Rental Car Total-Cost Comparator
The rental quote that really costs least, with every fee, the fuel and the excess.
Try before you buy.
- Free preview: the cheapest offer and its true total in full, with the first rows of the breakdown (up to 3); every other figure is hidden.
- Locked until you unlock it: download, copy and print.
- Unlock: Pro pass, ₹179 for 30 days or ₹79 for 1 week, a one-time payment that never renews. Unlock: Pro pass, $5.99 for 30 days or $2.99 for 1 week, a one-time payment that never renews.
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An estimate from the quotes you enter, not insurance or financial advice: read what each cover includes and excludes before you buy it.
What each offer really costs
Saved trips
Save this trip and its offers to come back to them or to set trips side by side. Saved trips stay in this browser; back them up as a file.
Before you sign
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About the Rental Car Total-Cost Comparator
A rental car’s advertised rate is rarely what you pay. Cover at the desk or a separate excess insurance, the excess left if the car is damaged, the fuel policy (full to full, or a pre-paid tank that is not refunded), distance limits with a fee for each extra km, tolls and toll devices, one-way fees, additional and young drivers, child seats, tax added on top and a card fee on a quote in another currency all change the total — and the deposit must be available on your card.
This comparator takes your trip (days, the distance you will drive, the car’s fuel use and the pump price) and up to four quotes, and works out each one’s true total, the cost a day, how much more it is than its rental rate, what you would pay if the car is damaged (the true total plus the excess left after your cover) and what your card must hold at pick-up. It works for a self-drive rental in India, a car at a US airport or a hire car in Europe, in any currency; save trips to come back to them or to set them side by side.
Without a pass, the free preview shows the cheapest offer and its true total, with the first rows of the breakdown; a Pro pass unlocks every figure, the copy, the CSV, the PDF report and saved trips side by side.
How to use it
- Choose the currency of your quotes, then enter the rental days, the distance you will drive, the car’s fuel use and the fuel price at the pump (or work the days out from your pick-up and return times).
- For each offer, enter its rate (a day or in all), fees, tax added on top, the cover you will take and the excess left, the deposit, the fuel policy, the distance included and the fee for each extra km; open the extras for tolls, drivers, child seats, one-way fees and a card fee.
- Read the cheapest true total, each offer’s total and the breakdown, and which offer costs least if the car is damaged.
- Save the trip, then copy the summary, download the CSV or the PDF report, or print — with a pass, or after unlocking this result.
Examples
An app rental at ₹2,400 a day plus a ₹300 fee, with 140 km a day and ₹11 an extra km, 18% GST on top (excess ₹10,000); an unlimited-km plan at ₹3,100 a day with cover of ₹299 a day, 18% GST on top (excess ₹2,500); a local company at ₹2,600 a day with 600 km included and ₹9 an extra km, GST included (excess ₹15,000)
The local company is cheapest at ₹14,250 in all; the app rental, the lowest rate, comes to ₹18,233.40 once its ₹300 fee, 330 extra km, GST and fuel are added; and if the car is damaged, the unlimited plan costs least (₹19,632.46)
Off-airport with a pre-paid tank: $343.15 in all, $68.63 a day; the airport counter with a damage waiver is the dearest ($610.60) but the cheapest if the car is damaged
The broker deal with separate excess insurance: €417.00 in all; the airport desk with zero-excess cover: €573.50
Common uses
- Choose between an airport desk, an off-airport company and an online deal with the fees and the fuel included.
- See whether an unlimited-km plan beats a cheaper rate with a daily km limit for your route.
- Set the cost of zero-excess cover against what you would pay if the car is damaged.
- Plan a road trip budget with tolls, extra drivers and a one-way drop.
How the true total is worked out
- Rental = the rate × the days (or the rate for the whole rental), plus the fees in the quote.
- Cover = the cover bought at the desk a day × the days (up to its cap) + a separate excess insurance for the trip.
- Fuel: full to full or same to same = the litres the trip uses × the pump price, where litres = distance × fuel use (km a litre, litres a 100 km, or miles a US or UK gallon: 1 US gallon = 3.785411784 litres, 1 UK gallon = 4.54609 litres, 1 mile = 1.609344 km). A pre-paid tank = its price + its service fee, with pump fuel only beyond what it holds (the fuel you bring back is not refunded). Fuel included = 0; an electric car = kWh × the price a kWh.
- Extra distance = the km over the allowance (a day × the days, or for the rental) × the fee a km.
- Tolls = the toll device a day (up to its cap) + the tolls; extras = one-way fee + each driver, the young-driver fee, each child seat and other extras a day (each up to its cap) + one-off extras.
- Tax added on top applies to what the rental company charges; a card fee on a quote in another currency applies to that and its tax.
- If the car is damaged = the true total + the excess left after your cover. The deposit is held, not spent: your card needs it and the charges available at pick-up.
Before you sign
Read what the cover includes and excludes (tyres, glass, the underside and lost keys are often left out) and the excess that remains. Photograph the car and the fuel gauge at pick-up and at return. Most companies charge for each 24 hours from pick-up, so returning an hour late can add a day.
In the European Union, third-party liability insurance is compulsory and should be included in the rental price, car hire has no 14-day cooling-off period, and you must tell the company when you book if you will drive into another country.
Sources
- Your Europe (European Union) — hiring a car
- Fuel units: 1 US gallon = 3.785411784 L, 1 UK gallon = 4.54609 L, 1 mile = 1.609344 km (exact definitions).
Limitations
- Every figure is yours to enter from your quotes; the examples are made up to show how it works.
- It compares costs, not cover: two covers with the same price may cover different things. It is an estimate, not insurance or financial advice.
- Fuel use and tolls are estimates; companies may charge more for refuelling a car not returned full.
- All offers are compared in one currency: convert a quote in another currency first, and add your card’s fee for it.
Privacy
On this device: nothing is sent
Everything is worked out in your browser. Your trip, your quotes and your saved trips stay on your device, kept in this browser so they are there next time.
Frequently asked questions
What do I get without a pass?
Without a pass, Rental Car Total-Cost Comparator shows the cheapest offer and its true total in full, with the first rows of the breakdown (up to 3); every other figure is hidden. Until you unlock it, the result can’t be downloaded, copied or printed. A Pro, Premium or Ultimate pass, a one-time payment that never renews, unlocks the full result. The pricing page lists the passes and their prices.
What does a rental car really cost?
The rate plus the fees, the cover, the fuel, any km over the allowance, tolls, extras such as an additional driver or a child seat, tax added on top and a card fee on a foreign-currency quote. In the example on the page, an app rental advertised at ₹2,400 a day comes to ₹18,233.40 for 3 days and 750 km, or ₹6,077.80 a day.
Full to full or a pre-paid tank: which is cheaper?
Usually full to full: you pay only for the fuel you use, at the pump price. A pre-paid tank costs its price and often a service fee, and the fuel you bring back is not refunded, so it pays only if you will use almost the whole tank and the company’s price is close to the pump’s.
What is the excess, and what does the comparator do with it?
The excess (or deductible) is what you still pay if the car is damaged or stolen, after the cover you have. The comparator shows each offer’s true total and, beside it, the total if the car is damaged, so you can weigh a cheaper rate with a high excess against an offer with more cover. Whether to buy cover is your decision: read what each one covers.
Is the deposit part of the cost?
No: it is held on your card and released after the rental, unless there are charges. Your card must have the deposit and the charges available at pick-up, which the comparator shows for each offer.
How are rental days counted?
Most companies charge each 24 hours from the time you pick the car up, so a car returned 30 minutes late can cost another day unless the company gives a grace period. Enter your pick-up and return times and the grace period, and the comparator works out the days.
Can I cancel a car hire booking in the EU?
The EU’s 14-day cooling-off period does not apply to car hire, so a booking made online or by phone can be cancelled only as its terms allow. Check the cancellation terms before you pay.