Elite Rent-a-Car

I booked a small car through Elite car rental in Crete, choosing a different company as in previous two rentals from same location with a different company I was allocated a dodgy well worn megane sedan that had seen better days, broken CD player etc. The chap who met me outside arrivals was very relaxed and didnt try to sell me extra insurance (for tyres, glass, etc). He explained that window breakage was on the rise from hire cars for theft of items visible in the car in the Chania area and to be careul to leave nothing on display. We were upgraded to next category car, which was a nice bonus. The Ford focus was clean and in good condition, about 50K km on the clock.The tank was 1/4 full and was asked to return it no less than 1/8 full. Overall a very posotive hire experience - as it should be. Will use them again

When I rent a car I expect it to be in at least as good condition as mine at home. It might be smaller and less powerful but they're normally much newer than my own cars. Quite honestly our rental car was a dog. Over 80k on the clock, engine service light on, bits missing, so many dents I couldn't list them and air conditioning which worked only 50% of the time. I suspect the air conditioning problem was just a loose belt. I doubt it had been serviced for years. However that's not my real gripe - I booked the car through CarDelMar and paid extra for their super duper insurance. Why did I bother? Each year there's a new scam and this year's was;

"you'll want our admin' insurance cover at 5 Euros per day? If you don't have it you're liable for 1500 Euros". That would have been 70 Euros on our car hire or 27% of out hire car costs.

When will these car hire companies learn?

Travellers want to hire the cars, they want a fixed price with all insurance included. No extras for admin insurance, windscreen cover, tyres or any anything else.

Elite Car Hire - NO THANKS

CarDelMar - NO THANKS

Next time I'll book only direct with the company in the pick up destination and I'll want it in writing before I pay that there are no possible extras.

Elite Rent-a-Car don't even have cars they offer on their website! I was given some old & well worn rumbler (10 year old Megane) in place of the Grande Punto I've booked - the Heraklion Airport team seemed very dodgy - not igniting a slightest spark of trust in me, and totally not caring if I take the car from them or from someone else when I started to complain at the very start (the truth is, at 5AM you haven't got much choice).

The Car was a nightmare - problems with starting the engine (sometimes it seemed simply dead), dangerously knocking front suspension and steering wheel, no seals in the boot (it was loud as hell in the back seat), and on the top of that, you couldn't lock the car - the boot flap lock was broken.

After few days driving the Megane I got fed up and forced them to give me a replacement car - I got a Hundai Accent - a really good car, but I got it with totally dry tank!! The gauge didn't even move after turning the ignition. I've used Mike Tours the year before and never had any problems (I would have taken the car from them again if I hadn't forgot the name before my departure).

Unsatisfactory service and would not recommend. Our first car, delivered on time to a hotel in Heraklion, was in very poor condition. A convertible Suzuki Jimny, it was missing the back cover for the car and the removable roof was broken on one side, a real problem when driving on main roads. As we had no back cover and were travelling west in Crete with all our luggage, it meant we could not leave the car at any point as there was no way of keeping our belongings secure, preventing us from visiting any sites on our way to our rented villa. When I asked about the missing cover at the time of pick up, I was simply and perfunctorily told that there wasn't one. Much worse than this, the gear box was in terrible condition - it would slip gears regularly, and finding gears required a large degree of force. The car also made an awful grinding noise when the steering wheel was moved to full lock. When - on our second day - we contacted Elite to request a replacement, they were happy to give us another jeep, but despite ringing at 9:30 that morning, were told the car would only be brought at 9pm that evening. Effectively, a day we were denied the use of the hire car we had paid for. The replacement came complete with cover, but when we next used this car - on a day we had planned a trip over the mountains - it wouldn't start! After twenty minutes, we managed to get the car to start, but were unhappy with the prospect of travelling to a remote location faced with the possibility of returning to a dead car. On this occasion, a replacement was brought to us in half an hour, and we were still able to make our trip, but there was the sense that, only after two duds, did Elite feel they had to give us a car that was up to basic standard. In fairness, the third car served us well for the remainder of the holiday - although, of course, it was only delivered on the 4th day of our holiday. As chance would have it, the last couple of days saw torrential rain in Crete - we were able to drive in this weather, but there is no way we could have had we still been with the original hire car that had no back cover and a faulty roof.

It seemed a great deal at first, though the car was most definitely now new, and with no front grille, it wasn't a looker either - rusty scratches on the front, dents all round it etc etc.

We discovered the air conditioning didn't work - and although they were fine about it when we rang up and told them, as we were by then using the car to travel round in, exchange wasn't an option. I really do not believe they didn't know it wasn't working - their rep had to drive it 40 km to drop it off for us. He also left ash in the back footwell. The manual in the glove compartment was in Greek - so we had to ring up to find out how to open the boot. It was initially delivered a day early - as a result of poor communication between the holiday rep who booked it and Elite. Because the guy then had to come back the next day to drop the car off again, I wondered if this was why we got such a dog of a car.

The instructions we were given about airport return were simply wrong - fortunately, we had loads of time and were able to find the return point ourselves.

They have a clause in their contract that if there is any 'cost' arising from your lease of the car (ie theft, vandalism, damage etc) by paying by credit card you are authorising them to debit from your card any amount which arises as a result. I didn't see it until after we'd paid - and had I done so, I would have paid by cash & got a receipt - their contract seems to me to be the equivalent of you giving them an open cheque.

I couldn't recommend them and would never use them again myself

The Elite Car Hire Crete agency in Crete made transportation on the island easy for me and my friends. The staff of the agency were very helpful and provided useful information and suggestions. I hired an off road vehicle and was completely satisfied with it. Elite car hire Crete just made my stay on the island better with their services.

The services of Elite hire car rental in Crete, Greece were beyond imagination. The staff of this car agency helped us with whatever we needed in Crete: maps, information, locations, suggestions, routes we should take, places and archaeological sites we ought to visit, beaches we should see and more. If you are planning on visiting Greece's most beautiful island you should definitely profit from the serviced provided by Elite rent-a-car.Website: http://www.hire-car-rental-crete.com