I would like to ask experienced drivers from the UK how they manage to drive over there with out going on the wrong side of the road? Is it easier because the steering wheel is on the other side? and has anyone ever got confused? I want to hire a car but I'm scared incase I cause an accident. I have been driving for 20yrs, but havent driven abroad. Has anyone any tips that could help me?

Hi Sandy

I have been driving on the continent for the last 10 years and i must say that i find Fuerteventura one of the easiest and most relaxed of countries.
The local drivers dont tend to try and weld themselves to your rear bumper as in other places.
The roads are in good condition as well.
Just keep calm and relaxed and pull over as many times as you need until it just becomes natural
There really isnt anything different about left hand drive cars and you will be amazed how the brain translates your existing skills.

hope this helps
Andy

Hi Andy, thanks for answering. I'm just a scardy cat, it looks really difficult...I imagine myself turning corners on to the wrong side of the road, I might have to follow and copy other cars just to make sure I do it right

I think I'll give it a try next year, I've always got my license on me so I might aswell

just try to allow plenty of time for your journeys
another tip is to nip out for a drive early in the morning whilst its quieter and cooler
just to get a little practice in.

you will be glad you had pushed yourself to try it afterwards

all the best
Andy

i love get out and about in a car on holiday, if i do lapse back in to my UK mode, i make a point of making sure of thinking passanger on curbside, that way you know your driving ok

Only time I ever went wrong was when I came back to blighty and picked up a hire car and promptly drove down the right hand side of the road and insulted a driver coming the other way flashing at me, until i realised it was me that was wrong!
Seriously Fuerte is the Ideal place to 'drive on the wrong side' for the first time, the roads ingeneral are quiet and good surfaces.
One important tip. If you come to a junction and it says STOP, not give way, you should STOP, count to three and then pull away, the greenshirts love to catch tourists on that one. Even if nothing is coming STOP. count 3, then pull away.
I got caught once, but managed to talk my way out of it, (I speak Spanish) a holidaymaker, who was staying in my property did the same and got a £150 fine for it.
(although to be honest he was a pillock and probably threatened the greenshirts, which is not recommended).
Get a car See Fuerte' its beautiful!

i love driving whilst on holiday, one rule i keep in mind is keep the passanger on the kirb side, that way you know your driving ok

Got back last week from a fortnight staying in Corralejo and hired an economy class car (with a/c) through Holiday Autos for the duration. Like a previous poster said, the hire company they use is Orlando who don't have a kiosk at the airport. We were met in arrivals and directed to the bus pick-up point several hundred yards away followed by a 5-10 minute journey to the Orlando unit in El Mattoral. The cost for the two weeks was a very reasonable £159 but their cars aren't that new - our Toyota Yaris had 65k km on the clock and a few dents and scratches that I recorded on my camcorder in case of dispute when I returned it. I needn't have worried though because all they really checked on return was that it had the same level of fuel in the tank as when I picked it up.

The biggest problem was that after being told to return the car 30 minutes before we needed to be at the airport, it was actually a full hour before the minibus turned up at the depot to take us back to the airport. The Orlando desk assistant told us originally that we would only have to wait 20 minutes so we had already complained to her twice about the delay by the time it turned up. Apparently, the driver was waiting for someone at the airport who didn't turn up. I don't know if that was true or not but it was worrying as we only arrived at the flight check-in desks 80 minutes before the flight to then discover that there wasn't a specific check-in desk for the flight to Bristol and that we had to queue up behind other Thomas Cook airline passengers who were on slightly later flights to other airports because that's how Thomas Cook operate their check-in at Fuerteventura airport or at least were that day anyway. We finally checked our luggage in only an hour before the flight so I would advise anyone using Orlando for their car hire to return the car an hour before they need to check in at the airport for peace of mind.

On holiday last year with the family, son in law did the driving. Early one morning my husband had a quick go before any traffic about, but he could not get used to the gear stick being on the other side. To be honest I do not think he gave it a fair enough go, but when I try to badger him to do it (as I want to explore more places) he always says well if you think its that easy - you do it !!

We recently reported a shortage of hired cars in parts of Spain and the Algarve, due to rental suppliers being unable to increase fleet stock levels as a result of the current economic climate.

This has since been borne out by members finding it difficult or impossible to rent cars at their holiday destinations.

However, we now know of at least two members who had successfully reserved cars with Auriga Crown in Majorca and Valencia, but have now received emails informing them at very short notice that their bookings have been cancelled due to the non-availability of vehicles. No alternative options were made available to them and it seems the only option may be public transport.

We are not suggesting that any or all bookings with Auriga Crown are at risk but anyone holding reservations with that company, either directly or through a car hire broker, may like to keep an eye on their email inboxes or spam folders for any unexpected or unwanted news.

David

hello!! Has anyone on the forum hired a car recently? were staying in correljo and there will be 6 of us, i was hoping to get some advice on car hire companys in the town!! were off on wednesday and we will be wanting a car for a couple days, any help would be good thanks!

there seems to be a bit of a shortage of big cars in fuerte, when we looked around correljo's hire companys all the bigger cars were out!! we ended hiring a a nine seater vivaro van off of hertz on the main street for £205.00 for 3 days all in. A very good deal

Try Topcar Autoreisen or Payless - both have offices at the airport, are reasonably priced and have decent cars. we usually book the cheapest and find that we are upgraded to an Astra or similar.
I would avoid Orlando - it can take an age to get to their office and the car we had was poor.

Payless Car Hire
Hi all,

I have returned from a fab week in Fuerteventura where I stayed at the Suite Atlantis Hotel in Corralejo. I thought I'd just pass on my quick review of Payless Car Hire before I do my hotel review in the other section.

I found out about Payless through this site from an older post that I think is from 2008. Since that was about 2 years ago I thought I'd do a 2010 update
I made a reservation with them on their website about 4 weeks ago at payless.es website and got the email back stating that my reservation was confirmed. I emailed them on the day I was to leave to ask them to confirm if all was well and they replied back pretty swiftly confirming my arrangements. I hired an Opel Corsa 1.2 from them for 7 days at a cost of 124 Euros which I thought was excellent for 7 days hire!!!!

I arrived at Fuerteventura airport at 9:30pm and found their office with ease. They are located amongst the other hire companies in the baggage collection area. Within 5 minutes I had the keys to the vehicle! They checked my passport and license (they weren't interested in the counterpart) and offered me the option to pay the balance by Credit Card (not sure if they accept Debit Cards) or Cash. I paid in cash signed a form and then was handed a map of the Island. The process was very swift in comparison to the queue that had built up at the Hertz desk with the Hertz guy going on to a customer about paying a deposit for this excess and that excess etc. The Payless chap advised that all I needed to do was to bring the car back with the same amount of fuel as when I collected it.

After I got the keys to the car, my baggage had just arrived LOL! So that was good timing! Anyway, I followed the directions the chap had given me to collect the vehicle. It is out of the arrivals entrance, across the road, up the stairs to the car park and Payless is the very last bays on your right if your back is to the airport.

The car was an approx 2 year old 2 door Opel Corsa with about 30,000 miles on the clock. I was surprised that it included a car phone bluetooth kit (factory fitted) and more importantly it had aircon (phew)! It was in ok cosmetic condition for a hire car but did have some scuffs etc on the body work. However, the Payless vehicle check form was not completed so it seemed to me that they were not bothered about the ccosmetic damage (scratches/scuffs) to the vehicle.

The vehicle was clean inside and smelt like it had just been cleaned. The only thing I needed to do was to get the tyres pumped up at the first petrol station I passed. The vehicle ride didn't feel quite right so when I pulled up to the first petrol station the attendent kindly pumped up the tyres for me! After that the vehicle ride was fine!

On return of the vehicle, all that I had to do was park it back in the Payless bay and hand the keys back to the chap at there office in the airport. And that was that! However, the chap before me that was collecting a vehicle was asked to pay a deposit for the fuel that he was told that he'll get back when he returned the vehicle. So it maybe the case that they do ask for a fuel deposit...but they didn't ask me for one!

Anyway, it was good service and I had no issues at all with Payless or the vehicle. But make sure you check the tyre pressures Hope this helps.
Cheers

as above, i use payless and that routine is the same no hassle at all, they did ask me for a 30 euro deposit for the fuel as it was 3/4 full that of course was no issue, and you get that back on the cars return. i booked a opel (vauxhall) astra estate but they gave me a 7 seater safira, so i got up graded, doing the same this year aswell, and yes you can pay cash at the desk no credit card needed.