autovia.it - Ancona AeroportoReviews 

Rented a car for a trip with a group of friends and ended up having the worst start to the trip. We already had our own car rental insurance with our bank but upon hearing that we did not get their insurance and finding out that the person who made the booking is an indian expat living in France, they made up some bullshit crap about changing it to a 5,000 euros availability for the credit card because of the indian nationality. Afterwards we checked, according to their own T&Cs, the 5k credit availability is only for premium and luxury SUV categorised cars. We rented a Volkswagen Golf??!!

Instead of providing good customer service, to help provide other solutions like suggesting to change to another driver or changing the category of the car or giving any helpful solutions, they cornered us with no choice - either buy their insurance at an additional cost of 168 euros or let them keep our 250 euro booking with no refunds given.

We have rented cars in so many places and this is the first time we are experiencing coerced selling with racial profiling. When we were picking up the autovia rental car in the parking lot, we witnessed another jeep colliding into their rental car (volkswagen suv) twice on purpose, leaving a huge dent on the front left side and driving off.

Towards the end of the trip when we returned our car, we were so afraid due to what we witnessed and what we read on other reviews about how fake charges were made to the cars.

We are still waiting for our safety deposit return and given that there was no proper sign off when the guy checked the car and specifically verbally mentioned all is good, no new damage - we demanded him to write "no new damage" on our contract paper for a peace of mind, he refused.

The other car rental agencies are much more professional, as we have another friend renting from Sicily by Car - the drop off procedure is that after inspection, the driver must sign off together with their employee on the ipad. Obviously, we didn't have that. We couldn't book with other car agencies as our arrival time was quite late. Autovia was the only company that opens till 11pm at Ancona airport. I'd advice travellers not to take the risk and just stay nearby and get a car from another rental agency the next morning if you are arriving late.

Let's see what other scammy charges they will charge us with.

We are prepared to lodge this to the europe-consommateurs.eu and contest their insurance charge with our bank.

Professional and a great car

good staff!

I am just warning you before it is too late.
Autovia, Ecovia, and Optima are indeed related brands (they operate under the same broader group in Italy), so the service experience, policies, and practices are similar across them.
Lower prices in car rental come with stricter conditions, such as: Large security deposits, (which will be partially reduced for any stupid reasons or a possibility that it may not be fully reimbursed upon return of the vehicle), Strict fuel or mileage policies, Aggressive upselling of insurance, Higher charges for minor damage or high admin fees and other hidden charges.
In the end, it does not matter who you book the vehicle with because they are the same crook and thieves waiting for you at the corner to rip you off. It is incredibly anormal to see their prices much lower than others, because they are desperate to recover their costs via different channels.
Lately, in Ancona Airport, they finally acquired new vehicles to replace the old and dirty ones they had before, however, you will be chocked to know that they are open until 11pm very desperate and waiting for innocent customers and new victims to recover from them their costs towards these new vehicles.
I would also like to mention that they have recently recruited a new individual who appears physically intimidating, resembling Schwarzenegger or Tarzan, and seems to struggle with English. It feels as though this may be intended to discourage or intimidate anyone who raises concerns about their dirty games
Free advice, go somewhere else, like Herts, Alamo, Thrifty or Europcar, a well know rental company, pay little more and be relax. Cheap car rental like the above Three Musketeers will be a nightmare and a waste of money.
Wish you a pleasant holiday and trust that you will take the necessary care to protect yourself and your family.

Autovia, Optimorent, and Ecovia all operate under the same group, and based on my experience, I would strongly advise choosing a more reputable rental provider.

We rented a car from Ancona Airport for less than 24 hours. The vehicle was returned on time and in the same condition, aside from some normal dust.

Three days later, I received an email claiming “GRAVE/SEVERE” scratches, along with a €315 charge. The evidence provided? A set of blurry photos of the car still covered in dust. From our own photos taken at drop-off, the so-called “damage” appears to be nothing more than superficial marks on a dirty surface—possibly even foliage residue.

I repeatedly requested clear photos of the vehicle after it had been cleaned so the alleged damage could be properly assessed. These requests were denied multiple times.

It raises a simple question: how can anyone accurately evaluate paint damage on a car that is still covered in dust?

Customer service has been dismissive and unhelpful throughout. Even when I returned to Ancona Airport in person to inspect the vehicle, I was told it wasn’t available. Staff claimed updated photos existed but refused to show them.

Overall, this experience felt highly questionable and poorly handled. I would strongly recommend documenting everything carefully and considering alternative rental companies.

The staff were friendly and welcoming. They were professional and both check-out and returning the car was easy. The car was clean and functioned perfectly.

Person at reception was very efficient, much faster then Avis and Europcar where we rented before. Only issue was that there was for 10 minutes after arrival no one at the recrption.

Tried to scam us out of €600 for non-existent damage. Please avoid- choose any other company.

We hired a care in Le Marche for a week. The car was fine: a little dirty when we picked it up at night but otherwise a good little fiat panda. As we picked it up at night, we had a quick look around the car at night. No problems or scratches were visible.

The next day we saw the car in the daylight and it was in good condition. Apart from some the outside not being clean, it was without scratches and dents. We used the car for the week - never scraping or otherwise marking it. Just simple village-to-village driving.

After return, and getting back home, we received an email saying we had damaged the car and a bill for €600. We disputed this and raised a claim with our bank. We also asked for evidence (photo proof) of the damage (as we had taken our own photos of us at the airport with the car just before returning it so could prove that it wasn't scratched or damaged).

The bank were supportive and as seemed they had dealt with this sort of spurious claim before with scammy hire car companies. They asked Autovia to send photo evidence.

Some photos arrived about three weeks later, but they were
a) so bad quality it was impossible to see what was being referred to
b) the photos were not of the areas that had been mentioned in the original claim anyway.

It was obvious just an attempt at getting some money. The bank kept the case open for another month and then closed it in our favour.

Some tips:
1. Don't use Autovia

2. If you have to use Autovia, take clear photos all around the car on pick-up and drop-off

3. If they attempt to scam you, speak to your bank ASAP and contest the charge on your card. The banks have a lot of experience at this.

The whole process aus been realty easy going and smooth and very friendly staff top Rating and WE will use autovia again

Good contact by picking up the car. By return nobody was there, no problem because we had no problems or accident. So next time we book again

Car was clean upon pickup, with plenty of full gas. As always, I'm happy with Autovia at Ancona Airport. I recommend it.

Good experience
I am satisfied with your service

The worst car hire I have ever experienced.
Avoid using.
They wouldn’t accept a credit car on the phone and charged an extortionate 480 euros as a result.

Given a hirecar that was in ruins, filthy and had a faulty battery.
From the moment of collection, the car was in an unsatisfactory and unhygienic condition. It was dirty inside and out, littered with personal items from previous users, including a half used water bottle, cigarette ash and even a balloon. The vehicle was in a state of disrepair — it was missing a petrol cap and had multiple areas of visible damage including dents, chips, and cracks.
the car suffered from persistent battery issues, breaking down three times in total and eventually requiring a jump start. Leading to us being left stranded in a remote location with no access to a functioning car until the next day.
Hours of phonecalls, googling correct numbers, emailing. Finally we were recovered the following day having had to be driven another hour back to the location.
We missed two once in a lifetime family events for our Mums 60th and a visit to our Nonna's birth place.
19 days after handback, they have still not refunded the deposit as promised.
We visit Italy annually and have always relied on companies like Sicily by Car and Italy Car with no issues.
If you want a reliable car that you aren't embarrassed to be seen driving when it actually works, question your choice of this hire care company

All worked out fine and uncomplicated. The small Ancona Airport is perfect to start your journey when you intend to rent a car.

We have always a good price. Car is clean. Staff is friendly.
The extra driver is a good option and also the extra insurance is great because you never know what happens.

Kindly people and a good car. I had to wait along time because I was the last in the row.

excellent service, nice and clean car.

quick service, very helpful when I needed assistance because of a cancelled flight