1. The daily rate is the first false signal
Aggregators show the "base" rate: no accident & theft cover, no unlimited mileage, no airport transfer. Once those lines are added at checkout, the final price can be a lot higher than the one you clicked on.
Ask for the final price before any booking. At driveXplore, the price you see on the site includes:
- Daily rate
- Third-party insurance and accident & theft cover
- Unlimited mileage
- Additional driver
If you pick up at the terminal, the airport transfer is added: €20 each way at Otopeni, €15 at Băneasa. Pickup or return outside our opening hours adds €10 per trip. Each one is a separate line in the offer, before you confirm.
2. Check the excess on the accident & theft cover
With some operators, "included" accident & theft cover comes with a €1,500–2,000 excess: you pay the first €1,500 of any scratch. One dented door near the Old Town gets you close to that quickly.
With us, the excess is the deposit: €50 on most cars, €100–200 on the Mercedes C-Class, Mercedes V-Class, BMW 520d and BMW 540i. For damage the cover pays for, that's all you pay, whatever the repair costs. Glass, mirrors, rims, wheels, tyres and the underside aren't covered by it; Premium Protection covers those. If something happens, follow our instructions on the phone and carry on.
3. Watch the card deposit
This is where the market differs most. Large companies block €500-€1500 on your card for the whole rental period: money you cannot use for anything else.
At driveXplore, the deposit is €50 on most cars. Paid at pickup, returned at dropoff. We do not block the card.
4. Fuel policy
You will see three options in the market:
- Full → full: fair, and what we do. The car comes with a full tank; you return it the same way.
- Full → empty: you pay for the tank in advance. In practice, you lose any fuel left over.
- Empty → empty: the least transparent setup. You pay "estimated" fuel at inflated prices.
It's better to start with an operator on full → full. With us there's no refuelling fee: we check the fuel gauge when you return the car and charge only the difference to a full tank, at the pump price. You don't need to show a receipt.
5. Check Google reviews, not the website
Any operator's site can be full of glowing testimonials. Check Google Maps and TripAdvisor: search the company name and read the most recent reviews, especially 1-3 star reviews. That is where real problems show up.
driveXplore has 5.0 on Google, based on real customer reviews. You can see them all on our Google profile.
