A frequently asked question from customers is whether or not you can guarantee a particular make and model when renting a car. The simple answer in YES, however only in specific circumstances. As covered in our
car hire or similar article, the car makes and models displayed on our system when quoting are for illustration purposes only and are representative of the class / size / configuration of the car you are booking and not necessarily the actual car you’ll receive.
Why can’t you guarantee make and model of a rental car?
Rental agents manage huge fleets and whilst generally will adopt a specific make / model for a given category, for example, Avis in
Spain may have a fleet of 5 door Ford Focus’ to satisfy their ‘5dr compact class’ fleet, this may not be the case for all locations. Rental agents change fleets as quickly as every 3 months, although 12-18 months is more common, meaning a rental agent will have a ‘rolling’ fleet of brand new and older cars available. Should they change the make and model of a model in a particular class, this could lead to 2 models being available for the same class. For instance, should Avis replace its fleet of Ford Focus’ with the increasingly popular Kia Ceed (a direct competitor for the Ford Focus), you may end up with a Kia Ceed and not a Ford Focus as both models will be on the fleet until all Ford Focus’ are replaced. Of course, during that transition, the supplier could bring another make / model onto the fleet, A Volkswagen Golf for instance to replace the Kia Ceed, resulting in possibly 3 different makes and models all serving the same 5 door compact class category.
All that being said, there are cases where we can guarantee a specific make and model, but this is usually in the more specific and specialist car rental market. A good example here is the Fiat 500 cabrio, if you want a
rent a convertible in Alicante, the cheeky little Fiat is a great entry point into this market and you’ll usually see this car listed specifically as a ‘Guaranteed Make & Model’ meaning just that, if you book a Fiat 500 Convertible, you’ll received a Fiat 500 Convertible, guaranteed! Another example might be a Mitsubishi Pajero 4x4 rental in Muscat, we arrange more 4x4 rentals in Oman than anywhere else in the world and the Mitsubishi Pajero is the default make and model in country and often guaranteed as a rental car.