Autovia Car Rental Reviews 241

Unpleasant staff that refuses to recognise official documents from aborder EU Member State. The solution proposed is to take full cover! I.e. an extra 150€. They are thieves! Stay far away from them!!!!

easily the worse car rental company in italy. After 4 days the car had a flat tyre. Autovia sent a large breakdown truck , cost 250 euro. The garage had every tyre known to man but Autovia would not allow the garage to change the tyre, cost 280 euro. We were told by Autovia to pay for a taxi to Pescara to pick up a car, Cost of taxi 160 euro. Man at desk told us where is our paperwork , we were at the beach, and come back in the morning and pay for a b n b. He would not even ring up Ciampino office to verify our story and only after my wife contacted the breakdown firm that he give us a car. By this time it was after 10 at night, the car park had lights but not the brightest. we missed a very small dent/scratch and got charged , cost 300 euro. The total extras came to over 1000 euro. i have contacted this scam car rental company many times but the only reply is that i signed the contract and thats it.
Please stay away from this company. The cars have a lot of body damage which does not get repaired eventhough you are charged. I have rented cars in Italy for over 30 years and Autovia is the worse. Complete scam. Stay away

Booked via Ryanair and wouldnt except my Barclay as it only had my initial and Surname not full Christian name and then had to re book with them and cost us almost 6 times more and it was the same car I originally booked, disgusting

My car broke down after 3 days, I had to fight to (partially) get my towing costs refunded. I got a replacement and brought the car back full. Now they are charging and SUEING me for the fuel costs of the broke down car. Ofcourse it wasn't returned full, it broke down and got towed due to a mechanical issue! Absolutely despicable company

Florence - All the negative reviews are right; Booking.com and their Rentalcars.com are complicit in facilitating this scam operation. I was refused a rental as they claimed I needed an international drivers license; I immediately rented a car at the same airport from a reputable agency no problem. My full prepayment via rentalcars.com never to be seen again.

We rented a car in Salerno Autovia back in July 2023. Ten months later they sent us an email with a bill attached for some damage that we apparently caused underneath the car. We sent an email straight back on the same day disputing this. We heard nothing for 4 months and then last week they emailed us the same bill with no email joined to it. The following day they took 230 euros out of my account without permission. Totally outrageous and unprofessional!

We paid 804€ for a car. We went to get it, and we were not able to get it, because we had debit card. However we could pay another 700€ for insurance, and then we could get the car. After an hour of discussion we decided to take the offer. But we didn't even get the car we ordered, instead we got a rusty, dirty car that did NOT AT ALL smell clean. It got scratches on the sides wich we filmed to prove, that we did not cause those!
DO NOT GO THERE. They rob you for money and time! its just a waste!….

Worst service ever!!!! Reservation was canceled without notice while we paid everything in advance. We lost over 200€. Do not book with this company. This is a fraud.

I do not recommend using this company. These are fraudsters. They steal money from customers. The car was terribly dirty, you couldn't see through the windshield, the windshield wipers couldn't wipe the rain off the glass, and the tire pressures were at dangerous levels. Do not rent a car from them!!!

RUN AWAY FROM THIS COMPANY!!!!
Please read all reviews which are mostly negative before you decide(better not) to rent any car from this company.That was my mistake to not read reviews and that what customers wright is true.Autovia is a THIEF!! The cars are cheap to rent but Autovia will take money from your account after months without notifing you and not responding to your calls or emails.
The car which I rented had money scratches . On the form I signed they written only about 2 scratches.When Iasked the person who served me to go outside and check the car he saidhe is too busy now and asked me to send photos by email. So I did. I received car with 3/4 petrol and I returned the car with the same amount of petrol. Because we had very early flight and office was closed we have been asked to leave the car park next to the office. There was sb sitting there.For my request of signing that I have returned the car at the right time she got angry and rejected signing anything. As soos as I landed in my country I rang Autovia to ask if they received the car in the same condition and the same amount of petrol. They confirmed that everything is ok so they paid my deposit back. After 3 months I have been charged 50£ without any explanation. So I rang them and a guy informed me that there was not right amount of petrol and he can not talk to me because he was busy. He provide me with an email to complain. I have sent a few email with photos proving the amount of petrol I received and returned and it's been 2 weeks now like no one responded. Reading the reviews I am not the first one who has been charged for sth after months!! Looks like that is how Autovia earn money!!-by stealing them after months!!! Although so bad reputation Autovia is still stealing money after months from its customer!!!! Take my advice and do not rent any cars from AUTOVIA!!

I had my own Excess Insurance through the travel insurance on my credit card. I let them know and they were fine. No further pushing to sign up for insurance and no issues. We had the car for 7 days from Naples to Reggio in Southern Italy

Don’t rent from them!
They were very expensive but the only option available! My car rental malfunctioned on the day I was meant to return the car and I was advised to get a taxi to the airport which would be compensated & this was 2 months ago! All my emails to their customer care have been ignored so far!
Really bad service! Avoid!

Avoid this company!!
We were charged 450 euros for a damage that we did not cause. Upon receiving the car the employer did not go through the damages with us even though its their responsibility to do so. Later even after providing pictures they did not respond to our complaint and charged the credit card without prior consent or info.

they charged us with unnecessary insurance. We rented the car with insurance. When we got there they said that the insurance was not good enough and that we had to pay more money or we would have to pay for all the damage. We then paid 135 euros. We were then told that we had to pay even more otherwise the wheels and windows would not be insured. We looked into this later and it turns out that the first insurance we had was good. They kept insisting that we had to take out insurance otherwise we would have to pay a lot of money. This car insurance is not recommended, otherwise you should check everything carefully first.

It’s pretty much a scam. They lure you in with a small rental price but they will do anything to get your deposit. They charged me car damages I never did (thank god I had a video of the car) and a late fee when I returned the car on time.

WORST CAR RENT EXPERIENCE EVER !

Many added and unforseen expenses (extra insurance needed -175€-, extra fees requested over a year later), terrible service (nobody to show you the car or check it when you return it, nobody to help you install the baby seats in the car), close to two years after the rental, I keep on receiving emails from them demanding money I already paid long ago. And when I provide proofs I paid it already, they either don't reply or threaten to charge me even more. Completely crazy customer service.
Don't ever rent from them. They seem slightly cheaper at first but end up being incredibly more expensive and a huge hassle in the long run.

When we arrived at the airport check-in desk, we were aggressively met with a sales representative from who forced upon us their own excess insurance package for 250 euros. We assured the member of staff that we were fully covered by a third party and had paid for comprehensive additional insurance. The member of staff was very resistant to this and we ended up in a dispute for 40 minutes and the representative refusing to let us check out the car.

We ended up not taking their insurance as instructed by our original insurer (much to Autovias disappointment). We were then given the documents for the car and advised that there were 7 counts of external damage on the body of the car (we had to press the staff member to print off the document so we could cross reference the damages). There was nowhere on the form to document internal damage.

The car itself did not match the description of the car we booked, although this wasn't a problem as we could all fit inside as a party of 5. However, we firmly believe that the member of staff purposely downgraded our car due to our lack of compliance in buying their extra costed insurance. We took photos of the outside of the car and upon loading our luggage noticed that the parcel shelf was missing a minor plastic attachment that connects the parcel shelf to the trunk/boot of the car. As this was still functional and the boot raised when the rear of the car opened, and due to there being no place on the form to document or dispute internal damage, our party thought nothing of this and continued to load the car.

When we returned the car as planned on the 21st of June, the person who checked the return of the car (the same person who initially gave us the keys a week prior) inspected the car's exterior briefly and went almost instantaneously to the trunk of the car to inspect the parcel shelf/hatbox. They held us liable for this "damage" and have charged us 240 euros for the replacement of the entire parcel shelf. I am not assuming responsibility of this damage as know that it did not incur during the time the car was in my possession, however, this is a gross over-exaggeration of the price needed to repair the damage. These parts are not car manufacturer specific, however I even located a car and model specific part needed online for less than 10 euros.

TLDR, in sum, do not use Autovia for your car rental needs. They are not a reputable provider and will try to hound you for every penny you're worth. They are repeat offenders and do not respond to correspondence or follow-up emails, they will take your money and disappear. It's worth just paying that extra small fee upfront for a reliable rental provider to save your time and money in the long run.

Car rental companies are notorious for ripping off customers, usually over damage or fuel. I checked reviews before booking a car at Bologna airport and, there are no good reviews for any company even the well know more expensive international companies. Most of us only write a review when we have had a bad experience and many good reviews are fake; right? I booked the car via Booking.com who display a customer rating for each firm which makes me wonder where they source that information. I haven't been able to contribute my customer rating. In fact, after wasting 20/30 mins, I gave up trying to contact Booking.Com customer services. Anyway, having decided that car hire is a lottery and you are going to get mugged off regardless, I anxiously picked Autovia because they have a desk in Bologna Airport terminal, rather than catch a shuttle bus to an off site location. When booking, I agreed to take the full protection insurance at an extra £46 which allows you to claim back any damage deductions from your credit card. The website wording:

TYour car comes with standard damage cover (CDW) with an excess of £1,266.89 and Theft Protection (TP) with an excess of £1,266.89. If the bodywork is damaged or the car is stolen, the car hire company could charge you up to the excess amount - but Zurich Insurance will refund you. (Excludes personal possessions.)

At the collection desk, the staff where very polite and efficient. We were offered an upgrade on the isurance to full damage waiver at a total of aprox. 230 euros for the 7 days, more than the car hire at £156. So, no need to worry about the before and after damage inspection. Just as well, since the car we got had quite alot of damge. Also, I figured, if they are making more money from the insurance company in commission, we are less likey to be a target for any random deductions to boost their income.

Clearly, once the vehicle has been returned and the customer has left the country, the temptation to make indiscriminate deductions from the credt card, which you, the foriegn customer will have to contest from overseas, is far too great for them to resist. If you have the time and can afford the expense of the lengthy battle with the hire firm for the refund, that is all you will get with an apology for their error. Most of us don't have the appetite for the all consuming conflict.

Our card has been subject to a 100 euro deduction for which I am awaiting an explanation and I have not yet recieved the refund for the £46 insurance payment made when booking.

On reflection, I have no way of knowing that Autovia did actually purchase the full damage waiver insurance policy.

On a good note, a member of the desk staff at the airport helped us pay the parking fine we got on our trip.

If I could rate it lower I would !!!!
I did not receive a car. They overbooked, argued with me and refuse to give me a refund. I am disputing with the bank and they are giving me a hard time. Terrible company. Terrible customer service.overall just nasty people working here Zero help. Do not book with this company. Autovia.

No cancellation options or option to change after meeting up times has passed. Read it clearly. It means their fee is equal full hire cost.