Goldcar Rental Reviews 1,461

We rented a car from Goldcar in Nice and this was by far the worst experience ever. After less than an hour of driving we got a flat tire. That can happen, but what is completely unacceptable is that Goldcar is simply unreachable. No phone support, no help at all – nothing.

Luckily, there was a spare wheel in the car that we had to mount ourselves. However, this was just a “donut” spare tire, meaning you cannot drive faster than 80 km/h. Imagine how unsafe that feels on the French highways…

After endless attempts we finally managed to get someone on the phone, who promised that a mechanic would come the next day. Of course, nobody ever showed up. We spent an entire week calling and emailing Goldcar, without any solution. Meanwhile, we had to drive around on this unsafe spare wheel, until we finally decided to return all the way from St. Tropez to Nice.

When we dropped off the car at the airport, we immediately reported the issue. We were promised that a ticket would be created and that a manager would contact us. As expected – nobody ever got back to us. Even after several follow-ups, we received no response whatsoever.

In short: this company provides ZERO service. They abandon you in a dangerous situation and then completely ignore you. Absolutely unreliable and downright dangerous. I strongly advise anyone to stay far away from Goldcar.

Major scam artists at the Majorca airport branch. Booked what seemed a fairly good price for a 5 day car hire. Whilst my account was being processed, I listened into the surrounding conversations and it was clear everyone was being scammed due to one reason or another. Sure enough, it was my turn. My middle name miss spelt so the booking voided unless I paid a €187+taxes fee. Left the building to find that taxis and other car hires where all mega expensive. They know the game and they play it well. Had to mess around for half an hour to find a bus that then taken 1h 45mins to get to the hotel. Customer service, Useless! All they could do was offer an ever more premium car for even more money. Lesson learnt. I've drove in europe plenty of times without a hitch. 0 out of 5 for Goldcar. Can only imagine how bad things get when there's an accident involved!

I will never rent from goldcar again, when there are issues, they just disappear, I paid for their "full insurance" it is worth nothing at all... their call center told me they cannot connect me with anyone on the phone and to send an email, I did send an email and no one up to this day even replied, and it has been a few weeks and I already finished my trip...
The service number they sent me to call hanged up the phone saying they are a service company and not goldcar... what a joke you are making out of your clients!

I would never rent from goldcar again, bad customer service is an understatement...

Goldcar Athens airport. The actual rental went well, although the car was not in perfect condition, but I guess we can blame Greek traffic. The small print showed that a deposit of 1000 euro was required, which I managed to negotiate down to 140 euro fuel deposit only by taking out more insurance. It's an absolute scam. My deposit has not been returned, and when I called about it I got a very sarcastic man on the phone who first queried whether I had really paid it with a credit card (there was no other way of paying at time of booking), and then dismissed me by saying I had to take it up with my bank. The bank have now raised a dispute but it will take possibly another month. Imagine if I had paid the 1000 euro deposit! BE VERY WARY of this company.

Could not fault the whole process, would recommend, had no issues great service

I really like the car clean and super easy to take the car and enjoy my holiday

Worst company imaginable. Now 3 weeks and still no reply from them. Rented a car and paid for it but was not given it because I did not have an international licence. From the USA and rent all the time in Italy as my family lives there. Never had a problem with a licence from any other company. This is a total scam. Was told like everybody else to contact customer service. Still got no answer after 3 weeks. They are absolute crooks who shamelessly defraud you of your money. Reported them to my credit card company who stopped payment and will dispute this charge. A really unpleasant experience.

Easy and fast process for pick up and to drop the car. Literally less than 5min in both processes. The car was in decent condition and competitive price. We had the insurance through a third party before arriving

This is possibly the worst service I’ve ever received from any company. On a trip to Italy our car broke down 3 hours after pick up on a journey from Milan to Lake Garda. These things happen. The car was recovered but could not be prepared. The company would only provide a replacement if we made it back to the airport (almost 3 hours away) to pick one up. They wouldn’t provide a car locally and wouldn’t pay for the journey back. We were stranded and had to rely on public transport for the rest of the trip. Before this point we were told repeatedly that they would find a replacement and call us back. They never did and we were on the phone for hours trying to get through. They have also refused to offer us a refund for the remaining rental because they will only do this in person! This is surely a scam.

I booked a car for Sardinia with Goldcar via Holiday Autos. I booked a few weeks ahead, but when I arrived in Sardinia GoldCar told me I had to have an International Driver's Permit as UK is outside the EU. THIS IS NOT THE LAW; gov.uk says IDPs are not required in Europe as part of Brexit agreement. Holiday Autos did not know this- with their T&Cs clearly stating an IDP was not required. They offered me a refund or to rebook with another company at current rates, which would have cost an additional ~£270 for the week. I rebooked to Noleggiare via Discover Cars for cheaper, but Goldcar's unpublished conditions and Holiday Autos' mistake still cost me a further £180 and time needed to rebook. DO NOT USE GOLDCAR IF YOU ARE FROM THE UK, there are plenty of affordable other providers who don't make up unnecessary and costly conditions.

I booked a car with Goldcar for my trip to Bologna, Italy, from June 6 to June 10, reservation number #27398764. Upon arrival at Bologna airport, Goldcar unexpectedly required me to present an international driving permit in addition to my Turkish driver's license. This requirement was neither clearly communicated at the time of booking nor consistent with my previous experiences renting cars in Italy and throughout Europe, where my Turkish license was always sufficient.

Because of this sudden and unclear policy, I was unable to collect the car and had to rent another vehicle from a different company at the same airport, using my Turkish driver's license without any issues.

Goldcar has refused to refund my prepaid amount, citing their restrictive cancellation policy. I find their practices misleading and customer service unhelpful. I strongly advise future customers to carefully consider alternative rental companies to avoid unexpected difficulties and financial losses.

I have been a customer of Goldcar for years but have almost always picked up the car from Alicante Airport. There is never hassle if you are used to them and the Key 'n Go is so easy. HOWEVER, I recently went to Sardinia and booked a car from Goldcar to be picked up in Cagliari's Elmas Airport. I read the Terms and Conditions before my trip to check if I needed an International Driving Licence and it said I didn't if I had a UK licence, which I have. On arrival I was refused a car by Goldcar as I didn't have an International Driving Licence and they have refused to refund any money. I am now in a battle to get the refund. I explained my situation to Avis, when eventually hiring one from them. They said that this happens all the time at Cagliari Airport. They have hired cars to customers who have had the same experience as me on numerous occasions. This indicates to me that Goldcar terms and conditions for Cagliari are very ambiguous and many customers are caught out by this. Be careful!

Felt pressured and misled — paid double what we expected

Review:
We booked our rental car via Economy Car Rentals, not knowing it would be handled by Goldcar in Chania, Crete.

Already in the shuttle from the airport, the driver kept telling us how badly locals drive, how easy it is to get scratches, and how hopeless it is to get help from the police. Looking back, this was just the start of scaring us into buying their most expensive insurance.

At the desk, it got worse:
• They claimed that with any cheaper insurance, scratches and dents wouldn’t be covered without a police report — and the police wouldn’t bother for small stuff.
• They also told us there was no roadside assistance with the second-best insurance. But after we signed and paid, another staff member admitted that of course there was roadside assistance — just not if driving off-road or drunk. So either they lied or intentionally confused us.

We had booked a Renault Clio but got a tiny Suzuki Swift with squeaky brakes. And the fuel policy? Full tank out, return empty — impossible to plan, so you pay for fuel you don’t use.

We actually had our own excess insurance via our mastercard, but we felt so insecure and pressured that we didn’t dare rely on it.

In the end, we paid more than twice what we expected and started our holiday feeling stressed and cheated.

Conclusion:
We felt manipulated and ripped off. I recommend choosing another rental company or being very firm if you end up with Goldc

Upon arrival at the rental desk, I was refused the vehicle on the grounds that my Turkish driver’s license was not accepted. I would like to emphasize that my license is issued in English and fully valid for international travel. In fact, I have previously rented cars in Europe without any issue or requirement for an international driving permit. Moreover, other car rental companies in Italy accept my license without hesitation.

The refusal from Goldcar came as an unpleasant surprise and caused me significant hardship, especially as I was traveling with small children. I was left stranded at the airport and had to spend several stressful hours trying to secure a last-minute replacement vehicle. Unfortunately, Goldcar staff were also entirely unhelpful and showed no willingness to assist or accommodate our situation in any way.

Excellent service throughout apart from the extra insurance they try and make you take out, they should just add it to the price in the first place, it's a bit of a con to be honest, great car though.

Goldcar Sardinia
All good no issues. I took about 100 photos of the car on pick up. Returned full of fuel and no additional damage. Car was given a quick check and all was fine. Deposit money returned swiftly. Cannot fault unlike centauro rent a car who make your life a misery.

I was renting a car and when I arrived to the airport branch FCO the canceled my booking with a promise to refund the money %100, the reason was that they want International Driving license, but before I rent I was checking the gold car application which says of your driver license writen in Roman Alphabet it is not mandatory to have any other drivers license. However, the employee canceled the booking and was connecting me with other company that she klwas calling and the price was 3 times gold car and she said everyday she send at least 10 customers to this company.
I was sending email to customer service
But they replied that we can't refund your money, 8 sent again to be connected with higher Managment but the ignored my request.

The case number is 2312254.
The reservation number is 27240796.
By the way. I am customer since 2015 I was many times using gold car.
So it is shame to have such customer service.
Note. My rental was for almost one month.

I hope I will get a reply ASAP from someone in charge.

Thanks and Regards.

I would advise people to think twice, and the again, before booking a car rental with Goldcar Menorca. The transfer between the airport to the rental depot was late, as was the return after dropping off the car. There was again a wait to pick up the car (another 30 mins) at the depot. The staff member was rude and impatient. Altogether not a good experience. Never again.

Hello, we weren't allowed to pick up our reserved car because they claimed we did not have a valid driver's license for Spain, when in fact we do. As per the DGT website any driver's license from outside of Spain which is written in Spanish is valid ("Son válidos también para conducir en España los siguientes permisos de otros países: Permisos de países que estén redactados en castellano o vayan acompañados de una traducción oficial del mismo."). Our main driver has a driving license from Bolivia written in Spanish, which is valid according to the DGT, yet the Goldcar representative would not let us rent the car even though the reservation was already paid.

I rented a car from Goldcar through Wizz Air at Valencia Airport on 19.03.2025 and returned at Alicante Airport, and the experience was nothing short of a nightmare. Here’s a rundown of my ordeal:

1. Initial Vehicle Issues: The first car provided was filthy and riddled with multiple scratches and damages—including a massive 30+ cm scratch on the front bumper—which was not even noted on the damage report. I refused to rent this vehicle and immediately returned the keys.

2. Subsequent Vehicle Problems: I was given a Kia Sportage that not only carried over the initial damages but had even more defects. The very first scratch I pointed out on the Kia’s front bumper is now being wrongfully claimed as new damage.

3. Inconsistent Damage Reporting: The Goldcar representative acknowledged all the damages, stating they were recorded in a damage report. However, the printed version I received was incomplete due to a printer error. He even took photos on the spot and assured me these would be attached to the main report.

4. Non-existent Accident Claim: After returning the vehicle at Alicante Airport on 22.03.2025, I received an absurd email alleging an accident that never occurred, demanding an accident report for a non-existent incident.

5. FRAUDULENT Practices: On top of all this, Goldcar unilaterally switched insurance packages, added unauthorized extra services, failed to credit my prepayment, and ultimately debited more than their final settlement stated.

Their dismissive customer service response—redirecting me to the intermediary—is unacceptable. Save yourself the trouble and steer clear of Goldcar if you value transparency and fair treatment. This is a textbook example of FRAUD and deceit in the car rental industry.