Get up to speed on car hire

Last week’s special feature on hiring a car generated a lot of interest. Here’s a selection of your own experiences

They delivered a small replacement car within the hour and a full-sized one the next day. Trailfinders included comprehensive cover, so there was no charge. Avis could not have been more efficient. GREG PLENTY

Too many checks

You can’t really expect us to go through all the things suggested in the “Before you drive away” section. Can you imagine at Malaga airport testing the clutch, then attempting to get back into the airport to complain? There is no one to see if you are OK with the clutch or in need of the mirror they use to spot underside damage.

It has got so bad that I take a couple of extra days and regularly drive to the Costa del Sol in my own fully insured British car. ROD DANES

Easy in Espana

We’ve hired vehicles in Spain up to five times a year for the past 14 years, at Murcia and Alicante airports. I always go for the cheapest economy car (such as Renault Clio 5 door) using doitspain.com or carjet.com, and have nearly always had cheap hire of reasonable to excellent (low-mileage, good spec) cars with no problems.

I have the insurance4 carhire.com Europe policy, so a polite but firm “no thanks” to any comments about extra insurance has never created a problem.

Magical Andalusia

I enjoyed the feature on Andalusia (“Absolute Andalusia”, April 22). It’s such a neglected area, as everyone takes cheap flights to the beach resorts. I have taken many holidays in those hills, yet always manage to discover a new whitewashed town, stunning view or Moorish One thing to be aware of: ensure the transaction is in euros as normally your rate is better than the car hire-company rate. GORDON SPOONER

Lions and 4x4s

My husband and I have been renting 4x4s in southern Africa for more than 20 years. We hardly see citadel. A place not to be missed is the ravishing town of Ronda, above, clinging to a deep gorge with a spectacular bridge called the New Bridge, even though it’s over 600 years old, connecting the old and new towns. Ronda also claims to have one of the oldest bullrings in Spain, dating from 1762 and which is still in use. Its attached museum anyone until we make stops for food, fuel and the odd night in a comfortable bed with a hot shower. We pick up in Johannesburg and travel as far in our two-week holiday as is possible: Zimbabwe, Zambia, Namibia and Botswana. We’ve seen so much while camping in our tent on the roof. We never go without our evening gin shows faded photographs of young toreadors. The old town is cobbled with steep narrow streets and white-balconied houses trailing with flowers and drying clothes.

The new town has wide squares with bars and cafés and is one of the busiest spots in the hills. DIANNE BOARDMAN WINS A £250 RAILBOOKERS VOUCHER and tonic or glass of Champagne thanks to our fridge, and the hire company don’t expect the vehicle to be returned without the odd scratch from the bundu!

We’ve had the odd lion in camp at night, a stray elephant, and a beautiful hyena nosing around our cooking area for leftovers. VICKY BRANCH