Winter in Iceland can be quite the beautiful experience. It’s especially great when you can take time to stop wherever and whenever you want to along the journey. However, if you intend on renting a car, BEWARE and stay on top of the rental company’s fine prints and pricing.
My friend Ashley and I did a 10-day trip to southwest Iceland in February 2017 on a very strict budget. We didn’t want to pay for tours, so we decided to rent a car and do all our sight seeing self-guided. In all honesty, it worked out VERY well, but we did hit some big speed bumps (pun intended) along the way. This was our experience…
Planning
Ashley and I reserved the car rental a couple weeks ahead of time. We were charged $495.95 USD upon booking; an acceptable price at about $50 USD/day. We arrived at the Keflavik International Airport and took the shuttle to our rental company, Sixt. Besides waiting what seemed like forever to be helped, we got asked the basic car rental stuff like “Would you like to add insurance?” No. “Would you like to upgrade the vehicle?” No. Blah Blah Blah. They had told us in advance that it would be a compact car with a manual transmission. This is common in countries other than the U.S., so that meant I had to drive. They also stated that we had a 1,000km limit included in the rental agreement and would be charged per km if we went over it. We didn’t know that when we booked it. That’s when we realized we had to pull the calculator out and plan what we wanted to see, and do, by distance.
Two Epic Day Trips
We created an epic sightseeing day trip between Reykjavik and Vik, and also did a day trip around the Golden Circle. By the end of our vacation, we had 20km left to spare when we dropped the car off at the airport. During our driving we encountered plenty of rain, snow, and high winds in certain areas. It wasn’t too bad, but we definitely wished we had a more off-road friendly vehicle. A 4×4 for some of the uphill gravel paths we came across would have been helpful. Just ask Ashley how terrified she was! The BIGGEST problem we encountered, however, was on our second to last day in Iceland.
Ouch.
The Blue Lagoon was our last stop before getting on a plane the next morning, so we drove to Keflavik to stay the night. Both of us were hungry and decided to stop at a local bakery to have some crazy delicious goodies. By the time we were done, outside winds were up to 50mph and we got to the car as quickly as possible. Once inside and getting our stuff straight (mostly fixing our hair), a car parked next to us. All of a sudden, BAM! The guy went to get out of his car and the door flung wide open hitting mine. Scared the snot out of us! The guy started to walk away, so I opened the door and yelled out to him. He explained frantically that his car was a rental too and neither of us had any idea what to do. I gave up trying to talk to him, took a picture of his license plate, and we left.
Returning the Rental
Back to airport we drove, ready to get out of the cold and back to sunny San Diego. Sure enough, the guy doing the inspection saw the small dent on the driver side door. We both explained what happened, showed him the picture, and he told us there was nothing he could do even though we weren’t at fault. NOTHING. Therefore, since we didn’t purchase the insurance they had offered upon renting, we had to pay an additional $395 USD to pay for a brand new door (ridiculous)! Both of us were devastated, and don’t tell Ashley I told you, but there were even waterworks. Like I said, we were on a budget, and that meant we couldn’t afford throwing $400 USD basically in the trash. That brought our 10-day rental up to a total of $890 USD. Boy did we learn our lesson.
What did we learn?
- Don’t rent with Sixt (slow service and just overall bad).
- Get the added insurance or ask your existing provider about out of country insurance.
- Get a vehicle that suits your adventure needs, and know it might be a manual.
- Have a rough route plan in the case of mileage (or km) limits.
- If someone else causes damage, it’s your fault for not preventing it, so cover your butt.
Overall was it worth it? Absolutely. We had a blast on our trip, and I hope you get the chance to explore Iceland too. Just play it smart and always err on the side of caution when renting a vehicle. Always better to be safe than sorry.
Want more posts on Iceland? Check out our Iceland budget tips, hidden gem day trip to Vik, our favorite stops on the Golden Circle, and winter packing list so you can be prepared!
So sorry to know that your budget road trip went out of hand. I guess, these rental companies can do a bit by being considerate though we can’t blame them otherwise..after all they have a business to run. I agree that fixing a dent indeed costs a bomb.Been there, experienced it! Your post sharing your experience and stressing on the importance of an insurance et al is quite informative.
I totally get that they have to run their business and such, but a whole new door for a very minor dent? That’s a little much. Hope your incident wasn’t too bad either! Glad I could spread some tips about how to avoid the costly charges of rental cars here!
Oh no! I’m so sorry that happened. That is a big unexpected cost to incur while traveling and you were lucky to even have those funds available to cover it! It did sound like a great plan to rent a car, and I definitely would have prefered the independence of being able to come and go as I please at my own pace. Sounds like some good lessons that you’re sharing here. I will consider them next time I rent a car out of country, for sure!
Right?! We lucked out big time. Renting the car was absolutely worth it, just with extra precautions next time for sure. Glad I could help!
I never take the extra insurance they offer because it’s quite an additional cost but after reading your post, I am a little scared! I would not want someone else to bang my rental car and me having to pay for it only because of not purchasing that extra insurance! Thanks for the wanring about SIXT. I usually do rent cars from them because they’re cheap and haven’t had a lot of issues yet but there’s always this fear in my mind – what if. Definitely not using them for rental when I go to Iceland. And maybe I should start paying extra for the comprehensive insurance!
I was the SAME way. “Give me the cheapest thing with no add ons please!” but now… definitely have changed my mind. I think the biggest thing to think about is where you are renting and what the conditions will be like.
I am so sorry to hear about your car rental incident. A new door for a small dent does sound a little ridiculous. Well, now we know not to ever opt out of insurance. And thanks for that little list at the end. Very helpful for a first timer like me.
Right? Kind of silly. I appreciate the compliments and am glad you got value out of me wrapping up the post with a little bow 🙂
I would love to visit Iceland and had never considered doing it by renting a car and driving ourselves but it makes sense as it’s cheaper and you have more freedom during your trip. I’m always a bit nervous of rental cars, you do hear of horror stories and I think you were very unlucky in this instance. Hopefully it didn’t spoil your trip too much. Blue Lagoon is on my list of places I want to visit when I finally make it to Iceland.
Iceland is one of the best places to rent a car to travel in. We just got a hit of bad luck on our second to last day unfortunately, but overall it was awesome. I would totally do it again! Now I know what to watch for.
Can’t wait to visit Iceland, not so sure if I’d fancy the winter though. Sorry that the car rental put a damper on your trip and your finances, we had a similar situation in the Azores too. As much as I hate dealing with car rentals, they are a necessary evil for amazing adventures. Looking forward to reading more about your trip in Iceland!
Iceland is absolutely magical, but I definitely want to go back in some warmer months as winter was little crazy. Hopefully your situation in the Azores wasn’t TOO bad either. We have a very love / hate relationship with rental car companies…
We loved driving around Iceland for a couple of weeks but we did our trip during the summer, so had much easier weather conditions to deal with. Your tips on careful planning, especially with reference to the distance permitted on the rental plan. I would always purchase insurance, but there are companies that sell this independently that can be a better deal than the prices offered by the rental car companies. Otherwise you can be stuck paying for things that are totally not your fault!
Oh yea I bet summer was SO NICE! I would really like to go back in the warmer months. We definitely learned the hard way here… but at least we know for next time!
I’m sorry to hear about the car rental incident. We wrote an article about Iceland where we briefly discussed the possibility of this happening -I’m sorry it happened to you. Even I normally don’t opt in for the insurance but Iceland with its roads and weather conditions is a different story. However, despite the car rental incident, seems like you had an amazing adventure. Thank you for sharing it with us.
Oh yea, we definitely made up for it and came up with the cash too, so it wasn’t TOO bad. Wish I read your post about it before we went!!
Thanks for sharing. Before my trip to Iceland in June, I read horror stories about car rentals. Thankfully the company we rented with offered a premium insurance policy (including river crossings!), which wasn’t cheap but well worth it since the two front tires ended up getting destroyed.
WOW! That’s definitely the way to do it! Glad you end up being covered for the front tires. That would have been sooooo expensive!
What an adventure! Sorry to hear about the car rental incident 🙁 I also almost never opt for the insurance but your story makes me feel like the extra money might be worth it. While there i had rented with sixt as well and luckily did not damage the car, but definitely see how expensive it could have been….
It hurt our souls and our wallets, and now that extra few dollars doesn’t seem like anything… glad you had a good experience with them though!
That’s so annoying! This has always been our fear too. Also, I’m shocked at the mileage limit. I didn’t realize companies imposed those any longer.
Yup! Apparently it’s still a thing!
I think any car rental company would’ve done the same thing, so I wouldn’t say it’s Sixt’s fault. They have the policy in place that any damage is paid for unless you have an insurance policy, which is why I always get the excess waiver insurance before I travel. I never pay for expensive insurance offered by the hire company, but instead get a £10 policy with a third party which covers any damage.
Yea we definitely learned that during our trip. Never again! haha
Where are all the pictures?!? What do these places look like that I can’t pronounce? Sounds like It was an adventure.
Coming soon! They’ll be up this week in another post where I list all the details of our road trips!