RENTAL TRAPS

Thirty years later, I still shudder at the memory of that Seat 124. Its only redeeming feature was that it left me in one piece to tell the tale. But it was touch and go.

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A friend had generously lent us her family's holiday home on the Costa del Crime. She told us it was simple to find. We should fly to Malaga and pick up a rental car at the airport. "Use the local company in the corner of the entrance hall," she advised. "They're cheap and cheerful."

Neither of those words exactly described the surly, rapacious proprietors nor the dingy, rusted heap we received in exchange for our pile of pesetas. This Seat 124 looked as if it had been hauled out of the scrapyard. Its seats felt loose on their mountings and the windscreen wipers were falling off. The hand brake was connected to air. On the road, I found the gear selector would only engage third if it felt in the mood.

Why did we not return it and demand our money back? We were young, timid, excited to be away on holiday. Perfect suckers, in other words.

A survey by the AA has found that more than half of 60 rental outlets in 12 Mediterranean resorts were "poor or very poor" and customers ran a 40 per cent risk of getting a car with serious defects, of being subjected to inflated, hidden charges and of being inadequately insured in the event of an accident. Half of all the cars they tested in Malta were unfit for use, as were a quarter of the cars in Turkey.

In many cases, the AA found that, after the car was returned, rental companies tried to exact compensation for damage that had already been evident when it was hired out. They recommend customers make a note of every scratch or defect and photograph or video the proof on a dated record.

To protect themselves against skulduggery, consumers are recommended to make their bookings online, using a credit card and preferably through a company with offices in Britain. Then, any conflicts that arise after the event will come under the protection of the credit card company and may be easier to resolve nearer to home.

It seems to follow that it's most prudent to rent for a holiday abroad through one of the big, multi-national conglomerates.

Their cars, at least, tend to be quite new (the AA found more than 60 per cent of Replica Watches cars for hire with private, local companies had more than 25,000 miles on the clock) and to have been maintained according to a universal standard.

It looks as if this approach will cost at least Pounds 200 a week. A search proved that the cheapest cars (Hyundai i10, Citroen C1, Chevrolet Matiz) available at Athens airport for a week in July through Hertz, Avis and Budget ranged from Pounds 200.29 to Pounds 235 for pre-paid when booking online.

All these little cars can be excellent but the best choice for reliability, build quality and adaptability, if it's available, may be the Fiat Panda.

It is daft to rent a bigger car and, as always with cars, any romantic impulse is likely to be costly and punishing.

On a trip to California in 1984, I succumbed to the fancy that it would be fun to hire a classic American cruiser.

The colossal (and colossally expensive) Lincoln Town Car I rented was hateful - as cumbersome as a farm tractor, Sexy Costumes as hard to park as a 747 and as lousily built as a Zil.

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