Southern Self Drive Reviews 8

TrustScore 3.5 out of 5

3.3

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Company details

  1. Car Rental Agency
  2. Car Leasing Service
  3. Van Rental Agency

Written by the company

Southern Self Drive has and continues to provide vehicle rental to Portsmouth & Fareham and surrounding areas for over 60 years.


Contact info

3.3

Average

TrustScore 3.5 out of 5

8 reviews

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4-star
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1-star

Replied to 100% of negative reviews

Typically replies within 24 hours

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Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Bait and switcvh

Requested a reservation (I drive only automatics) and requested a small automatic. The car requested was unavailable but a larger, more expensive, vehicle was. This is not the first time that SSD has done a bait and switch. Plus, quick to take a deposit, slow to return.

May 19, 2025
Unprompted review
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Reply from Southern Self Drive

Hi Rani,

Thank you for your feedback.

When booking through our portal, a message does appear advising that certain vehicles, such as our small automatics, have limited availability. This is why your booking is initially marked as “requested” — no funds are taken, only held pending until we’re able to confirm availability.

At present, we have just two small automatics on our fleet, so they can book up quickly. To avoid disappointment, we do recommend booking well in advance if you have a specific vehicle in mind.

Our team offered a medium automatic as an alternative based on what was available at the time — this was simply to ensure you weren’t left without a vehicle altogether, not to cause frustration.

I hope this helps clarify how the system works, and that you can see our staff were doing their best to assist within the options available.

Kind regards,
Alexi

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Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Great value van hire

We hired a van - I was surprised how cheap it was.
The customer service staff were excellent. Really helpful, and efficient.

January 30, 2025
Unprompted review
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Reply from Southern Self Drive

Thank you for your kind review!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

I needed to rent a van as soon as…

I needed to rent a van as soon as possible for the same day. Spoke with Emma and she was extremely helpful. They made the process so easy and hassle-free and I would definitely use them again. Thank you to everyone, and a massive thank you to Emma for everything.

November 25, 2024
Unprompted review
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Reply from Southern Self Drive

Hi Nikita, thank you for your kind review. I have passed on your kind words to Emma and it has made her day!

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

Hired a 7 half tonne to move home

Hired a 7 half tonne to move home. The staff at Portsmouth, particularly Les (after initially misold info about parking by the Fareham branch) were fantastic. Nice clean vehicle, unbeatable hire prices and a great service. I would recommend SSD to anyone looking to hire a vehicle in the South.

July 2, 2024
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Large Economy means Small??

SSD provide a choice of Small, Medium, Large or Extra Large and that’s how they are categorised by SSD on thier booking system when confirmation arrived - but rather than advertising as those names they’ve instead labelled Small as “Large Economy” on website. No idea what dictionary that’s come from but it’s not English and blatantly false advertising.

Queried with SSD that Economy in car rental terms means basic compared to Premium, Luxury or Executive so nothing to do with size but just got waffle trying to justify.

Booking cancelled.

May 19, 2024
Unprompted review
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Reply from Southern Self Drive

Hi Colin, I apologise for the confusion. We put examples and measurements on our website to give our customers an idea of what vehicle they can expect. We have 3 cars in our Economy/Small category, so the Large Economy is the largest of these vehicles. It is necessary to do this to demonstrate the difference between the sizes in the Economy group, i.e. a Vauxhall Corsa compared to a Fiat 500. We would hate this to put people off from hiring vehicles for an affordable price and I have passed your feedback on to the relevant member of staff. We hope you could give us another chance and if you call us, we would be more than happy to advise on a vehicle that would suit your needs best!

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Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Wheel chair access

I spoke to a Lady Called Sammie re hiring a wheel chair access car. The price is amazing as for mileage it is to die for.
This company should receive all and any awards for the help for all disabled people

January 29, 2024
Unprompted review
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Reply from Southern Self Drive

Hello Mrs Marks, thank you for taking the time to leave a kind review. It is reviews like yours that helps spread awareness of how we can help wheelchair bound individuals get out and about, whether to hospital appointments or spending time with their family and friends!

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

AVOID AVOID AVOID

Booked a minibus for a day trip. Booking confirmed by email, phoned company to double check. Was told booking cannot be honoured and that it would take 5 days to get a refund.

please avoid this company

September 28, 2022
Unprompted review
Rated 5 out of 5 stars

100% Top Quality Company.

Today I called into SSD to arrange a weeks minibus hire for next month, the young woman that dealt with my booking (sorry, didn't get her name) was extremely helpful, friendly and efficient and sorted my booking with professional ease. The price for a weeks hire for a 9 seat minibus, is the cheapest I have found in the Portsmouth area,, so I will definitely be hiring future vehicles from SSD again.
If you want a helpful, friendly and efficient service from a vehicle rental company with very competitive prices,,,
I would strongly recommend Southern Self Drive!!!

June 21, 2022
Unprompted review

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