Autatlantis Reviews 24

I rent a car back in July delivered on August the 10th cost me $1,300 plus $600 deposit so today is January the 14th never received my deposit this company likes to steal the money from immigrants like me never heard from them my opinion stay away from this company

I strongly advise against renting from Autatlantis in Ponta Delgada, Azores. My experience was extremely disappointing and has cost me both money and significant stress.
I rented a VW Up! from October 24 to November 3, 2025. During the rental period (which was very rainy), I used the trunk only 3 times. On the third opening, the plastic cover of the trunk button came off in my hand during completely normal use. The button itself still worked perfectly - only the plastic housing separated.
When I returned the car on November 3rd, I immediately reported this issue. The staff were dismissive and rude, telling me they would "examine if it was broken by force" and would call me. Instead of calling as promised, they sent an email claiming "as agreed" the button was broken and had ALREADY deducted €166.98 from my deposit. I never agreed to anything. They charged me without giving me any opportunity to dispute or discuss.
They claim I broke it "by force" but if force had been used, the electronic mechanism would be damaged. It works perfectly. This is clearly a wear and tear issue, well-documented as a common defect in this car model, especially in wet climates like the Azores.
I sent a detailed dispute letter on November 4th with extensive evidence and photos. They have NEVER responded. I have tried contacting them multiple times through different channels - complete silence. They refuse to provide any photos, technical explanation, or proof of their damage claim.
This company charges customers for normal wear and tear, falsely claims you "agreed" to charges, takes your money immediately without discussion, treats you rudely, and then completely ignores all communication. Save yourself the stress and money - rent from literally anyone else.

PLEASE AVOID AT ALL COSTS!!

Autatlantis charged me £469 many weeks after I returned the car, without providing the necessary proof, no car shop invoice (just an estimate including tear and wear repair), and they made-up a “rear underside” damage that was never flagged.
Saw many others online with the same issue.
It seems every now and then they use this tactics with travellers, knowing it’s hard to fight back. Please don’t get influenced by the good reviews, you could be one of the unlucky one in which they apply this dodgy “unknown damage” tactics.

Customer service is the worst I’ve ever had to deal with in 10+ years of holiday car rentals.
The process of email exchange has been ongoing for 2 months and it’s mentally draining and completely time consuming.

Please AVOID THEM AT ALL COSTS, seriously!

We rented 3 vehicles with this company. In two out of three cases, the service we got was very unprofessional. Once an incorrect deposit was taken by them, so we had to point out that we were ensured and the correct deposit was taken after that. The second time, it was not correctly explained to us what the deposit is for, we thought only fuel. We thought we were fully protected so we did not check the car. If we did I am sure we would have proven that the damage was already there as we did not damage the car during the rental period.
But good, we could not prove so we thought they will just take our deposit. But they released the deposit and afterwards they are seding us threating e-mails and we need to make a bank transfer now. The details for the bank transfer are not correct so we can't make the bank transfer. Their unprofessionalism costs us tons of time and effort. We rented with many companies in many countries and never experienced this. Happy that they only operate in Azores and we probably never come back there.

just one problem with a tyre: I got a nail and then the tyre was totally damaged. Autatlantis charged me the cost of a new tyre (125 euro) even if from pics i took, it was evident the tyre was very very old, and probably deserved to be changed as normal maintenance.
So they applied the "cortract law" (you have to pay entirely for damaged parts) not caring it was almost evident i got a nail, but in old tyre, at the end of its life. I asked to pay just part of the damage, but they charged me a new tyre.
I dont think they care about real problems we drivers can have with a rented car.

This summer we visited the Azores. We were in Punta Delgada, Pico, Faial, and Terceira. We used Autotlantis on all of them. We were quite disappointed. On some islands, the staff was inexperienced. On Pico, they made us pay for the insurance when it was already covered by our contract. I had to file a claim to get a refund. On Pico, we also had an accident; a car didn't rear-end us. We filed a claim. When we returned the vehicle, they made me rewrite the details and explain the accident three times. At no point did they show any concern for our health.
The vehicles they gave us on Faial and Terceira were old vehicles in poor condition, underpowered, and dirty. I certainly won't recommend this company to any friends visiting the Azores.

Disappointed is understatement. Was told I was getting an SUV and got a Toyota Yaris. Was dirty. Windshield wipers didn't work had to do it manually every time. Car was constantly beeping saying it needed an oil change. Told them about and they didn't care. Very slow. Car actually went backwards on a hill and scared us all. Wanted to take view pictures and pulled into a spot, there was a rock and we didn't notice it ripped the oil pan underneath. Did as I was told about emergency services. They told.me it was negligence and wouldn't give me another rental even though we were there for another week along with the rest of the payment and deposit. Asked for clarification from.someone no one called.me back. Just terrible, terrible. I would rated minis if I could but we are not allowed. Never again.

**Very disappointing and unprofessional experience**

The service at the desk seemed friendly at first, but things changed quickly once the rental began. After we received the keys, we were told the company was already aware of all damages to the car, but none of these were listed on the standard damage sheet provided at pickup.

The car was not properly cleaned after the last customer. The interior was only somewhat clean, with an empty bottle left in the trunk, and the exterior was unwashed, full of dust, and various marks. When we asked about these marks, we were told it was "glue from the transportation cover when the car was new," and apparently it would take several months and washes to remove.

We made a video of the car’s condition and immediately emailed it to the company, stating that due to the dirt, a full inspection wasn’t possible. An employee on the parking lot showed no concern and simply said it was probably dirt and scratches.

During the rental, we discovered a couple of additional scratches (after rain revealed them), but at return, there was no issue with those. Instead, I was suddenly informed that I had damaged the plastic wheel cover and was asked to pay €80. I refused, as I was confident this was not caused by us. After a long wait and them searching their records, the charge was eventually dropped. However, I was not given any documentation or updated damage report as proof, despite asking several times.

I would not use this rental company again due to the lack of proper documentation, poor state of the vehicle, and the unprofessional way the return was.

Dishonest agency – possible scam at car return!
Very disappointing experience with this rental company.

At the return, we were accused of causing damage under the front right bumper (scratch + dent) that was clearly already present when we picked up the car. The agent had vaguely mentioned a “big scratch” but didn’t report it properly. Because we trusted them, we didn’t take a close-up photo of that difficult-to-see area (almost under the car). That trust was clearly a mistake.

We actually have a photo showing the start of the damage. The continuation matches perfectly with what they’re now accusing us of.
Their reaction? “You should read the contract more carefully next time.” No discussion, no responsibility, just a 3-minute check-in and a refusal to listen.

They also told us: “If you have any insurance with your credit card or the platform on which you made your reservation, you may deliver all of these documents to them to claim your refund.”
I let you think what you want on that...

If you’re given car BI-61-DQ, be extremely cautious you might be blamed for the same damage.

Excellent service. Car pickup and return was very fast. They take a deposit which they return immediately when you return the car. The only complain I have is the webpage doesn't always work very well.

Used this rental firm via Sunny Cars in the Azores. Everything was perfect and flexible! Could pay 1 deposit for 4 islands.

I rented cars from Autatlantis in São Miguel, Pico, Faial. I did not have to renew the contracts from one island to the next one. They were very flexible. When we got the car in P. Delgada, the man on the parking lot was even lifting the suitcases into the car. Never happened in the whole world. :-) Very friendly and helpful. The cars were good, the pick-up and return very personal and speedy. I can recommend this company and will hire again cars from them.

Terrible experience with this company. They give you a car with many small defects, which they don't give importance to during check in, and when you return it they blame you for some of them, in our case €65 for a mark on a Fiat Panda hubcap, which we are sure we did not make. Make sure you record a video of all the details, no matter how small they are.

We rented 7 cars from them in the Azores, on almost all islands. They knew the cars and dents well and encouraged us to take our own videos. We never had to present them to prove dents were not made by us. They documented the dents well when we rented and did not charge us for problems we didn’t cause. We damaged one car during a very steep climb with a tight curve and some rocks sticking out. They caught this and deducted a very fair amount from the deposit for the scrape. They were friendly and very helpful, also giving us driving maps which showed the difficulty levels of the roads. We were allowed to use the same deposit over and over so as to not tie up our credit card with 7 deposits. They told us the best places to get gas. We were told where to return the cars and when there wasn’t a location at small airports, their staff showed up at drop off time to collect the car from us. Good experience all around.

I recently rented a car in Ponta Delgada and had a thoroughly disappointing experience. Firstly, they gave me the wrong vehicle despite my attempts to inform them. The staff simply ignored my concerns. Then, after 30 minutes, they called me to return and change the vehicle, which was incredibly inconvenient as I was already at my hotel, 30 km away.

Upon returning the car, at the end of the renting period, they claimed to have found an issue with the wheel and deducted money from my warranty fund. This seemed like a deliberate tactic to exploit customers with low rental prices but hidden charges. Having rented cars for 30 years, I've never encountered such a low-level, deceitful business model. Avoid this rental company at all costs.