is a very good way to get to the rental company from the airport.
I can truly recommend this company for others! 5 stars

Competitive price for a good, new car in Funchal, madeira island, where you need some power due to high mountains. Quick pick up and drop off.

The comunication with the office in Ponta Delgada and with the "central" office was perfect. The car was waiting for us in a perfect spot, and the check in and out was super fast thanks for the staff.

The car was clean, and the fuel tank was truly full. There were no issues driving up steep inclines, even with the air conditioning running. We are satisfied with our choice and the car provided. We received excellent service, even without speaking a foreign language.

Good Service, I had to pay 12,5€ for washing the car, what I never had to do until know when I rented a car..
The return was easy and fast.

The shuttle from and to the airport is good.
We had a good driving and comfortabel Citroën C3.
Pick up from the car was good and clearly.

We finished renting the vehicle on June 22, 2026. As of today, July 14, 2026, there is still a €1200 hold on my VISA card. I was informed that the card would be released within a few days, but this has not happened. Please unfreeze it. This is the reason for my low rating.

They do not accept credit cards (even physical ones) from "online banks" in our case DKB. Since we did not have another card with us, we had to pay 350€ extra to get the gold insurance (we already booked the full insurance but that was not enough). They were absolutely aware of the issue and it was written somewhere in the fine print, but there was no clear warning in the confirmation about this and they also didn't seem to care or try to change anything about it to solve this issue. Another couple had the same issue at the same time. This really was a bad start to our vacation.

Everything went very well. Good and clean car, employees were friendly and gave good advises. Shuttle from and to the airport was super. Prices are fair. We liked!

Everything went well and smooth. The service was really good and helpful.

Very fast car hand over and airport pick up and return transfer. The car was in very good condition and technically up to date.
The staff members were very friendly, everything was quick and efficient.

I’ll explain briefly the 1 ⭐️ rating:

I deducted one star because they arrived more than 35 minutes later than the agreed pickup time (14:05 instead of 13:30). This company is 4 to 5 minutes away from the airport.

I deducted a second star because, instead of apologizing for the delay, they threatened to leave us behind when we complained. The lady driver was quite aggressive and rude, and scared my son.

I deducted a third star because they appeared to retaliate by giving us the worst car in their fleet, even though we had booked a better one. It had engine problems, no connectivity what so ever and just one USB plug not working. All 4 days we just drive 350 km using Google maps on our phones.

I deducted a fourth star because, despite all of the above, they still overcharged us wherever they could with no remorse. At the time we felt abused and mocked.

Overall, this was an extremely disappointing experience. Poor customer service, an inferior replacement vehicle, and excessive extra charges left us with no reason to give more than one star.

Hope the owner will read this and improve future customer services.

Drive safe everyone!

The car was not in the best condition. For example tires pressure controll lamp got yellow fast. Also the fuel wasnt full when we got the car, which makes it hard at the end to check how much fuel it should get. Also that we had to use fuel 98 is not nice. And at the start, the transport took long time to get to the airport.