FIRST CAR SOUTH AFRICA Car Rental Reviews

CAPE TOWN, ZA - Reviewed by GUY - 13 February 2025

" autoeurope is my place to go "

" at drop off, the member of staff insisted a few times too much about telling me how often european customers give him some euro's in order to have the car fully inspected without any remarks "

Value for Money: 10
Efficiency of Counter Staff: 10
Expediency of Drop-off: 3
Condition of the Vehicle: 10

JOHANNESBURG, ZA - Reviewed by PETERNELLE - 23 January 2025

" Trustworthy, friendly staff who look like they enjoy theorie Jobs. "

" Always friendly en fast. "

Value for Money: 10
Efficiency of Counter Staff: 10
Expediency of Drop-off: 10
Condition of the Vehicle: 10

CAPE TOWN, ZA - Reviewed by STUART - 07 January 2025

" Easy and simple to use! "

" They are great! "

Value for Money: 10
Efficiency of Counter Staff: 10
Expediency of Drop-off: 10
Condition of the Vehicle: 10

JOHANNESBURG, ZA - Reviewed by VLADIMIR - 28 November 2024

" I have been using Auto Europe services for a long time and I am satisfied. "

" When I picked up the car, First Car blocked 3000 ZAR on my credit card and to this day they have not refunded my money. We forgot to fill up with gas, but that is certainly not worth that much money "

Value for Money: 9
Efficiency of Counter Staff: 9
Expediency of Drop-off: 9
Condition of the Vehicle: 9

DURBAN, ZA - Reviewed by POOBALAN - 12 January 2024

" all good "

" In general i was ok except at the end when they billed my for Petrol when i returned the car full. Now i have to claim and go through all the bureaucracy. very frustrating. "

Value for Money: 8
Efficiency of Counter Staff: 9
Expediency of Drop-off: 6
Condition of the Vehicle: 8

JOHANNESBURG, ZA - Reviewed by JIMMY - 31 May 2023

" You guy's are very flexible and reasonable. "

" Excellent service with new car "

Value for Money: 10
Efficiency of Counter Staff: 10
Expediency of Drop-off: 10
Condition of the Vehicle: 10

JOHANNESBURG, ZA - Reviewed by UWE - 19 December 2022

" First car rental are either completely inefficient or try to scam and steal whenever they can. "

" They charged us for petrol plus admin fuel fee when we brought the car back with full tank and provided receipt. They also tried to blame us for damage to windscreen wiper of another car and asked us to sign an incident report which we did not do (can provide exchange email, invoice received and copy of receipt if needed). The lady at counter also did not want to check the car as we returned it. "

Value for Money: 4
Efficiency of Counter Staff: 1
Expediency of Drop-off: 1
Condition of the Vehicle: 10

JOHANNESBURG, ZA - Reviewed by ANDREAS - 01 November 2022

" Hiring through autoeurope for the last 15 years has always been a pleasant experience. And this was no exception. "

" The rented car met and exceeded our expectations. All run smoothly and efficiently from car hire to car dropoff. Very professional. "

Value for Money: 10
Efficiency of Counter Staff: 10
Expediency of Drop-off: 10
Condition of the Vehicle: 10

CAPE TOWN, ZA - Reviewed by ANAT - 28 October 2022

" Not fun to drive... "

" The car was not new (26000km), very noisy, the floor rug torn and not fixed to its place, had no reverse alarms which made it very difficult to maneuver, all these in contrast to all the other cars I rented elsewhere that month. "

Value for Money: 8
Efficiency of Counter Staff: 10
Expediency of Drop-off: 8
Condition of the Vehicle: 8

JOHANNESBURG, ZA - Reviewed by PHILIP - 13 July 2022

" Have used you for around ten or twelve years. Won't stop now. Consistently good value rates. "

" Efficient friendly, all round great experience "

Value for Money: 10
Efficiency of Counter Staff: 10
Expediency of Drop-off: 10
Condition of the Vehicle: 10

JOHANNESBURG, ZA - Reviewed by ANDREAS - 22 April 2021

" as always the service offered by Autoeurope was professional, despite many cancellations and rebookings due to COVID "

" I was overcharged for refueling in two occasions, despite the fact I had provided receipts of refueling. After I complained, and provided copies of the receipts, in thew first case they accepted (rental EU18356010) and in the second case (rental EU18356000) they did not (even though I refueled at the airport station and provided copy of receipt). This seems to be a systematic overcharging refueling policy. "

Value for Money: 6
Efficiency of Counter Staff: 10
Expediency of Drop-off: 8
Condition of the Vehicle: 8

CAPE TOWN, ZA - Reviewed by MUSCAN - 18 March 2021

" I like that pickup and drop-off were very quick. "

" All went smooth, car was in perfect condition, phone support was prompt and helpful. "

Value for Money: 10
Efficiency of Counter Staff: 10
Expediency of Drop-off: 10
Condition of the Vehicle: 10

CAPE TOWN, ZA - Reviewed by RONALD - 01 March 2021

" Very good and efficient "

" Excellent service thank you "

Value for Money: 9
Efficiency of Counter Staff: 9
Expediency of Drop-off: 9
Condition of the Vehicle: 9

CAPE TOWN, ZA - Reviewed by GEOFFREY - 04 April 2020

" All ok "

" Always use this company. "

Value for Money: 10
Efficiency of Counter Staff: 10
Expediency of Drop-off: 10
Condition of the Vehicle: 7

CAPE TOWN, ZA - Reviewed by JACKSON - 28 February 2020

" good "

" hidden refuelling charge no matter how much fuel was in the car, in the GT&Cs which was communicated at all during the pick up or drop off only a bill at the end despite a full tank returned "

Value for Money: 7
Efficiency of Counter Staff: 10
Expediency of Drop-off: 7
Condition of the Vehicle: 10

JOHANNESBURG, ZA - Reviewed by CATHRYN - 13 February 2020

" As above "

" Rented r category which turned out did not have electric windows at the back...i had 2 kids with me in the car yet the lower category vehicles had electric windows. 1st car was a yaris which was totally unpowered and clutch was catching too high. Swapped for a clio still no power windows at the back and also under powered. Neither car would drive properly with the AC on. In the middle of a storm the clio windscreen wiper stopped working. I was then brought an automatic car with filthy seats, i have photos of the condition of this car. Drove it back to the sandton branch and was told the seats were clean!!!!!! 3rd car was another yaris however this car seemed ok, but still no power windows at the back, however the car was fine driving with the AC on. First car fleet has had a massive downgrade with unreliable cars and will never rent from them again. "

Value for Money: 2
Efficiency of Counter Staff: 4
Expediency of Drop-off: 7
Condition of the Vehicle: 1

CAPE TOWN, ZA - Reviewed by RONALD - 09 January 2020

" Excellent and a big step up from pour last time we used them "

" Very pleasant all round experience "

Value for Money: 10
Efficiency of Counter Staff: 10
Expediency of Drop-off: 10
Condition of the Vehicle: 8

CAPE TOWN, ZA - Reviewed by JOHANN - 01 January 2020

" Super new vehicle, clean and a pleasure to drive. Check in and Check out efficient and very pleasant staff. "

" We had an issue with First Car Rental some time ago and the MD asked us to give them another chance. I have to say that we have used them a number of times since then and have been most satisfied with their service. "

Value for Money: 10
Efficiency of Counter Staff: 10
Expediency of Drop-off: 10
Condition of the Vehicle: 10

CAPE TOWN, ZA - Reviewed by DAVID - 27 December 2019

" Thanks for the great service! "

" No complaints at all, friendly staff and a great car for my trips throughout SA. "

Value for Money: 9
Efficiency of Counter Staff: 8
Expediency of Drop-off: 9
Condition of the Vehicle: 10

PORT ELIZABETH, ZA - Reviewed by DIEDERIK - 02 December 2019

" good "

" I dropped the car off fully tanked. They still charged me half a tank petrol costs. "

Value for Money: 5
Efficiency of Counter Staff: 10
Expediency of Drop-off: 1
Condition of the Vehicle: 10

CAPE TOWN, ZA - Reviewed by KRZYSZTOF - 07 November 2019

" In general Auto Europe is my first stop, but more and more other search engines provide better prices "

" THe car i was offered was a class below what I booked. After I requested a change, that was done without problems. The car was very basic. Upon return the employee tried to tell me that the car is dirty, just because it had some sand on the footmats. I received a bill with a refuelling charge and service fee, although I returned the car full (filled it up at the airport gas station). "

Value for Money: 3
Efficiency of Counter Staff: 10
Expediency of Drop-off: 5
Condition of the Vehicle: 5

CAPE TOWN, ZA - Reviewed by PARVEEN - 01 November 2019

" Autoeurope has always been able to give us good car rental deals "

" Helpful staff "

Value for Money: 8
Efficiency of Counter Staff: 10
Expediency of Drop-off: 10
Condition of the Vehicle: 7

JOHANNESBURG, ZA - Reviewed by PARVEEN - 31 October 2019

" No problems. "

" Pleasantly surprised with the efficiency showed by First Car in all aspects of the car rental. "

Value for Money: 8
Efficiency of Counter Staff: 10
Expediency of Drop-off: 10
Condition of the Vehicle: 10

CAPE TOWN, ZA - Reviewed by LUIS - 24 August 2019

" For now all have been ok "

" When we arrived there were no system/electricity. So they have debited manually my credit card for the deposit and now I need to wait between 7 to 14 days to get back the money and hopefully that will happen. The process was slow due to not having system and doing all manually. "

Value for Money: 7
Efficiency of Counter Staff: 4
Expediency of Drop-off: 7
Condition of the Vehicle: 10

CAPE TOWN, ZA - Reviewed by JAN - 14 August 2019

" same "

" Relationship between Autoeurope and First is not an easy one "

Value for Money: 8
Efficiency of Counter Staff: 9
Expediency of Drop-off: 8
Condition of the Vehicle: 8

JOHANNESBURG, ZA - Reviewed by BASSEM - 10 August 2019

" Auto europe is fine when booking a good quality and cheap prices. People who handle first First Car Rentals those that you talk to them face to face are very helpful and nice. But whenit comes to submit a query/complaint by mail or through the LOG Query System is a problem because you can't get through. "

" Experience with people (face to face) handeling directly the Car and orders is friendly and quick. But to send an enquiry or complaint with their "Cristil" LOG Query System is that a problem and you can't comunicate with them by mail. "

Value for Money: 7
Efficiency of Counter Staff: 10
Expediency of Drop-off: 10
Condition of the Vehicle: 10

JOHANNESBURG, ZA - Reviewed by GUSTAVO - 16 July 2019

" Very good support "

" They did not cancelled the deposit. "

Value for Money: 8
Efficiency of Counter Staff: 8
Expediency of Drop-off: 10
Condition of the Vehicle: 10

JOHANNESBURG, ZA - Reviewed by ANNE MARIE GHISLAINE - 29 May 2019

" I expected to be given a better car than I got. "

" I was given a car that was mot at like that advertised on your website. The car was ok for town driving but very sluggish on long drives and hills. I expected a better vehicle for the category I paid for. I always use your services but this tome I was disappointed. "

Value for Money: 10
Efficiency of Counter Staff: 8
Expediency of Drop-off: 10
Condition of the Vehicle: 7

JOHANNESBURG, ZA - Reviewed by DEANE - 22 April 2019

" All good, but also not exceptional. "

" I expected a Ford and not a "... or similar", which turned out to be a Chinese car, which did not deliver the quality I expected. Very disappointing! "

Value for Money: 6
Efficiency of Counter Staff: 3
Expediency of Drop-off: 7
Condition of the Vehicle: 4

CAPE TOWN, ZA - Reviewed by RONALD - 25 March 2019

" See above comments "

" I returned the car with NO DAMAGE - with 3 Witnesses at 07h18 on 22nd March and inspect the car with their staff and signed off the yellow form. Their staff confirmed no damages. I subsequently received a claim that the car was damaged and I must pay. The matter has now been handed over to my attorneys. "

Value for Money: 5
Efficiency of Counter Staff: 3
Expediency of Drop-off: 8
Condition of the Vehicle: 8

CAPE TOWN, ZA - Reviewed by CHANAN - 03 March 2019

" to make long story short, every time i come for a visit in cape town, i don't even bother to look at other car rental companies, i go strait to first. best by all means. "

" to make long story short, every time i come for a visit in cape town, i don't even bother to look at other car rental companies, i go strait to first. best by all means. "

Value for Money: 10
Efficiency of Counter Staff: 10
Expediency of Drop-off: 10
Condition of the Vehicle: 10

JOHANNESBURG, ZA - Reviewed by DAVID - 25 December 2018

" The service was excellent - from receiving the car to returning it. Nothing was too much trouble for the staff and it really was a pleasure to receive service like that. Thank You. "

" The service was absolutely first class. "

Value for Money: 10
Efficiency of Counter Staff: 10
Expediency of Drop-off: 10
Condition of the Vehicle: 10

JOHANNESBURG, ZA - Reviewed by LYNNE HEATHER - 16 December 2018

" Will use again - always assuming prices remain competitive. "

" Aa great little car, perfect forwhat I needed to do over my last 2 weeks in SA "

Value for Money: 10
Efficiency of Counter Staff: 10
Expediency of Drop-off: 10
Condition of the Vehicle: 10

CAPE TOWN, ZA - Reviewed by VIKTOR - 05 December 2018

" Very pleased with the work of this company. Everything was great! "

" Great new car! "

Value for Money: 10
Efficiency of Counter Staff: 10
Expediency of Drop-off: 10
Condition of the Vehicle: 10

CAPE TOWN, ZA - Reviewed by DAVID - 29 November 2018

" Nice very helpful staff , and very good value this is the 2nd time i have hired from First Drive ,each time for 4 weeks , and will do so again next year "

" car was automatic , and there was a delay from pressing the accelerator to the drive train moving , perhaps 2/3 seconds . then because the accelerator is depressed ,and the engine speed has increased ,the car speeds away NOT GOOD "

Value for Money: 10
Efficiency of Counter Staff: 10
Expediency of Drop-off: 10
Condition of the Vehicle: 7

CAPE TOWN, ZA - Reviewed by ALEKSANDER - 26 November 2018

" n/a "

" n/a "

Value for Money: 9
Efficiency of Counter Staff: 9
Expediency of Drop-off: 10
Condition of the Vehicle: 9

JOHANNESBURG, ZA - Reviewed by DERK - 19 October 2018

" No problems, fine. "

" Pick-up wasn't fast but reasonable (20 mins wait). Staff not so fast or friendly at the counter. Drop-Off verry friendly and fast however. "

Value for Money: 10
Efficiency of Counter Staff: 7
Expediency of Drop-off: 10
Condition of the Vehicle: 10

SANDTON, ZA - Reviewed by CHERENE - 06 September 2018

" I always use Auto Europe for all my car hire. "

" Excellent service and very friendly staff. "

Value for Money: 10
Efficiency of Counter Staff: 10
Expediency of Drop-off: 10
Condition of the Vehicle: 8

CAPE TOWN, ZA - Reviewed by JUAN PABLO - 09 August 2018

" Tramitación correcta. Sin ningún problema. "

" El único problema que tuvimos es que en vez de bloquear la fianza, la cobran y luego tardan en devolverla, con la consecuente pérdida por el cambio internacional. Por lo demás, bien. "

Value for Money: 8
Efficiency of Counter Staff: 10
Expediency of Drop-off: 9
Condition of the Vehicle: 9

CAPE TOWN, ZA - Reviewed by BRUCE - 30 April 2018

" I reserve these pending a satisfactory outcome for the additional charge of ZAR 2,582.80 "

" I ask you to pursue the following with First Car. A similar experience has happened before.I received their tax invoice 30182398 showing a final amount due of ZAR 208.60. Now today my credit card statement shows a debit of ZAR2,791.40 from Firstcar with no explanation. Local airport charges under the agreement are not to be charged and mileage is free under the contract. I have no explanation for the extra charge of ZAR2,582.80. In absence of explanation will you request a refund. Thank you. regards Bruce "

Value for Money: 1
Efficiency of Counter Staff: 10
Expediency of Drop-off: 10
Condition of the Vehicle: 7

JOHANNESBURG, ZA - Reviewed by YOLANDIE - 23 April 2018

" Turn around time to receive final invoice and reverse remaining credit back on the credit card (about 1 week) not to bad. Thank you for a very nice car. "

" Overall a very good experience and happy with the assistance and service received. Would like to see a bit more visual assistance markings when picking up a car in the parking bays, as there was only 1 person assisting on the day of pickup and there was no clear indicators on where to go or who to ask for assistance when coming into the parking lot. "

Value for Money: 8
Efficiency of Counter Staff: 8
Expediency of Drop-off: 8
Condition of the Vehicle: 10

CAPE TOWN, ZA - Reviewed by STAMATIOS - 19 May 2017

JOHANNESBURG, ZA - Reviewed by STAMATIOS - 15 May 2017

" I am very satisfied. Pricrs and recommend companies were ok "

" I am very satisfied. The First company was excellent. The etols were arranged by them, the access in their airport office was very easy, and the car although small was clean and in good condition. "

CAPE TOWN, ZA - Reviewed by HANS - 02 April 2017

" Great tool for renting at a fair price. "

" Good rental company. Just one remark. They hand the car over on a dark parking lot, but when you return the car they have a bright lighted place. Not a good way of handling scratches e.g. "

JOHANNESBURG, ZA - Reviewed by RENE - 29 March 2017

" excellent "

" fine service "

CAPE TOWN, ZA - Reviewed by VINCENT - 06 March 2017

" Hello, i have booked and paid for a Volvo automatic, but when i tried to put my two suitcases (only 2 !), the trunk was too little. so they gived me a very low class manual car just for the night... but 2 days latter no news from them, i had to call them and after 2 appointments where they did not come, they give me a duster renault manual, which is not the same category that i paid for. they never call me back as they were suppose to to change once again the Renault Duster, and they never agreed to reimburse the difference between the volvo category that i paid for, and the duster category that i finally have during most of my stay. It is not commercial and professional; I'm very dissatisfied and i will not rent my future july USA car. "

JOHANNESBURG, ZA - Reviewed by ANDREAS - 14 February 2017

" Wie immer reibungslose Abwicklung. "

" Kreditkartenkaution wird nicht nur geblockt , sondern abgebucht und etwa eine Woche nach Abgabe wieder gutgeschrieben. Sehr unpraktisches System. Versicherung ohne Selbstbeteiligung schließt zahlreiche Ereignisse aus , das kann man sich gleich sparen. Fzg. war gerade noch ok. Reifen waren an der Verschleißgrenze. Personal bei Abholung nicht gerade motiviert. "

GEORGE, ZA - Reviewed by NTEREK - 30 November 2016

DURBAN, ZA - Reviewed by NICHOLAS - 13 October 2016

JOHANNESBURG, ZA - Reviewed by IAIN J F - 10 October 2016

" Efficient and the car was most comfortable "

" Fairly simple, most helpful and a pleasure to deal with "

PORT ELIZABETH, ZA - Reviewed by LIEVEN - 11 August 2016

CAPE TOWN, ZA - Reviewed by KARIN - 13 June 2016

" unfriendly, unhelpful "

JOHANNESBURG, ZA - Reviewed by DAVID - 05 June 2016

EAST LONDON, ZA - Reviewed by DOMINIK - 02 June 2016

" I had to make a complaint to get the deposit refunded. "

JOHANNESBURG, ZA - Reviewed by DOMINIK - 17 May 2016

" I appreciate the "Zero Excess" packages at reasonable prices. "

" The IT system was offline at the time of pick-up and then they made a mistake when entering start and end dates, resulting in charging an extra day. However, now it is solved and money refunded. "

JOHANNESBURG, ZA - Reviewed by JOHN - 12 May 2016

" Wrong booking!!. Employeen insisted on telephone booking and skipping my online booking. This resulted in the wrong pick up place in South Africa with a lot of trouble. "

" Very helpful in correcting the mistakes of Auto Europe "

JOHANNESBURG, ZA - Reviewed by EMIR - 06 May 2016

" This is not THE first time we rent with you. THE ratjes are always good. This time THE car wasnt that good.... A lot of noice and a bg Suprise that we couldnot nit cross THE border. IT took a lot of phonecalls to arrange, with extra payment, to get THE forrms from First Car Retal. Not my favoriete compagny. When we brought back THE car they told us we have to pay for cleaningcosts ? Never heared before , so Auto Europe : be careful with First Rentalcars. "

" Not clear that you cant cross THE border without a special, extra payd, insurance and that iT costs a lot of calls to get THE form. Not on sundays, not in hollidays, only If you go there in person. After we send a mail, we also didnt get and reaction..... When we returned THE car and picked iT up, we didnt have to wait at all, which was fine. Although when returnflight they Saïd to us, we have to pay extra to clean THE car inside ???? Never heared that before ! "

CAPE TOWN, ZA - Reviewed by OSWALD - 17 April 2016

JOHANNESBURG, ZA - Reviewed by CEDRIC - 29 March 2016

" very good surprise when we received the rental invoice .... you are allowed to retain R228.02 of refueling loads then we did Refueling before we arrived at the airport station. I do not understand how he could run out of gasoline. We have the receipt if you need also with the time and the amount of the full tank !! I find this unacceptable! "

" we first collected the car keys to 7pm when we booked from 8pm but your employees had lost the keys to the car !!! and sought for 1 hour !! "

DURBAN, ZA - Reviewed by CARLOS - 23 March 2016

JOHANNESBURG, ZA - Reviewed by GERHARD - 22 March 2016

" after waiting very long for the reserved car, I got an upgrade to the next category. Everything was excellent. Car very clean and in perfect condition. Very friendly staff at check-in "

DURBAN, ZA - Reviewed by CARLOS - 17 March 2016

DURBAN, ZA - Reviewed by CARLOS - 16 March 2016

GEORGE, ZA - Reviewed by KLAUS - 10 March 2016

CAPE TOWN, ZA - Reviewed by HENDRIK - 09 March 2016

" 2years ago they chargeer is after à feb weeks 150 € and we never knew for what iT was.That was inGeorge.i hope That they do not do this again. "