SRC Rent Car Reviews 

I want to warn others about my recent experience with SRC Rent Car at their Florence location (Reservation #65005979). What should have been a straightforward rental turned into one of the most stressful and dishonest travel experiences I’ve ever had.

Forced Insurance (€400)
Despite being covered by my credit card insurance, I was told by staff that unless I purchased their additional insurance, I would lose my reservation and forfeit nearly €700 already prepaid. The agent insisted the “system would not allow” me to proceed without it. This was not a choice—it was coercion under threat of losing the car entirely.

No Staff at Offices
When we arrived (well within the 6-hour grace period), neither of SRC’s two Florence offices were staffed. Both the glass office and the brown building were locked and vacant. We wasted over an hour walking back and forth with heavy luggage and a senior family member before finally being let in. This unnecessary delay then became their excuse for claiming we were “late.”

Damaged & Wrong Vehicle
Instead of the large station wagon we reserved, we were handed a smaller, heavily damaged SUV—scratched panels, dents, and poor interior cleanliness. It was clearly unsuitable for rental, but by this point, after the threats and delays, we had no choice but to accept it.

Systemic Pattern of Abuse
After my experience, I began researching reviews and discovered many others describing the same scam: customers being told their cards were blocked or their reservations in danger unless they paid around €400 extra. I’ve attached one such recent review (from September 2025) showing nearly identical circumstances. This is not an isolated incident but a disturbing pattern of dishonesty.

Conclusion:
SRC Rent Car’s practices are misleading, coercive, and exploitative of travelers who are tired, vulnerable, and under time pressure. I strongly advise avoiding this company. I am pursuing this matter with Italian and EU consumer protection agencies and will be raising it with local government officials.

Save yourself the stress—choose a different rental company.

I want to advice everyone reading this to not use this car rental provider. We have been scammed at the desk when picking up the car. The lady said our credit card was blocked and was not working multiple times. We could only get the car when we paid 400 euro's for full coverage and extra's. As we were with a very little kid after a long flight we decided to pay it. When we later asked our bank if the card was blocked, they confirmed nothing happened. A big scam. Also discover cars , the intermediary we used, used a lot of words to say they could not do anything for us. Which also shows that you can better not use them as an intermediadery. They do not have your back as a customer. Stay away from both of them. We will not get our money back, but I hope I can save others from these scammers.

We booked a car in Comiso and when we arrived, the staff member wasn’t at the counter — we had to call and wait for him to show up. He was unhelpful, and simply handed us the keys, telling us the car was out the front. He didn’t walk out with us or do the handover as their own policy requires:

""During delivery of the vehicle, the Customer undertakes to check its condition and equipment together with the personnel assigned by the Lessor…"

The car was dirty on the outside and not the SUV we had booked — instead of a Seat Arona, we were given a smaller hatchback Cupra Leon. When we checked it, we saw clear pre-existing damage (rim damage on the right side and scuffs near the wheel arch). Thankfully, we always take a full 360° time-stamped video, so it’s all documented.

After returning the car, with no staff present again, we dropped the keys in the box. Later we received an email falsely accusing us of damaging the rims — the exact damage that was already there. Despite sending them our video evidence, they claimed it was our responsibility to notify them before driving away (something they never gave us the chance to do, since no staff accompanied us). They then went ahead and charged our card.

This company is dishonest, unprofessional, and operates like a scam. They never denied the damage was pre-existing, but still forced us to pay for it. Avoid them at all costs.

We rented a van from SRC Rent a Car at Palermo Airport. Upon returning the vehicle, we personally handed it over to the employee, who checked it with us and confirmed there was no damage. We then proceeded to check in for our flight back to Rome.

To our shock, shortly after, we received an email from the same employee claiming that the boot handle was damaged. This was extremely frustrating, as the van was only used to load and unload our bags, and no such damage existed when we returned it. We felt completely cheated.

We immediately went back to their office to dispute this false claim. The employee was extremely rude, and insisted on forfeiting our deposit. My husband strongly objected and demanded proof, asking them to send an email confirming that the van was returned without damage. We waited around 45 minutes in the airport, but the issue was not resolved. Eventually, the employee reluctantly agreed to send the email.

This is what he sent in the email: ‘the insurance covers this type of damage’ Yet, despite this, they still kept our deposit.
This happened on 10th August, and to this day, we have not received any refund. It is clear they have no intention of returning it.
SRC Rent a Car acted in a dishonest and unprofessional manner, and we would strongly advise others to avoid this company.

I highly advise not to use this company, which is highly incompetent and dishonest. We were supposed to rent a car in Catania airport to go to Milazzo. First of all, there was nobody at the counter and we waited for 10 minutes. Then, they could not charge a deposit due to some IT issue on their side. Taking a deposit is obvisoulsy a prerequisite in their procedure. My bank confirmed it approved the transaction. But, according to them, there was a generalized Visa problem….. Which dis not seem to affect car renters around us.
We spent one hour there trying to fix the issue. And, we dediced to finally take a bus. We were supposed to get the refund of the charge for the car rental which we booked on line. Of course, we did not get anything…

We rented a Opel Mocca for a week in Sicily and we booked the car with full coverage/insurrance. The car was great, as good as new (10.000 Milage) but when we returned the car SRC still managed to invoice additional expenses. Companies like this have the intention to pull money from your pocket and are not build around Customer Experience. This was my last experience with SRC

We booked a SEAT Arona, but upon arrival we were upgraded to a CUPRA Formentor free of charge, what a nice surprise! The staff offered us cleaning service and full gas upfront at a price cheaper than the gas station. The car had almost no kilometers on it and was in pristine condition.

Drop-off went just as smoothly. The lady asked if we wanted to accompany the inspection, and we did. She performed a thorough check and confirmed everything was fine, no issues found.

Honestly, I’m surprised by the poor reviews on here. My advice: get the insurance coverage and be courteous to the staff. That’s all it takes for a wonderful rental experience.

We were really happy with our experience with SRC at Pisa Airport. The car was ready with no waiting time on our arrival, and similarly when we dropped off on our return.
No issues with the car, it wasn't the newest (60km on the clock) but for the price we paid was great value.

I don't recommend it. There was no damage to the car for a week. After returning it, none of the employees commented on its condition. There was no reason to. The car was returned in perfect condition. However, two days later, they wrote that after a thorough inspection, they found damage and were demanding payment. Of course, this was unfounded, as there was no damage. If you don't want to get upset, stay away from SRC.

Rented a T-Roc from SRC, hoping to get a more premium vehicle. Unfortunately there was a lot of instances of damage and 70k on the car when we collected it, which was disappointing, took photos of the damage which took time but in our haste didn’t take photos of the whole car. Got pulled for damage, really don’t think that it was anything we did that caused it, the position you would know or hear it. But we were charged £260 after reducing out excess. Doubled the car rental pretty much.

We rented a car in Pisa through SRC Cars and had a terrible experience from start to finish. First, they gave us a very old, worn-down Fiat 500 – nothing like what we expected. It had no proper accessories, and the overall condition was poor.

At pickup, they pushed us aggressively to pay extra for “better insurance,” using scare tactics and unclear explanations. We felt pressured and ended up paying the additional amount just to be safe, though it felt completely unethical.

We carefully photographed the car before driving off and treated it with extreme care – it was parked in a garage the entire time. Upon return, they told us to go inside the reception while they inspected the vehicle. Moments later, they came in and claimed there was a small dent on the side – something we absolutely did not cause.

We strongly suspect they caused the damage themselves while we were inside. The whole situation felt like a setup – dishonest and manipulative.

This company is not trustworthy, and what they’re doing is simply disgusting. I’m seriously considering taking further action and reporting this behavior because no one deserves to be treated this way.
I do not recommend renting a car here at all.
They charged us €245 for a 1 cm, miniature dent, which – I still firmly believe – they caused themselves while we were inside the office.
It’s truly unfortunate that companies like this ruin people’s holidays just to make extra money through dishonest means.
Absolutely disgraceful.

The car was ok, no troubles with getting it but if you dont book the stupid expenisv insurence from them they will rip your wallet for 100 euro for a car cleaning and make up some minour scratch what they say is made by you

I had a confirmed reservation with SRC Rent Car at Linate Airport, but was refused the rental at the counter because my documents were from different countries. My passport was from one country, my driver’s license from another, and my debit card from a third. In today’s world, this isn’t unusual. People live internationally and often have valid documents from different places. If that’s an issue for your rental process, it should be clearly stated on the website—before people pay and show up.

Hiwever, the woman at the desk was kind and did her best to help, even though the policy was out of her hands.

Hopefully, SRC updates its booking info or rethinks this rule. It’s not practical for international travelers.
UPD 24/06: I was told in a email by SRC that I won't receive a refund if my review won't be deleted :)

We picked up our car at the Catania airport. Davide and Giulia were efficient and knowledgeable. We got full insurance coverage and had no issues. The car was in excellent condition.

If I could give this company sub zero stars I would. This company rented a car that was not road worthy. We took out extra insurance for extreme weather at their suggestion as we were driving to a ski resort. The car broke down, we had to pay for a transfer to the airport as they could not send anyone for 3 days to look at the vehicle. Then 3.5 weeks later our credit card was charged almost 2000 euros for a fuel pump repair and lost revenue. At no point were we informed this charge would be made. Our insurance excess cover wouldn't cover the charges SRC made as they 'didn't make sense' to them. They said our extreme weather protection we'd taken out at the desk wouldn't cover us as it was our fault we'd taken the car to a ski resort. Their emails were aggressive - AVOID this company and VIP cars who use book them. Use Gold Car. They are excellent.

Ho lasciato i miei occhiali da sole di marca nell'auto a noleggio e ho chiamato qualche ora dopo la restituzione dell'auto per riaverli. Mi hanno risposto che non c'erano più. Beffa. Erano al 100% lì, nella porta laterale. Avrebbero dovuto controllare e richiamare, ma non l'hanno fatto. Poi non hanno risposto. Sono riuscita a chiamare da un secondo numero diverso, poi avrebbero dovuto richiamare di nuovo e non hanno richiamato e ora non rispondono nemmeno a quel numero. Mentre si discuteva della questione, la signora che rispondeva al telefono parlava con un'amica di avere fame e di ordinare una pizza, senza prendermi affatto sul serio. Ho avuto l'impressione che nessuno abbia controllato se i miei occhiali fossero lì. Ho denunciato il fatto alla polizia.
I left my brand name sunglasses in the rental car and called a few hours after returning the car about getting them back. They said they were gone. Mock. They were 100% there, in the side door. They were supposed to check and call back, they did not call back. Then they didn't answer. I managed to call from a second different number, then they were supposed to call back again and did not call back and now they are not answering that number either. While discussing the matter, the lady answering the phone talked to her friend about being hungry and whether they were ordering pizza without taking me seriously at all. I got the impression that no one even checked it to see if my glasses were there. I reported the matter to the police.

We had a terrible experience with SRC Rent a Car. We followed all the terms of the rental agreement, returned the car in perfect condition, and yet, nearly a month later, we still haven’t received our deposit back.

On January 13, they assured us that the refund would be in our bank account within 5-7 days, but here we are, still waiting. No proper communication, no updates—just endless delays. This is completely unacceptable and feels like a scam. I would not recommend renting from them unless you’re prepared to fight for your own money.

Car broke down on the highway, causing a pretty dangerous situation, due to a sloppy repair job that was previously done on the underbody of the car.

Not suggested at all

I do not recommend, please read this review before you rent a car from this rental company. I rented the car at the beginning of November. I bought full insurance, everything was without any problems until I checked my account at the end of January the following year. The rental company without my knowledge, without informing me took money from my account. After writing an email to explain the situation, they said it was for a traffic ticket, after which the contact broke off and until now I have not received any confirmation of the ticket. It looks like a usual scam. I do not recommend renting a car from these scammers.

I strongly advise against hiring a car from this provider!
I made the mistake of paying the entire price in advance. Unfortunately, when I arrived at Catania airport, I could only show my driving licence document digitally. I asked for an alternative option and would have even settled for a partial refund. I sent eight emails over the next few days. Despite the language barrier, I took the time to write all the emails in Italian. All I received in reply was a reference to the terms and conditions and a sham offer. On arrival at the airport, I repeatedly explained that it would not be possible to send my driving licence document from Germany (too long postal delivery times and public holidays, 10-day holiday) and asked for a refund. I paid 728 euros for a service that I was unable to use! In all the 25 countries in the world I have travelled to so far, I have NEVER experienced such a bad and unemphatic service as at Sicily Rent Car!